Chicken Bacon Pressed Picnic Sandwiches — Built for a Backyard Full of People Who Showed Up

One year of writing for RecipeSpinoff. Fifty-two weeks. Fifty-two posts about food and my kids and my mother and my smoker and the life I built after the one I broke. I didn't think I'd last a month. When Emma signed me up, I figured I'd write three posts and forget about it. I'm not a writer. I'm a guy who sells refrigerators and smokes brisket. But fifty-two weeks later, here I am, and I'll tell you something I didn't expect: writing about food is different from cooking food. Cooking feeds people's bodies. Writing about why you cook, who you cook for, what it means — that feeds something else. Something harder to name. Thank you for reading. I don't know how many of you there are — I don't check the numbers because numbers make me anxious and I have enough anxiety — but whoever you are, thank you. I hope something I wrote made you want to cook dinner instead of ordering takeout. I hope something I wrote made you call your mother. I hope something I wrote made you think: maybe I should show up. Maybe I should pay attention. Maybe the things worth having are the things you tend to patiently. Let me tell you about this week. The weather turned. Houston in late March is glorious — seventy-five degrees, blue sky, everything blooming. Bluebonnets on the highway medians. The air smells like jasmine and fresh-cut grass and possibility. I cooked outside all weekend. Saturday: Ma's pho, as always. I sit at her table and eat and she asks about the kids and I tell her. This ritual has been unbroken for eight years. It will stay unbroken as long as she's here. Sunday: I smoked a whole pork shoulder for the neighborhood. Twelve hours, post oak, Mr. Clarence's rub with my Vietnamese additions. Ray came over with Maria. Hector brought his kids. Tam brought beer for himself and sparkling water for me. Tyler helped me pull the pork, which requires two forks and patience. Emma made the coleslaw — her version now, with lime and fish sauce, which she perfected on her own without me telling her how. Lily ran around the yard with the Nguyen kids and ate two servings of rice with pork juice poured over it. I stood at the smoker as the sun went down and I thought about the year. Fifty-two weeks of feeding people and writing about it. Fifty-two weeks of showing up. That's all I've got. Showing up. For the smoker, for the meetings, for my kids, for my mother, for the kitchen, for the page. Next week is week one of year two. I'll be here. Same smoker. Same La Croix. Same stubborn belief that food is the best thing we do for each other. See you Monday.

When you’re twelve hours into a smoke and the yard is full of people — Hector’s kids, the Nguyen kids, Ray and Maria, Tam with his sparkling water contribution on my behalf — you learn fast that the smoker can’t do everything. These pressed sandwiches are what I make when I know the pork shoulder is going to be the headliner but I need something ready the moment people arrive, before the main event is pulled and rested and plated. The raspberry honey mustard is sweet and sharp in exactly the right ratio, the chicken and bacon hold up well pressed and wrapped, and you can make the whole thing hours ahead and let the cooler do the work while you tend the fire. Fifty-two weeks in, this is the kind of recipe that taught me what “feeding the neighborhood” actually means: it means thinking ahead, stacking the work, and making sure nobody waits hungry.

Chicken Bacon Pressed Picnic Sandwiches with Raspberry Honey Mustard

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes (plus 1 hour pressing) | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 large ciabatta loaf (or 6 ciabatta rolls), halved lengthwise
• 2 cups cooked rotisserie chicken, thinly sliced or pulled
• 8 strips thick-cut bacon, cooked until crisp
• 6 slices Swiss or provolone cheese
• 1 cup baby arugula or butter lettuce
• 1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• Raspberry Honey Mustard:
• 3 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• Pinch of kosher salt

Instructions

1. Make the raspberry honey mustard. In a small bowl, whisk together the raspberry jam, Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, and salt until smooth and fully combined. Taste and adjust honey or vinegar to your preference. Set aside.
2. Butter the bread. Spread softened butter evenly over both cut sides of the ciabatta loaf (or rolls). This creates a light barrier that keeps the bread from getting soggy during pressing.
3. Spread the mustard. Spread the raspberry honey mustard generously over the bottom half of the bread. Don’t be shy — this is the flavor backbone of the whole sandwich.
4. Layer the fillings. Layer the cheese slices directly on top of the mustard, followed by the chicken, then the bacon strips, then the red onion. Finish with the arugula or lettuce on the top half of the bread before closing.
5. Wrap and press. Close the sandwich and wrap it very tightly in two layers of plastic wrap, then in a layer of aluminum foil. Place the wrapped sandwich on a baking sheet and set a heavy skillet, cast-iron pan, or a second baking sheet weighted with canned goods directly on top. Press for at least 1 hour at room temperature, or refrigerate pressed for up to 8 hours.
6. Slice and serve. Unwrap the pressed sandwich and slice into individual portions. The layers will be compact, cohesive, and easy to eat outdoors. Serve at room temperature. If transporting to a picnic or cookout, keep wrapped in foil in a cooler and slice on-site.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 29g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 820mg