Chicken Salad

When looking for a recipe Marthastewart.com is usually the first place I turn to. However her recipes can call for ingredients that are expensive and/or hard to find. I don't mind paying more for quality but I do have issues with blind faith. I HATE spending more on recipes that just do not work. My experience with Martha Stewart's recipes are that they are either complete hits or complete disasters. Anyways I branched out to foodnetwork.com to try a few recipes. The first was a chicken salad recipe. Ode to chicken salad I do thee, Let me count the ways - and all that jazz. In simple form I imaged chicken salad to just be mayo, chicken, and celery. In fact, freshmarket sells some of the best chicken salad I have had, and appears to be a rather simplistic recipe. Here is the recipe I used from foodnetwork. Admittedly I wasn't overly impressed the first night but over time I have become fond of this recipe.


4 cups diced poached chicken, recipe follows
1 stalk celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice
4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced or 1/4 cup sweet onion cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon or fresh dill
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 cup prepared or homemade mayonnaise
2 teaspoons strained freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a mixing bowl, toss together the chicken, celery, scallions and herbs. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Add to the chicken and mix gently until combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Cook's Note: Serve on a bed of lettuce with sliced tomatoes, in half an avocado or in a chicken club sandwich made with artisanal bread, crispy smoked bacon, vine-ripened tomatoes and lettuce.

POACHED CHICKEN FOR SALADS
10 sprigs parsley
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 small onion, halved
1 small carrot, halved
1 stalk celery, halved
3 pounds chicken breasts halves, on the bone and fat trimmed
5 to 6 cups chicken broth, homemade or low-sodium canned

Put the parsley, thyme, onion, carrot, celery, and chicken breasts in a medium saucepan. Cover with the broth, and bring just to a boil. Lower the heat to very low and cover. Poach the chicken for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Remove the pan from the heat, uncover, cool the chicken in the liquid for 30 minutes.
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and reserve the liquid. Bone and skin the chicken and cut the meat into 1 inch cubes. Discard the bones and skin.
Strain the broth and store, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 days or freeze for later use. Remove any fat from the surface of the broth before using. Yield: 4 cups cubed chicken or 4 to 6 servings


Changes I made and things to keep in mind:
* table salt is not a substitute for kosher sale, the latter having less of a salt taste.
* I added apple slices, red grapes, and walnut which I think were of benefit to the recipe. This also increases the serving size. I would say the serving size is more like 6-8.
* I didn't use any dill
* I used dried thyme for the broth.