Chicken salad

[Gifted Gourmet]

Thanks for that hysterically funny story! I won't follow this particular recipe, if you don't mind ...

[Vlcatko]

This is more of a question but I do not know if it is worth a new thread so I just ask here

Where I come from, chicken salad is one of those dishes cursed with overuse - before the revolution, chicken salad and horseradish ham rolls were pretty much your only options when you wanted something "fancy." But the main problem was there were very limited resources.

So standard "1980s Czech chicken salad" would look something like this:

- shreded leftover chicken

- diced pickles

- mayo

- diced peaches or pineapple from can (if you were lucky to get them)

It was served in half of the peach or on a soggy leaf of lettuce, garnished with a whipped cream and with a white toast on the side.

I loved it as a kid because it was the best there was at that time. I mean peaches, mayo and whipped cream?!

Nowadays I am not very fond of mayo. But I really love the simple ingredients chicken-pickles-peaches. Is this a strange combination? Would you cringe if I served you this?

My favorite combination right now is:

- shreded chicken (combination of white and dark meat, skin never makes it, I eat it all )

- finely diced pickles

- medium diced peaches (usually from can)

- mascarpone flavored with a bit of mayo or tartar sauce, sometimes fluffed up with a bit of stiffly whipped cream

- salt, pepper to taste, lemon juice optional (the liquid from pickles is also great!)

Served in whiskey tumblers (if using as an appetizer) or plated with a ring mold (if it is a main dish) with toasted baguette slices. Sometimes I add whipped cream as garnish, sometimes something green and a slice of the peach, sometimes I serve it with same sort of lettuce salad.

My question is - whould this be frowned upon in a regular bussiness? Are any of these ingredients generally considered incompatible (like sage and rosemary)?

Thak you for your input!

[Shel_B]

I like my chicken salad with tarragon ...

About 2 cups shredded chicken, a couple of spring onions or scallions, a small stalk of celery, diced, a bit of flat leaf parsley, about 2 tbs celery leaves, a tbs or so of chopped, fresh tarragon, some good EVOO and lemon juice, some white wine vinegar, and a bit of not too intense Dijon mustard, plus S&P, makes a nice starting point for a chicken salad. My preference is breast meat, but Toots likes dark meat, so we use both. As you can see, no mayo.

[gfweb]

Smoked chicken or turkey, a portion shredded but most diced. Chipotle powder to taste ( for this I prefer just a bit in the background), quartered purple grapes, diced cooked bacon, and crumbled candied pecans with just enough mayo.

[Paul Bacino]

Made this up last night and was quite impressed with the result!!

Cooked Organic Chopped chxn thighs

Chopped Fresh Fennel

Chopped Geen Onion

Chopped Celery

Flax seed

Fresh Cracked pepper

Bound with Dukes Meyo and my Pepper Relish

I made this as a late night bite, after my Soccer Game ( Dinner )

[Jaymes]

Vlacatko -

Just read your post above about the chicken salad of your youth. Can't believe I missed it the first time around. How very interesting!

Unfortunately, seems like you didn't get much of an answer to your question, so I'll try. Of course, I'm not Czech, nor am I currently in the Czech Republic, so I can only answer for myself, and for what I perceive the current "culinary climate" to be in the US.

And that's that anything goes. In my crowd, anyway, there aren't any "right" or "wrong" combinations. People love to experiment and, if occasionally something doesn't turn out particularly well, everybody just compliments you on your bold adventuresome willingness to experiment.

I think your chicken salad sounds very interesting. Wouldn't worry about the peaches. There are many, many delicious and accepted chicken salads that incorporate various fruits - grapes, pineapple, apples, etc. And nothing wrong with sage and rosemary.

Speaking just for myself, I certainly would not "cringe."

I'd consider myself to be very lucky to meet you in your beautiful country and try your chicken salad!

[Vlcatko]

Jaymes - thank you for your answer! In the two years since my original post I have come to the same conclusion - I don't really care anymore what is "IN" right now and what isn't becase I do not want to deprive myself of possibilities... I am so very sick of people saying this is the way and if you stray from it you are weird. Everyone's different and everyone's tastes are different. So thank you for reminding me that

If you ever end up in my part of the woods, I would be happy to offer you my rendition of chicken salad

[SobaAddict70]

I personally have never been a fan of fruit of any sort in chicken salad, although many people do seem to enjoy it.

My standard "American style" is chicken, green onion and celery finely diced, mayonnaise, celery salt and black pepper. I used to add a teaspoon or so of Durkee's, but then they changed the formula or something, and I'm not crazy about the new one. A pinch of dried mustard is what I use instead now.

I used to get a great curried chicken salad at a deli that was made with onion, toasted slivered almonds, mayo and curry powder (and chicken, obviously). I believe they are the only restaurant in the world that does not add raisins to their curry-style chicken salad, and I, for one, appreciated it.

Something a little out of the ordinary is chicken, diced roasted red peppers, and minced basil with garlic mayonnaise (aioli, if you prefer).

But, please. No Fruit.

I don't have much experience with chicken salad.

I think I've had it at most, less than a handful of times since I was a kid.  :blink: Hard to believe, no? Salade parisienne doesn't really count as "chicken salad", of the type that I'm thinking of; it sometimes has chicken but the resemblance ends there.

So, just like in the potato salad thread, I'll be cooking my way through this one eventually...Exhibit A will be JAZ's chicken salad tonight. I'll be making the mayonnaise from scratch too.

How do you like to make yours?

[Anna N]

I have to say that Jaz' version is pretty much my version. I'll experiment now and then but my standard is pretty much like Jaz but minus the celery salt.