Cooking, mexican, soup

Pozole Verde

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The other day my husband bought a huge jar of hatch green chiles from Costco. He thought it was salsa. I guess since it contains garlic and salt, one could consider it a salsa, but I had a feeling it would not get finished before it started getting moldy in the fridge, so I decided to make a green pozole.

I am only familiar with making red posole, a New Mexican style hominy stew that’s thicker than Mexican-style pozole. Both contain hominy and pork. I’m assuming a Mexican-style pozole verde uses tomatillos and green chiles (I’ve never made it) so I decided to improvise and not look up any recipes for pozole verde. I knew I could make a flavorful hominy stew with chicken thighs, jarred hatch chiles and store bought salsa verde.

The salsa verde contains tomatillos, jalapeños, coriander, and arbol peppers, which gave the soup some kick and brightness. I added one packet of Bare Bones instant bone broth to add some dimension to the soup. Cooking the thighs with the bone in creates a more robust broth as well.

This turned out to be so flavorful with a deep, but not overwhelming, spice to it. The chicken thighs are fall-apart tender and because I used dried hominy, the kernels have the perfect chew to them. The hominy thickens the soup as it simmers so now I have a recipe for another kind of pozole that I enjoy almost as much as the rojo variety.

Note: you can use canned hominy for this recipe and it will significantly reduce the cook time. I’ve included a note at the end about how to use canned instead of dried.

Pozole Verde

Pozole Verde

Serves 6-8
Total prep & cook time (not including soaking the hominy): 4 1/2-5 hours or 1 1/2 hours if using canned hominy.

Ingredients:

  • 5 ounces dried hominy, soaked in water overnight (or one 28-ounce can of cooked hominy)
  • 3 green onions
  • 7 garlic gloves, divided
  • 1 tablespoon salt, plus more for seasoning
  • 5 bone-in, skin on chicken thighs
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 1 packet of Bare Bones instant bone broth (optional)
  • ¾ cups jarred hatch green chiles
  • 1 1/4 cup salsa verde
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • Sour cream, for serving
  • Fresh cilantro, for serving
  • Flour tortillas, for serving

Directions:

1. After you’ve soaked your hominy overnight, drain it and place it in a slow cooker. Add enough water to cover the hominy by three inches. Toss in the green onions, 3 smashed garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon salt. Slow cook for 3 hours (I have an Instant Pot and I set it to high). Drain, discarding the green onions and garlic, and set aside until ready to use.*

2. Pat dry the chicken with paper towels and sprinkle both sides with salt. Heat a large dutch oven over medium high and add the thighs skin-down. You may have to do this in two batches. Cook until the skin is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook the other side for a few more minutes. Remove thighs from the pot and set aside. This renders a lot of fat and we only need a little bit of it to cook the onions. Drain all but 2 teaspoons fat and reserve it for another time you want fat with flavor (I store it in my freezer after it’s solidified). Remove the skin from the chicken and if you want a little snack, place it back in the pot and fry until completely brown and crispy. Or just discard it. I wanted the skin on to render the fat because chicken fat has more flavor than olive oil.

3. While you munch on chicken chicharrones, toss the onions into the pot with the remaining chicken fat. Saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Roughly chop the remaining garlic and add that to the pot. Stir and cook another two minutes until the garlic is fragrant.

4. Add the chicken thighs back to the pot along with the hominy, stock, Bare Bones packet, hatch green chiles, salsa verde and bay leaves. Add some freshly ground pepper to your liking. Cover the pot. Bring to a simmer, turn down heat, and cook for an hour. 

Carefully remove the chicken thighs from the pot and transfer them to a cutting board. With a fork and knife, remove and discard the bones and gristle. Shred or roughly chop the chicken thigh meat and return to the pot. Simmer for another half hour. Add salt to taste.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of fresh cilantro and flour tortillas.

*If using canned hominy, skip this step and just drain the canned hominy and start at step 2.

Pozole verde
breakfast, Cooking

Skillet Quiche with Potato Crust

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I’ve never been very good at quiches. Sure, mix some eggs and milk and some meat and veggies and bake it in some kind of crust, but it usually comes out too eggy. I don’t want an omelette, I want something my fork can slice through like a custard.

