Croc Pot Pulled BBQ Chicken Chipotle Flatbread

What can I say, it's been a while! It's funny how hobbies go, for me at least, I find that I am often either completely IN it, or i'm simply not. Cooking is an interesting one, because I am always cooking, but my newborn (who was my excuse for not being good about posting and blogging) is about to be 15 months (gasp) and here I am, still blaming his sweetness on my inability to sit and write. The funny thing is I am still cooking, always. I am still hosting, entertaining, playing in my kitchen... I guess I just stopped sharing it.

Last month two awesome ladies here in Cleveland started up a monthly Cleveland Kosher Cookbook Club. It was an awesome evening. A friend hosted the first one at her insta-worthy home, and the gathering of ladies all cooking new recipes, drinking, sharing, and socializing around the table re ignited my desire to share. Flash forward one month, and I was asked to help out with a local fund raising event that brought out a big name kosher food blogger (shout out to Chanie, from Busy in Brooklyn, I hope your thumb is healing quickly!) - and the fire level was turned up a tad more under my bottom. What an inspiration she is, a busy mom, who with persistence and creativity (and a whole bunch of talent) has made herself this icon for kosher cooking in our time. I got the honor of having lunch with her, helping cook some of her recipes, and working in the kitchen. The very next night was the second month of the Cleveland Kosher Cookbook Club, where I happened to be sitting next to a newly established blogger.. and so we got chatting about blogging.. and persistence.. and here I am.

I love cooking, I love sharing, I love when people tell me how excited they are that they now regularly make my recipes.. I loved the past two days and evenings of exhaustion, ending in events surrounded by food and cooking.. it's my comfortable place, its my hobby, it's the stuff that makes me feel the most "me". So, here I am, 15 months down the line, attempting to pick up the slack again, hoping to commit to a little more persistence, making my "new years resolution" to allow the me that makes me feel me to shine, and try and share it with all of you.

Welcome, another croc-pot "not cholent" shabbos day recipe. This follows in a series of recipes i've posted (Pulled BBQ Beef Two ways, and Croc Pot Beef Barbacoa). This recipe can be made anytime, it's actually a fun and easy weeknight dinner, and a great hors d'oeuvre that doesn't require much at the time of serving, or real oven space for a dinner party. But typically, I make this on Shabbos day. This flatbread is fresh, it's packed with flavor, requires minimal prep, and, it's not cholent!

I'll Share the recipe first, and then i'll walk you through my assembly, and how I do it for shabbos day.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we and many of our guests do!

Chipotle Shredded Chicken Flatbread

For the Chicken:

3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

1/2 C BBQ sauce of choice

(My two favorites: Sweet Baby Ray's Hickory Brown Sugar & Trader Joes Organic Kansas City Style BBQ)

4 C water (mixed with and extra 1/3 C BBQ Sauce)

1 Tbsp garlic powder

salt & pepper to taste

For the Pizza:

8-10 cloves fresh garlic, roasted

2 red peppers, roasted- peel removed

1 avocado, diced into small cubes

1/2 lb romanian pastrami or beef fry, chopped and fried

1/4 C pine nuts, roasted

1-2 flatbreads, pre made. I love Brooklyn Bred's Pizza crusts: See them here - Trader Joe's now has their own that looks just the same!

For the Chipotle Mayo:

1 C mayo

2 chipotle peppers, in adobo sauce

2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tsp garlic powder

Directions

PRE PREP:

(This can all be done 1-2 days ahead of time)

1.) Roast the garlic. (See how I make my garlic confit and garlic infused olive oil here)

2.) Roast the two red peppers

Place the peppers on a baking sheet, and place into the oven at 450 for about 25 minutes, or until the skin blisters. Remove from the oven, and place into a plastic bag to cool. Allow the peppers to cool, and remove the skin. Slice into strips.

Time Hack:

Save time by buying pre-roasted peppers. Such as these: Trader Joes Fire Roasted Red Peppers

3.) Roast pine nuts. Heat an oven to 375 and roast until golden (about ten minutes)

The pine nuts can be roasted while you roast the garlic, and before the oven is turned up for the peppers.

4.) Fry the pastrami.

I like using Romanian or Steak pastrami from my local butcher. Slice it up into small strips, and add to a fry pan on medium high, with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Stir and fry until the meat becomes crisp. Remove from the pan and allow to drain over a paper towel lined dish.

5). Place chicken breasts, 1/3 C BBQ sauce mixed with water, garlic, salt, and pepper into a croc pot on low.

Allow to cook for 6-7 hours (or overnight if for shabbos)

If your croc pot has a setting where you can set a timer, I set a timer for about 9 hours, after which the croc pot switches to "warm" until the time of eating.

If you are making this on a weeknight, Follow the aseembly below, and simply pop it in the oven under the broiler for about 7-10 minutes or until crispy.

SHABBOS DAY:

I keep my garlic, pastrami, and red peppers in a small foil pan and allow it to sit ontop of the croc pot shabbos morning to warm.

The Chipotle mayo can be made shabbos morning, or ahead of time.

The Flatbread can be on a blech (it gets deicious when it gets crispy on the bottom this way!)

Chop avocado.

Begin assembly:

When you are ready to begin assembly, remove the chicken from the croc pot, shred in a bowl, and add 1/2 C BBQ sauce as you shred the meat.

Use the back of a spoon to smash the roasted garlic into the flatbread.

Layer the pizza with the pulled BBQ chicken, red peppers, avocado, fried pastrami, pine nuts, and chipotle mayo.

Slice into rectangles, and serve!