All Ron Burgundy jokes aside, this recipe that uses scotch in the bbq sauce is seriously a revelation. One of our good friends had given us a nice bottle of scotch, and not being huge scotch drinkers at the time, we decided to cook with it. Little did we know how incredibly it would turn out, or that the smokey flavors of bbq would drag the caramel and oak from the scotch in a way that makes this sandwich a roller coaster ride of flavors. The avocado then mellows it out and you land on a creamy gouda finish. This, my friends, is a masterpiece.
Start off by baking your chicken breasts at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until there is no pink in the middle and they are firm to the touch. Take them out and let them cool, then use two forks to shred the chicken. Set aside for later.
While the chicken cooks, use a medium saucepan to cook the bacon strips. Should be about 3-4 minutes on each side on medium-high heat. When they are done, leave the bacon grease in the pan and dice up the bacon into tiny bits.
In the pan that you used for the bacon, add the bbq sauce, bacon bits, black pepper, and scotch. Keep the heat on medium-high so we can burn off the alcohol from the scotch and get our sauce nice and thick once more. If it starts to boil, reduce heat until it simmers.
When the sauce is thick once more and the scotch is mixed in, add the warm sauce over the shredded chicken and toss to coat. If you're like Christina and don't like them super saucy, use about half and then you can always dip them in it later.
Cut the ciabattas in half and toast them lightly. Add a slice of gouda to each ciabbatta roll, then smother in chicken. Cut the avocado into slices and add to the top of each sandwich. Finish with some fresh cracked pepper.