And the hits just keep on coming...

I woke up on Tuesday, walked into the kitchen and turned on the light. Immediately, one of the bulbs in the kitchen chandelier blew out. Grumbling, I replaced it. I watched the Weather Channel and then my local news for the weather as well (they don’t always agree).

Then I went to the downstairs bathroom to get ready for work. When I turned on that light, one of the three bulbs blew out, too! Damn! I was a little worried about that, as they are an unusual shaped bulb. But, I did have a replacement. I saved the box it came in so I can get more next time I am at Lowe’s or Home Depot.

I got the garbage together and out to the road before I left for work. It was a cool day, overcast at first and then turning sunny.

When I got home after work, I got the mail (like always). Unlike always, one of the letters I received was a jury summons for December 2 (groan).

Since I had eaten the last of the potatoes au gratin for lunch, I set about making a dinner I’d planned on since I saw it on TV. It was an Aaron McCargo, Jr. recipe called Buffalo Chicken Sandwich with Blue Cheese Slaw.

First I made the slaw. In a medium-sized bowl, I whisked together 1/4 cup of mayonnaise, 1/4 cup of crumbled blue cheese, one tablespoon of minced garlic, two tablespoons Worcestershire sauce and the juice of one lemon until well incorporated. I added that to a package of cole slaw mix and tossed it well. I seasoned it with salt and pepper and set it aside to get happy.

Note: this may be where I went wrong. The recipe called for a 10 ounce package of cole slaw mix, but I could only find a 14 ounce package. I used it all, anyway.

Now, the recipe calls for four 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken cutlets. So, first I have to make them. So, I took two boneless, skinless chicken breasts and put them on my plastic chicken cutting board. I held each one down with my left hand (fingers up) and cut them in half horizontally.

I got out some cling wrap and put each piece inside it. Then I pounded it with my rolling pin until it was about 1/4 inch thick. That’s a chicken cutlet!

I took out my big cast iron skillet and filled it half-way up with canola oil. I inserted my candy thermometer and turned on the burner.

After seasoning the chicken cutlets with smoked paprika, salt and pepper, I got out my breading pans. In one, I put store bought buffalo hot sauce and set it aside.

In the other I put a beaten egg, 1 1/4 cups of buttermilk and two tablespoons of regular hot sauce and whisked that all together.

In the third went one cup of self-rising flour, two tablespoons of the smoked paprika, one tablespoon of salt and one tablespoon of fresh cracked pepper.

The recipe calls for “soft club rolls” but I didn’t know what that was and neither did anyone I asked. So, I bought some mini sub rolls with no preservatives (I’ll have to throw them out Thursday or Friday). Anyway, I opened one up and tossed it into the toaster oven to toast.

When the oil was up to temp, I put the cutlets into the buttermilk mixture. I shook off the excess and then dredged them in the flour mixture. I put them into the oil two at a time. I cooked them about six minutes at a time (until the internal temperature was 165 degrees). Yes, I checked...

I dropped each cutlet into the buffalo sauce and set it aside to drain. I took out the toasted roll and assembled my sandwich. I put the cutlet on the bun and topped it with the cole slaw.

I was SO disappointed! The chicken was spicy enough, but the cole slaw was bland. Again, I might have used too much cole slaw mix to sauce, but... boring!

Disgusted, I put everything away and went to watch TV until bedtime.