Chicken Salad w/Taragon or Curry Mayonaise

Chicken Korma
July 25, 2014
Chilled Cucumber & Yogurt Soup
July 25, 2014

Title: Chicken Salad w/Taragon or Curry Mayonaise.
Description:Jack and I just came back from a short visit to friends in Massachusetts, and I was able to have a bit of a wander in the town of Plymouth. I stopped by British Imports of Plymouth and had a chinwag with owner, Unity. She has a charming shop, full of luverly British stuff. Does shipping also if you are interested — www.britishsupplies.com. After that, I had lunch with my friend in a new tearoom, called All Things Tea (www.allthingstea.net) and had a lovely luncheon. It’s not a British tearoom but very nice and pleasant. So if any of you plan to be in that area I hope you’ll stop and visit them! Summer is in full swing, and we tend to go for lighter meals. One of my favourites is a chicken salad. I serve it either with a greens salad, or in vol-au-vont shells, or those great little phyllo shells. It was always popular when we served it in our tearoom. I will feature my two favourite ways of making it. I like to cook with herbs; they can really pep up a dish. I prefer to use fresh when available but dried is acceptable also. (When cooking with either, be sure to rub them in your fingers to release their essential oils). Herbs, of course, have been used for hundreds of years in cooking, and reference to them goes way back when, because a lot of meats in pies were sometimes a bit off when sold, so they would be disguised with the herbs! Tarragon is one of my favourites and it goes very well with chicken and veal. In Victorian times it was used it more as garnish and then used by the French in their vinegars and sauces (such as Béarnaise). For full flavour it is best to use chicken on the bone, and I prefer to use chicken breasts; dark meat is a bit heavy to make a salad. It is best made ahead of time so it can chill well, and let the flavours blend. I hope you enjoy my versions.
Serves: 6
Ingredients:
6 skinned chicken breasts. 2 celery stalks. 1 cup dry white wine. Salt and pepper.

Instructions:

Place in large pan, and add sufficient water to cover all ingredients. Bring to steady simmer, and cook until chicken is cooked through (about 20-30 minutes). Strain, reserving the chicken and celery, and bring remaining liquid to a boil. Simmer until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Cool. Remove the cooked chicken from the bone, and chop finely with the celery. To 1 cup good quality mayonnaise (If you can get it, use English salad cream; if not add about ½ tsp lemon juice to the mayonnaise.), add: juice from one lemon, the reduced stock and 1 to 2 tsp. chopped or dried tarragon. Mix all well together, and add the chopped chicken and celery. Chill. (For the curried salad, omit the tarragon, and stir in 1-2 tsp curry powder and 2 Tbsp mango chutney.) Chill. Can be used as canapés in the pastry shells.

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