50 States Sandwich Challenge: Alabama

Welcome to the first ever 50 state sandwich challenge.  Since travel is discouraged for the remainder of 2020 (and possibly 2021, fuck you, COVID), I decided to start my own culinary quest from the comfort of my Jersey Shore kitchen.  I came across a fun article on Delish.com that listed (slide show, whatever you get it) every state's most iconic sandwich.  What it didn't show is exactly how or why each sandwich was iconic to their state so I figured why not put that ole college minor (in history) to good use and help you guys fill in the blanks.   Oh, and because I never did get around to creating my YouTube channel "Bro Kitchen" in college (probably because I took a minor in History), I'll also give you guys step by step directions on how to make all of these yourself, if you're inclined, winter is coming and we need something to do.  So why did I pick Alabama first?  Because of the alphabet, that's why.  I'll be going through these in alphabetical order to keep it honest and fair, and then (in one year), I'll ruthlessly rank all of them.  

BBQ is synonymous with American cuisine; with each region and state holding different (sometimes hostile) opinions on which methods or sauces are correct.  It's true that Alabama did not invent pulled chicken sandwiches, but what's unique to Alabama BBQ is the dairy-based white sauce that it's served with.  In 1925, Bob Gibson opened his first BBQ shop in Decatur, Alabama with his signature white sauce already created.  80 years and 4 generations later, Gibson's BBQ is still operating out of Decatur, with Bob's white sauce becoming available worldwide.  Pretty incredible.  But why? Why did he decide to use mayo as a BBQ sauce base? He has since passed away, but speculation from family members indicates that in order to keep his pit chickens from drying out over the three hour cook time, he had to use a high fat (mayo) buffer.  Vinegar is already a known ingredient in most BBQ sauces, but mayo was such a radical idea in the 1920s that people could not believe it.  And it worked! People still flock to Decatur just to try Gibson's BBQ chicken which is dipped in a vat of white sauce before serving. 

Since I do not own a meat pit to smoke the chicken, I will be slow cooking chicken thighs in a crockpot and even though I had the option to buy the white sauce pre-made at the store, I decided to make mine from scratch.  This was a really simple sandwich to start with and I'll show you how I did it in six easy steps.  But first here are the ingredients I used. 

INGREDIENTS

• 4 bone-in chicken breasts
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke (I used hickory Sweet Baby Rays)

WHITE SAUCE

• 3/4 cup mayonnaise 
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Place your chicken (I used thighs because they're juicier), in your slow cooker, and cover with chopped onion.  

2. Combine melted butter, vegetable oil, paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, liquid smoke (again hickory Sweet Baby Ray's). Then pour it on your chicken/onion.  The marinade should look like this.

3. Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 5 hours.  Literally, anyone could do this. 

4. Meanwhile, it's time to make that white sauce.  Whisk together all of the ingredients listed above, cover, and refrigerate for later.  Crack open a beer, you have 5 hours to wait. 

5. After 5 hours, the chicken should be ready to go, so take it out of the crockpot and save 1/4 a cup of the liquid.  Shred the chicken and return it to the crockpot with the 1/4 cup of the reserved liquid and mix in about 1/3 cup of the white sauce.  Leave on warm until ready to serve. 

6. Take your pulled chicken and put it on a hamburger bun.  Scoop some more sauce on there and put some pickles on top.  Congrats, you just made a sandwich. 

7. (Optional) Crack open that beer and have yourself a Friday, you earned it.