CHICKEN AND GREEN PEPPER SANDWICH

Ingredients

• 2 cups minced Cooked chicken (enough to make 2 cups when finely minced) (Use leftover roasted or poached chicken. Trim away any skin, bones, and cartilage before mincing. A food processor on pulse works well as a modern substitute for a meat chopper — pulse briefly so the chicken is finely chopped but not a paste.)
• 3 whole Large sweet green peppers (These are sweet bell peppers. Choose large, firm ones. Remove the stem, cut out the core, and discard all seeds and white membrane before mincing.)
• 0.5 teaspoon Salt (Plain table salt or fine sea salt works well.)
• 2 tablespoons Sweet cream (Sweet cream means fresh, unsweetened heavy cream or single cream. It is not whipped — use it straight from the carton. It binds the filling and adds richness.)
• 16 slices Thin slices of white bread (Use a soft, fine-crumbed white sandwich loaf. Slice thinly if your loaf is thick. Day-old bread is easier to slice thin without tearing.)
• 4 tablespoons Butter (for spreading) (Use softened, unsalted butter so it spreads easily without tearing the bread. Butter one side of each slice lightly and evenly.)
• 8 leaves Lettuce leaf (Use crisp, fresh lettuce. One leaf per sandwich, used as a serving bed beneath the sandwich triangles on the plate.)

Instructions

1. 1Take your cooked chicken and remove any skin, bones, cartilage, or tough pieces. Place the chicken into a food processor and pulse in short bursts — about 8 to 10 quick pulses — until it is very finely chopped and resembles a coarse crumble. Stop before it becomes a smooth paste; you want texture. Alternatively, use two sharp knives and chop the chicken very finely on a cutting board. You need 2 packed cups of minced chicken. Measure it out and set aside in a mixing bowl.
2. 2Wash all three sweet green peppers under cold running water. Place each pepper upright on a cutting board. Slice off the top around the stem and discard. Cut the pepper in half lengthways, then use a small spoon or your fingers to pull out and discard all of the seeds and the white pithy membrane inside — these can be bitter and add unwanted texture. Chop the cleaned pepper halves into rough chunks, then place them into the food processor. Pulse 8 to 10 times until very finely minced, similar in texture to the chicken. Alternatively chop very finely by hand with a sharp knife. Set the minced pepper aside.
3. 3Add the minced green pepper to the bowl containing the minced chicken. Use a fork or spoon to mix them together thoroughly until evenly combined. Make sure the pepper is distributed throughout the chicken with no large pockets of either ingredient.
4. 4Measure out half a teaspoon of salt and sprinkle it evenly over the chicken and pepper mixture. Then measure 2 tablespoons of sweet cream and pour it over the mixture. Stir everything together well with a fork until the cream coats the mixture and the filling just holds together lightly. It should be moist but not wet or soupy. Taste and adjust salt if needed, keeping within the stated quantity.
5. 5Make sure your butter is softened — leave it at room temperature for 20 minutes beforehand if needed. Lay all the bread slices out on a clean work surface. Using a butter knife, spread a thin, even layer of softened butter across one side of every slice. Butter right to the edges. The butter creates a light barrier that prevents the filling from making the bread soggy.
6. 6Lay out pairs of buttered bread slices with the buttered sides facing up. Spoon a generous, even layer of the chicken and green pepper filling onto one slice of each pair, spreading it to the edges. Press the second slice of bread on top, buttered side facing down onto the filling. Press gently but firmly so the sandwich holds together. Repeat until all the filling is used.
7. 7Using a sharp bread knife or a large sharp kitchen knife, cut each assembled sandwich diagonally from one corner to the opposite corner to make two triangles. For neater cuts, press down gently on the sandwich with one hand while you slice. You may trim the crusts off first if you prefer a more refined presentation — the original recipe does not specify, so this is your choice. Cutting into triangles gives a classic tea-sandwich or finger-sandwich appearance.
8. 8Place one or two large, fresh lettuce leaves on each serving plate, arranging them flat to act as a bed. Lay the sandwich triangles on top of the lettuce leaf. Serve immediately for the best texture, as the cream filling may soften the bread if left to sit too long.