Winging it: Chicken salad sandwiches

I used to be a diehard recipe follower. Now I'm less afraid of messing up something. I'm not completely at ease just mixing random things without measuring. Ingredients are too expensive to throw away and I am too picky to eat my mistakes. But I have come to trust my palate more and will occasionally wing it.

I must really be taking risks in my sleep-deprived state of late because I mixed up some chicken salad for sandwich filling to serve at a church luncheon reception with only a vague notion of what I was going for and a quick glance at a couple of recipes. Tyler Florence helped only marginally. I didn't boil my chicken with onion, carrots and celery and save the stock but someday I will. A review of Baltimore's Atwater's restaurant sparked the notion of adding dried cherries as well as the golden raisins I planned. The resulting sandwich wasn't bad -- no complaints but no requests for the recipe (unlike my Rocky Road Brownies, which drew raves.)

Here's what I did -- as best as I can remember as I threw it together early this morning on just a couple of hours' sleep. I'll give you the brownie recipe for good measure.

CYNTHIA'S CHICKEN SALAD
1 4-pound whole chicken
olive oil
McCormick's French Herb Roasting Rub
1 small jar Hellman's Mayonnaise mixed with a heaping tablespoon of powdered mustard
a cup or so toasted walnuts, chopped
a half-cup or less dried cherries, coarsely chopped
a half-cup or so golden raisins
a couple of stalks of celery, cleaned and finely chopped
3-4 green onions, finely chopped

Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with the seasoning mix. Roast. Cool. Skin, debone and cube the chicken meat.

Mix with the other ingredients and spread on white or wheat sandwich bread. Cut in halves and arrange artfully on a platter.

ROCKY ROAD BROWNIES
1 box Duncan Hines Brownie Mix
mini marshmallows
chopped walnuts
1/2 cup or so chocolate chips
a couple of tablespoons of milk

Prepare the brownie mix according to package directions for fudgy brownies. Within the last 5 minutes of bake time, scatter some mini marshmallows on top of the batter. Don't make it a solid layer, but get it even. Return the pan to the oven to finish baking the brownies and melt and toast the marshmallows. Remove from oven and sprinkle some chopped walnuts on top. In a saucepan or the microwave, melt the chocolate chips with the milk and stir until smooth. Dribble on top of the brownies. Cool, cut and serve by, uh, arranging artfully on a platter. ;)

Comments

Dave said…
At least one fellow church goer asked for the recipe! Yumm!
October 6, 2008 at 10:49 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Family cooking contest reinvents hot dogs

Image
I'm fortunate to be virtual friends with today's guest blogger, Kara Glenn, because we share a love of food. I ogled her photos of Thanksgiving dinner one year and sent her a Facebook friend request for that reason (though I had met her in person when we worked for the same company years ago.) And I'm excited to share with you the cooking contests her family holds. Without further delay, meet Kara. Kara Glenn lives in Morgantown with her husband Trevor and Golden Retriever Kelsey. She currently works for the Department of Energy doing design work, and enjoys cooking, reading (mostly Harry Potter), blogging, gaming with her husband and spending time with her family. Here's her story of a recent family get-together over Columbus Day. One of my family's favorite activities is eating. OK, actually it's our favorite. My mom went to culinary school in New Orleans, and good food has always been the centerpiece of our gatherings. With the growing popularity of the Food ...
Read more

Farewell, My Hero (Burger)

One of my guilty pleasures -- the Hero Burger -- is gone from the market. A Hero Burger is two hamburger patties on a six-inch hero sandwich bun, topped with grilled salami and ham, cheese, mayo, lettuce and tomato and grilled onions if you wish. Late this summer I noticed that the Dairy Mart in my town became a Mountaineer Mart. Throughout the fall more Dairy Marts and All Star Expresses in my area became Circle K convenience stores. The Hero Hut sandwich stations in them closed. Finally this week I noticed that the standalone Hero Hut restaurant in Sabraton has also shuttered. Chico Enterprises sold 26 stores to Circle K and at least one to Mountaineer Mart. From now on, I will only get Hero Hut's signature sandwich, my guilty pleasure -- a Hero Burger -- if I make it myself and then it doesn't taste quite the same. Hero Huts have been around since my childhood, if not before. I'm sad to see them go.
Read more

Old-fashioned candy: January Thaw

Image
Among my fondest memories of growing up in an Appalachian holler is the food, specifically the sweets. Late last year, foodie trend watchers predicted old-fashioned candy is going to be hot this year. I have yet to see Google return this recipe in response to my request for "old-fashioned candy." Trust me, it's a goodie. As a kid, I never gave much thought to why January Thaw was called that -- we sometimes made it in months other than January -- but a Web site that printed a recipe similar to my mom's says it’s because it looks like muddy slush. I assure you it's much tastier. And as the foot or so of snow outside my house has melted this week, the candy doesn't much resemble what's in my yard. Nor does the batch I made tonight exactly match what I remember from 25 years ago. I chalk that up to ingredients and technique and I'll throw in different elevation for good measure. While not "perfect", it's still pretty good -- who could find f...
Read more