The Chevron Game Day Chef Grand Champion Winning Game Day Sliders Recipe

The Chevron Game Day Chef Challenge is back for the second year and this year you could be the one

to win $25,000 to start your year off right.

Be sure to visit www.thegamedaychef.com for all the details and rules.

These sliders are a great choice for game day! The judges agreed – they won $25,000 in the 1st ever Chevron Game Day Challenge.

Chevron Chicken Sliders

I remember when I first learned of the Chevron Game Day Chef Challenge. I was actually getting gas at Chevron and saw it advertised on their gas pumps. I was intrigued by the challenge – use ingredients from a Chevron to create the perfect game day food. The more ingredients we used – the more points we got towards our score.

There were five categories of mandatory ingredients that the Chevron ingredients fell into and we would get five points for each one we used (This year you get points for any five ingredients – you don’t have to use ingredients from different categories but doing so is sure to help your creativity score):

Salty Snack
Sweet Snack
Beverage Snack
Healthy Snack
Candy Snack

The first thing I saw was actually bacon, in my Chevron store – I couldn’t believe it. I knew then I wanted to do some kind of bacon jam but use some inspired ingredients from the Chevron aisles. As I walked around – the inspiration came together. I would use root beer as a liquid in my bacon jam to reduce and add some sweetness. Beverage snack – check. Dried apricots would give it a nice jammy texture and that would take care of the sweet snack requirement. Candy was the tough one – then I found the sesame candy and thought that would add a great complexity to the bacon jam and satisfy the candy snack requirement.

I still needed a salty snack and a healthy snack and I didn’t know what the bacon jam would go on. Then I saw the wonderful selection of nuts in the store. I thought of a pecan crusted fried chicken but the pecans were only unsalted. Then I saw the salted cashews – I had never made cashew crusted fried chicken before but my mouth started to water. Now I had four of the five. All I needed was the healthy snack.

I kept walking the aisles and came across yogurt. Perfect – I would use yogurt to create a spicy creamy sauce to go on top of the sandwich and add a little heat to the dish.

Here is the recipe for these winning game day sliders.

Chevron Fried Chicken Sliders with
Bacon, Apricot, Root Beer & Sesame Seed Jam and Chipotle Yogurt Drizzle

Makes 8 sliders – Active Prep Time 40 Minutes – Cook Time 55 Minutes

Ingredients:

8 brioche slider buns
1 pound thick cut bacon
1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup root beer (from Chevron)
1 pack sesame snaps candy (from Chevron)
¼ cup brown sugar½ cup dried apricots (from Chevron)
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 chicken breast cutlets
1 cup flour
Kosher Salt
Fresh Cracked Pepper
2 eggs
1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil + additional for frying
½ cup salted cashews (from Chevron) chopped
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 individual container Greek Yogurt Plain (From Chevron)
2 chipotles in adobo plus tablelspoon adobo sauce
2 tablespoons butter melted
16-24 whole basil leaves

Directions:

For Bacon Jam: Cut bacon into 1 inch pieces and cook until crisp. Slice onions and garlic thin. When bacon is crisp, remove from pan onto paper towel lined plate. Sauté onion and garlic in bacon fat until translucent. Meanwhile, whisk together apple cider vinegar, root beer, and brown sugar. Dice dried apricots and sesame snaps and add to liquid mixture then add to onions and garlic. Bring to a boil. Add bacon back in. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid evaporates and onions caramelize. Add in red pepper flakes and let cook a bit more. Pulse in blender for about ten pulses until combined but still chunky.

For Chicken: Cut breasts in half width wise and pound thin then cut each breast half in half again so you have 8 cutlets. Season lightly with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper on both sides. Using three different plates or bowls create the breading station. In first bowl put flour and season with kosher salt and cracked pepper. Beat eggs and 1 tablespoon oil together and place in second bowl. In third bowl put panko and chopped cashews. Heat an inch of oil in a large fry pan. Dredge chicken in flour shaking off excess. Dredge in egg shaking of excess. Place in cashews and panko and press crumb mixture into chicken. When oil is heated, Cook chicken until crisp on both sides and cooked through. 2-3 minutes a side. Drain on paper towels.

For Chipotle Sauce: Mince Chipotle and mix with plain greek yogurt.

Assembly: Brush inside of buns with butter and toast slightly in pan or in oven. Spread bottom bun with chipotle sauce and place one chicken breast on each bun. Pile with bacon jam. Drizzle on more chipotle sauce then top with fresh basil leaves.

I make the components of these ahead and assemble last minute. Enjoy!!!

Stay tuned for Chevron Across America as I travel the country with my Chevron Cards.