Email to Cat      

Chicken Salad

Source of Recipe

From "See You on Sunday" by Sam Sifton


Recipe Introduction

"I spent my college years working in a restaurant and in the small take-out shop the kitchen ran alongside the dining room. The clientele ran to professors and actors from the repertory theater down the street, local professionals with little time on their hands for cooking. One of the best dishes I made there was for the shop: chicken salad, a righteous, old-line WASP version of it, down to the use of grapes, jarred mayonnaise, and roasted walnuts. It was and remains a perfect summertime picnic dinner. What differentiates it from the chicken salad most of us make (apart perhaps from the grapes and walnuts) is that it is a purpose-made chicken salad. It contains no leftovers. Instead, you poach a whole chicken—poach two if it's to be dinner for more than six, and double the dressing—then strip the cooled bird down to the bone: moist, flavorful meat from breast to thigh. The poached meat reduces the need for mayonnaise and allows the chicken flavor to sing. Discard the skin and save the poaching liquid as stock. (You can omit the Bibb lettuce serving cups if that feels too fancy, and just make a raft of sandwiches instead.)"

List of Ingredients

For the chicken:
â—¦ 1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds
â—¦ 1 bay leaf
â—¦ 1 carrot, peeled and cut in half
â—¦ 1 celery stalk, trimmed and cut in half
â—¦ 10 to 12 black peppercorns

For the salad:
â—¦ 2 celery stalks, trimmed and finely chopped
â—¦ 1 small bunch green or red grapes, rinsed and cut in half
â—¦ 1 handful roasted walnuts, roughly chopped
â—¦ 1 cup mayonnaise, or to taste
â—¦ 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (juice of ½ lemon)
â—¦ Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
â—¦ Bibb lettuce leaves
â—¦ 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves


Recipe

Make the chicken. Combine the chicken, bay leaf, carrot, celery, and peppercorns in a heavy pot with a lid and just cover with water. Cover the pot and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the chicken to cool, then strain the stock and reserve for another use.

When the chicken has cooled sufficiently to touch, remove the skin and discard, then tear the meat from the carcass. Roughly chop the meat into chunks and place it in a large bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator to cool some more, or until you're ready to prepare the salad.

Make the salad. To the chicken in the bowl, add the celery, grapes, and walnuts, then the mayonnaise and lemon juice and stir well to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste (and a touch more mayonnaise, if necessary). Serve in cups of lettuce leaves, garnished with tarragon, or in sandwiches.