Sweet Tea Brine

1. In a large bowl whisk together sweet tea, water, salt, minced ginger, mustard seed, black pepper, allspice, and honey. Whisk ingredients together until the honey is completely incorporated into the sweet tea and water mixture. Set this aside until adding your chicken breast.
2. To prepare the chicken breast, place the chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap or into a large gallon ziploc bag. You will begin to pound of the breast to tenderize the meat using a meat tenderizer, rolling pin, or the back of a heavy duty pan.
3. Once you have tenderized the chicken breast and it’s thickness has reduced by half, place the breast into the brine. Brine the chicken overnight for 24 hours to have the best results, but If you are in a pinch brining for 4 hours will be ok.
4. On the following day, remove the chicken from the brine. Remove all whole spices that might be sticking to the chicken.

Apple Butter Sweet & Sour Sauce

1. To create the sauce, heat a large cast iron over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add enough cooking oil to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. Add the onion, shallot, garlic, and ginger to the pan. Cook until the onion begins to soften, stirring occasionally, this should take about 5-10 minutes.
2. Once the onions, garlic, ginger, and shallot are cooked and have softened add them to a blender pitch with the remaining ingredients. Puree until smooth and set the sauce aside until later.

Standard Dredging Station

1. Creating a standard dredging station by placing 3 separate dishes of all purpose flour, whisked eggs with water, and panko bread crumbs.
2. Heat a large cast iron over low heat with enough vegetable oil to cover the bottom by ½ inch. A high smoke point oil like canola or grapeseed works well for pan frying.
3. Bread your chicken breast by starting in the all purpose flour, covering on both sides with flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in egg wash, and finally coat in panko bread crumbs. Shake off excess before transferring over to the pan.
4. Gently place the chicken breast into the pan, laying it away from you to prevent hot oil splashing on you. Cook on each side for 2-3 minutes, Internal desired temperature for safe eating is 165F.
5. Remove the chicken from the pan and place onto a paper towel lined plate to soak up excess oil from frying.

1. In a large bowl whisk white wine vinegar and brown sugar together. Add remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Season the salad with salt to taste, cover, and place into the fridge until your fried chicken is ready.

Sweet Tea Brined Fried Chicken Sandwich with Apple Butter and Herb Salad

1. To prepare the sandwiches, cut each chicken breast in half. Spread the apple butter sauce on each side of the sandwich bun and then place the halved chicken breast on each sandwich bottom. Top each piece of chicken with about ¼ cup of the herb salad and place the sandwich bun on top and secure with toothpicks. Slice each sandwich in half and enjoy!