There’s a cafe in Anchorage that used to serve the richest, most creamy quiche and I want quiche like that. I also can’t be bothered with a pastry crust, which is why I have come up with a potato crust based on that trendy dish where you smash potatoes with the bottom of a glass and bake them at high heat. Also, forget the quiche pan! Just bake it in a cast iron skillet. It’s non-stick and straight sided enough to support the potato crust after you cool it and serve up a slice.

Warm quiche out of the oven is good, but next day quiche after it’s solidified in the fridge is even better. And if you happen to have duck eggs, sub in a couple instead of chicken eggs and use one fewer chicken egg. It makes for a luxurious custardy quiche.

This recipe is flexible. Use whatever veggies suit you. Just chop them up small and parcook them first. Don’t have bacon? Use diced up ham or breakfast sausage. Don’t have cheddar? Use parmesan or gruyere.

The world is your quiche!

Quiche

Skillet Quiche with Potato Crust

Serves 6-8
Total prep & cook time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds baby Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed
  • 1 ½ tablespoons salt for boiling potatoes, plus more for seasoning
  • 4 ounces bacon or breakfast sausage
  • ½ yellow onion or 6 green onions, diced
  • 4 ounces veggies such as broccoli, asparagus, spinach (precooked and drained) and peas
  • 1 tablespoon butter, plus extra
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon 00 flour (AP flour would work too)
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
  • ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheese , (sharp cheddar and/or parmigiano reggiano)
  • Dots of butter

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450F. Place the whole, unpeeled potatoes to a large pot and add enough water to cover them by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, then add 1 ½ tablespoons salt. Reduce heat to medium and boil until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. Drain well and set aside.

While the potatoes boil, chop the bacon into small pieces. Chop your veggies into small pieces as well. If using precooked spinach, squish out as much liquid as possible and finely chop.

Set a 10-inch cast iron pan (or a heavy-bottomed, oven-safe pan) over medium heat and add the bacon. Cook until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set in a small mixing bowl. Add the onions and veggies to the bacon fat and sauté, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. (If using precooked spinach, just add the onions in this step and add spinach to the bacon and onions after the onions are soft.) Transfer veggies to the bowl with the bacon, mix and set aside. 

Wipe out the skillet and place it in the oven until the potatoes are done. This will help make the crust crispier.

When the potatoes have cooled enough to handle, remove the skillet from the oven and coat it all over with the butter. Sprinkle the pan lightly with salt. Add the potatoes to the cast iron skillet in a single layer. 

Use the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to press the potatoes firmly into the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the pan, closing any gaps with a rubber spatula to form a crust. Place in the oven for 15 minutes then turn down the heat to 350F.

While the crust bakes, whisk the eggs, milk, cream, flour, ½ tsp salt, pepper, paprika, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously for a minute to incorporate some air into the mixture. Stir in the bacon, onion and cheese. 

Remove the skillet from the oven. Pour the filling into the potato crust. Top with dots of butter. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the filling is set (it shouldn’t jiggle when you jolt the pan) and is an internal temperature of 160F. Let cool for 15 minutes.

appetizers, recipes

My Mama’s Haroset

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Haroset, or charoset, is a traditional fruit and nut spread served at the Passover seder. My mom has been making it for decades and doesn’t use a recipe. This year I watched her make it and wrote down a recipe.

It’s super adaptable. For instance, she only had pistachios this week instead of pine nuts, and prunes instead of dates. Basically, if you’re throwing together chopped up apples, dried fruit, nuts, wine and honey, you’ll get some kind of haroset. It’s delicious on crackers or sometimes I just eat spoonfuls of it.

Mama’s Charoset

Serves 6

Ingredients:

  • 3 apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup prunes or dates, roughly chopped
  • 1/3 cup golden raisins
  • 2 tablespoons dark raisins
  • 2 tablespoons shelled pistachios (or pine nuts), roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup red wine of your choice
  • 2 tablespoons honey

Directions:

Place apples in a food processor and pulse till they are medium chunks. Add apricots and prunes to the food processor and pulse until the apples are fine chunks and the apricots and prunes are medium chunks. Empty into a mixing bowl and add the raisins, pistachios, red wine and honey. Mix until well combined.

