Curried chicken salad

Chicken salad is another one of those classic foods that the Kitchen Witch wouldn't even try until last year. Why?? Mayo! Let me be the first to tell you when you decide you don't like something like mayo it really really really limits your food choices, especially in summer. Potato salad? Nope. Tuna salad? Oh heck no! Chicken salad?! Don't even waste my time. That's how it used to be around here until the Witch put on her big girl pants & got over her mayo aversion. Ok, sure, I still don't love mayo, but I'll enjoy some chicken salad and not be grossed out about it. How mature of me! When the weather is hot outside who wants to stand in an even hotter kitchen and cook? Not this Witch, that's for sure!! Enter the wonder that is chicken salad. There are so many versions of chicken salad, its as varied as your individual tastes. Recently my tastes were telling me curry, and rather than heat up the kitchen making a curry base I decided to just make a curried chicken salad.

Now, as you may or may not know, the Witch is a all about keeping on a budget. this chicken salad was the brain child of wanting curry, stuff on sale & what I had in my pantry. Here's how it came together and its approximate costs. Rotisserie chickens were on sale for $4 each, so I got one and picked it clean and used half of it ($2). About a month ago the store had a BOGO sale on dried fruit: I picked up some dried mangos with no real intent of how or where to use them. Seeing as how I enjoy a burst of sweetness in my chicken salad and mango is awesome with curry, I decided to dice some up and add it to the salad ($3 a bag, BOGO, $1.50 a bag, used less than 1/4 bag so about .25). Walnuts and pecans, what I had on handalong with a rib of celery added a nice crunch and nutty flavor (approx $.50 in nuts and celery). Curry powder and cardamom were in my pantry already, along with garlic and onion powders (cost less than .25 total for all spices). Lastly the mayo and sour cream were already in my fridge, I'll approximate their costs at .50 total. All in all my lunch for 2 people cost $3.50. And no heating up the kitchen, bonus!!

The flavors on this salad was so good. The cardamom and curry powder set the base flavors, spicy but not hot, rich and complex and just plain delicious. The creamy mayo and sour cream round out the flavors. Bursts of sweetness came from the mango which was a delightful contrast to the crunchy nuts and celery. And the rotisserie chicken provided its own savory delicious flavor. Next time I make this, and there WILL be a next time, I think I'll make some naan too. The curried salad on fresh soft naan would be out of this world good. If you don't have naan you can use regular bread, crackers or just eat it plain. Enjoy!

Curried Chicken Salad
makes 2 servings
1/2 rotisserie chicken, picked of its meat including wings, skin & bones discarded
1 t curry powder
2 cardamom pods ground and green pod discarded
1/8 t each garlic powder and onion powder
1/2 t kosher salt
pinch ground black pepper
1/3 to 1/2 c mayo
1/4 c sour cream
1 rib celery diced
1/4 nuts, walnuts and pecans
4 slices dried mango, diced

Mix the spices with the mayo and sour cream. Stir until very smooth and allow to rest for about 20-30 minutes.

~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: When ever I'm making a salad or dressing I like to use powdered or granulated garlic and onion. You get all the flavor with out the sharpness that fresh can give you. It is important to let your dressing rest for about 30 minutes before eating it as this gives time for the garlic and onion powders to rehydrate and achieve maximum flavor.~*~

Dice the mango and celery. Chop up the shredded chicken meat. Chop the nuts and add everything into a mixing bowl.

Pour the spiced mayo blend over the chicken and veggie/nut mix. Stir well to coat everything well. Best if allowed to rest for 30 minutes before serving as this will rehydrate the mango slices as well as the onion & garlic powders.



