Chicken Parm Sub: Magazines who love pop culture
The Sub Club List #2
We are hard at work getting your badges loaded onto your Chill Subs profiles. (We do this manually so bear with us). We’re also working on tier-specific emails to let you know your discount codes and party news. Remember, for Club Sub Tier members, you can submit your story for feedback & tailored list to the forms in our May Calendar post.
We’re so amazed at the response so far! 500 readers! This week, we’ve added a new section to this list called ‘Catch the feels’ for each magazine. These are a couple of pieces from the magazines that will give you a feel for what they’re looking to publish.
Coming this week: Closing list for magazines & contests on Monday. And for our special list on Thursday, we’re thinking of magazines that accept previously published works (w/ some sort of twist) or international outlets/magazines with a focus on ‘international’ stories. Got a preference? Let us know in the comments.
Incorporating TV, movies, video games, and viral internet references can be a great way to grab readers’ attention and touch on the human experience —two ingredients that make a publishable piece.
Pop culture can act as a container, helping you get to the heart of what you want to say by analyzing or critiquing something that’s popular in the media. It also gives you permission (not that you need it!) to write about your obsessions. We all have a movie or a song or a TV show that changed our life or influenced who we are immensely or that we just love to weave quotes from into our daily conversations for our own amusement. Roxanne Gay says, “If it gives me pleasure, I don’t need to feel guilt.” In other words, permit yourself to write what interests you.
Don’t know where to start? Read the best in the biz for inspiration! Zadie Smith, Giaae Kwon, Susan Sontag, Roxane Gay, David Sedaris, Morgan Jerkins, Hilton Als, Leslie Jamison, Samantha Irby, Hanif Abdurraqib, Melissa Febos, Kristen Arnett, and Esmé Weijun Wang —just to name a few!
Our features magazines this week are great places to try and get your pop culture-themed essays, nonfiction pieces, interviews, and even fiction published.
Okay, so about that chicken parmesan sub.
This sandwich is going to require some work but trust me, the reward will be great. This recipe will also require you to read carefully and follow directions which you should be doing when submitting your work to magazines anyway, so this is good practice. See, I’m using the gift of sandwiches to help you get published.
Ingredients list:
Chicken cutlets (or thick slices of eggplant if you want to make this vegetarian!)
Flour
Panko bread crumbs
Eggs
Fresh Mozzarella
Tomato Sauce
Parmesan cheese
Sub rolls
Prepare your battle breading station with three bowls: one for bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese mixed together, one for two eggs beaten, and one for flour. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and then coat each cutlet in flour. Shake off the excess, then dip into egg, then coat with bread crumbs. Once you have your cutlets breaded, you can fry your chicken in a pan, air fry it or bake it in the oven at 350° -whichever you prefer. Set aside.
Now time for the sauce. My Italian grandmothers are putting a curse on me right now as I tell you to open your jar of tomato sauce and warm it up in a small bowl. But I am considering your time and resources, so I will deal with the curse accordingly so that you can enjoy this sub in under 15 minutes. (But seriously, if you have the time and/or an Italian grandmother to help, make the sauce from scratch. It's superior).
Place your sliced sub rolls on a baking sheet and toast for about a minute, until golden brown. Then, on the bottom half, layer up your chicken cutlets and top with mozzarella. Back in the oven to get that cheese all melty. Add spoonfuls of your tomato sauce and close your sandwich. Take a giant bite and hear the angels sing.
Special dipping sauce options: Don’t think this one requires any. But if you have a favorite, let us know.