Take a taste test; add more honey and wine to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to four days.

Cooking, recipes, side dishes

Creamed Carrots

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I recently came across an Instagram reel from Corre Larkin for Julia Child-inspired creamed carrots. I’m always at a loss for how to serve cooked carrots and this recipe is a game changer. It is so flavorful and satisfying. The carrots are coated in silky, tangy gravy. Gravy is liquid of the gods!

Since her video doesn’t list the exact measurements, I tried finding the original recipe in my copy of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” and it’s quite different from how Corre Larkin made them. Julia Child’s Carrotes à la Crème recipe has fewer ingredients and a lot more cream.

So I came up with my own version of these recipes. This side dish is perfect for a Costco rotisserie chicken night. Whatever jus has gathered in the bag I add with the chicken stock. I put the chicken in a 200F oven while I make the carrots so the bird stays warm.

Creamed Carrots à la Corre Larkin à la Julia Child

Serves 4
Total Prep and Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 onion, halved and sliced into half-moons
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 pounds carrots, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 tablespoons sake or white wine
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1-inch sprig of fresh rosemary (optional)
  • 2-3 cups chicken stock
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons cream
  • pinch of nutmeg

Directions:

In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the onion slices, salt and pepper to taste and the bay leaves. Stir till everything is coated in the butter. Turn heat to medium low, cover and cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft.

In the meantime, trim the ends off the carrots and cut them oblique style.

When the onions are soft, add the carrots and stir till they are coated. Cover and cook another 10 minutes.

Add the flour and stir so it’s coating the ingredients. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the sake or white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping any bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the thyme, rosemary and enough stock to just cover the carrots. You don’t want them swimming in stock. Stir until the flour has been incorporated into the stock. Turn up the heat to bring to a simmer, then turn back down, cover and cook for another 10 minutes or until the carrots are tender.

Remove the cover, add the vinegar, cream, and nutmeg, and let simmer for 5 minutes to thicken slightly.

Remove the bay leaves, thyme and rosemary and serve immediately.

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Apple Cranberry Sauce

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Cranberry sauce always seems like the dish that gets most forgotten about at the Thanksgiving table. The tart cranberry – who needs that when you’ve got rich gravy, juicy turkey, creamy mashed potatoes, and buttery stuffing?

I agree with Samin Nosrat that cranberry sauce is a necessary part of the Thanksgiving menu as it’s one of the only acidic dishes to make an appearance. It cuts through the buttery, the creamy and the richness. It also is the most beautiful dish to accentuate your holiday table with a ruby-red glow.

You could easily open up a can, slide it out onto a platter and call it a day, but with minimal effort you could have a gorgeous side dish that’s sure to delight your Thanksgiving guests.

I add apple to my recipe because it counterbalances the tartness of the cranberries and it’s my foolproof method to ensure the sauce thickens. The apples become the same color as the cranberries so no one will even realize they are there.

I use foraged lowbush cranberries (also called lingonberries) but you can use the cranberries from the grocery store and it works the same way.

Easy Cranberry Sauce with Apples

Serves 6-8
Prep & Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 12-14 ounces cranberries, fresh or frozen
  • 2 cups finely diced apples (peel the apples first)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1/3 cup apple cider
  • 1 cinnamon stick

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to a pot and heat over medium high, stirring all the while. When it comes to a simmer, turn down the heat and cook until the cranberries have popped and the apples are soft, about 15-20 minutes (till it looks like jam). Gently smash the berries with a wooden spoon against the side of the pan as they simmer. At first it’ll seem like it’s never going to look like cranberry sauce and then it transforms and becomes deep red and sort of glossy.

Let cool, remove cinnamon stick, transfer to an airtight container, and store in the fridge till ready to serve.