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
Amount Per Serving
Calories 604.8
Total Fat 54.6 g
Saturated Fat 11.1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 7.4 g
Monounsaturated Fat 6.6 g
Cholesterol 77.7 mg
Sodium 1,017.5 mg
Potassium 183.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 14.3 g
Dietary Fiber 2.0 g
Sugars 8.6 g
Protein 19.8 g

Mayonnaise

For over 30 years the Kitchen Witch has hated, despised and been revolted by mayonnaise. Why, I really don't know. Something about the texture, gloopy and gloppy, the flavor, kinda sour and strange, and the fact that 'everyone' said that I SHOULD like it was enough to convince me that I would NOT indeed like it, thankyouverymuch! Then one day an epiphany struck: most everything that's store bought is better, much much better, when homemade. The Kitchen Witch wondered about mayonnaise, would homemade be better than store bought? There was only one way to find out, that was to make some!

Turns out that homemade mayo isn't that hard, as long as you have a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. I've tried 3 batches of mayo now: the first was in the blender using Alton Browns recipe, the 2nd was Alton's recipe again but in the stand mixer and the last was this recipe provided by Aunt Ruth and Uncle Gene - slightly Kitchen Witched, of course. Here's my findings:

The Alton recipe has great flavor. The blender method did not work for me, it could be because my blender has a large carafe. There were chunks of unprocessed egg yolk in the blender version and it also broke & separated. It was NOT pretty I guarantee you that.

I remade the same recipe in my KitchenAid stand mixer and had much better results. The mayo didn't separate and had a nice emulsion. I also liked how Alton's recipe calls for adding the vinegar in 2 installments to denature the yolks which allows them to emulsify the oil better. Fantastic tip AB!

The 3rd is the one I'm posting here. I added a few things from AB's recipe to this one to make it more my own. It calls for a whole egg vs the yolk only and the emulsification was easier to achieve but it wasn't as thick as the yolk only version. It is however the one that I photographed so I'm posting it for you all :)

All in all I have to say that homemade mayonnaise is a lot better than store bought. The lack of artificial anything is fantastic and the flavor is astronomically better. I liked the consistency of the yolk only version so I'll be playing with these recipes more. Look for more mayo posts to come soon. Best of all I can now say that the Kitchen Witch is no longer a mayo hater, as long as its homemade that is.

Mayonnaise
makes about 20 servings, 1 tablespoon each
1 egg
1/2 t dry mustard powder
1/4 t paprika
dash ground red pepper or cayenne
1/2 t kosher salt
1 c oil (canola is fine)

Mix the vinegar & lemon juice together In a small bowl. Divide the oil into 2 bowls, 1/2 c each. Set aside.

In the work bowl of a stand mixer add your egg, spices and 1/2 of the vinegar mixture. With the whisk attachment beat the eggs until they are foamy, about 30 seconds.



Turn the speed up to 10 on the mixer and SLOWLY, and I mean slowly, add the oil, a few drops at a time. You'll want to slowly drizzle the oil in as the emulsification starts to take form.



~*~Kitchen Witch Tip: If you have a turkey baster use it to dispense the oil into the eggs. It will make your mayo making a lot easier. No baster? No problem! Simply use a bowl that will pour out in a small stream. The key to successful mayo is the slow introduction of oil to make an emulsification.~*~

Once you've added the 1st 1/2 cup of oil scrape down the sides, add the remaining vinegar mix, whisk until incorporated well. Then start to add the last 1/2 cup oil SLOWLY.

You can really see the mayo starting to come together here, its getting thick and rich.

The entire process takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Don't rush this or you will end up with an oil slick on top of some foamy eggs. I tried to outsmart it & rush things, it didn't go so well. Its gross, believe me.

After 20 minutes of whisking on HIGH speed you've got mayo!



Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople Recipe Calculator
20 Servings, 1 Tablespoon each
Amount Per Serving
Calories 100.6
Total Fat 11.2 g
Saturated Fat 0.9 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 3.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 6.5 g
Cholesterol 10.6 mg
Sodium 10.9 mg
Potassium 4.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 0.2 g
Dietary Fiber 0.0 g
Sugars 0.1 g
Protein 0.3 g