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My Favorite Thanksgiving Stuffing

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My dad’s stuffing recipe has been a family tradition for as long as I can remember. Many years ago I took over making the stuffing and now it’s technically considered dressing because we don’t stuff the turkey anymore and I prepare it in a slow cooker. Not only is this less likely to cause a food-borne illness it also makes the turkey cook faster and frees up oven space. The slow cooker makes the stuffing fluffy and moist – you’d never know it wasn’t resting inside the cavity of a bird for several hours!

If you don’t have a slow cooker, I provided oven instructions at the end of the recipe.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Natasha

Daddy O’s Thanksgiving Stuffing

Serves 8-10
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 celery stalks, chopped
  • 6-8 ounces sliced crimini or button mushrooms
  • 1.5 packets of breakfast sausage links
  • 1 cup cup golden raisins
  • 1 can of medium black olives, drained and chopped
  • 14 oz. bag seasoned bread cubes (or two boxes of Mrs. Cubbison’s since there are fewer cubes in the boxes)
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 3/4 stick of butter
  • About 1 cup chicken stock

Directions:

Start making this when you’re ready to eat breakfast. This way you can eat a couple of sausage links with some eggs while the other ones are cooling.

Brown all the sausage links in a big sauté pan. Once they are cooled, chop them into little rounds.

Secret ingredient: meat

Add 2 tablespoons butter in the sauté pan and heat on medium-high. Add the celery, onion and mushrooms and cook till everything is softened, about 7 minutes.

In a very large mixing bowl, add the breakfast sausage, celery, onion, mushrooms, bread cubes, raisins, olives, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly with your hands (they are truly the best tool for this).

Cut the remaining butter into little cubes and mix into the stuffing. Periodically pour in the chicken stock between mixing so everything is well incorporated. You don’t want to overdo it with the stock as it can make everything soggy, so splash some in here and there until the cubes are moistened but not saturated.

Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray and add the stuffing. Dot with a little more butter if you have some.

Cover the slow cooker and turn it to low. Let it cook for 4-5 hours. Don’t remove the lid until you’re good and ready because it takes a long time to reheat a slow cooker.

When dinner is ready, transfer to a pretty serving dish, reserving any extra in the covered slow cooker to keep warm.

Oven method: Follow the same instructions using a large Dutch oven and bake at 275F for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. 

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Beef Stew with Anchovies & Thyme, Revisited

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Years ago when I was a newlywed trying to impress my husband with my cooking skills I found a recipe for a lamb stew in a random cookbook and would make it often using beef instead. He really loved it and I thought I did too. I even blogged about it, but I stopped making it and eventually forgot about it.

A few months ago my husband asked me about that dish and why I never make it anymore. He requested I make it again. I was surprised to find my hastily written blog post about it and when I read through it I realized how much I’ve learned as a cook in the past 15 years. My original recipe doesn’t cook the flour – I just toss it in with the wine and stock. It only calls for braising the stew meat for 30 minutes. No wonder I remember this dish as being tough and difficult to digest. It needs to be slow cooked in the oven like a proper stew so the flavors can meld and the meat can get nice and tender!

So with my seasoned chef’s hat securely on my head, I set to reimagine this recipe and make it more palatable but with the same flavors my husband yearned for. I turned to the stew queen herself, Julia Child, whose boeuf bourguignon recipe is pretty much considered the holiest of stew recipes.

I’ve hybridized her recipe with mine. And I quite like it!

Beef Stew with Anchovies and Thyme

Serves 4
Total prep & cook time: 3.5-4 hours

Ingredients:

  • 6 ounces bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 2-3 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 1 medium carrot, roughly sliced
  • 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 cups red wine
  • 1 1/2 – 2 cups beef or chicken stock
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 6 anchovy fillets, minced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • Parsley, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450F.

Bring 1 1/2 quarts of water to a boil and add the chopped bacon. Simmer the bacon for 10 minutes and then remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate. Dab the bacon pieces dry. This removes the smoky flavor from the bacon so it doesn’t overpower your stew.

In a large enameled Dutch oven, heat the oil. Add the bacon pieces and cook until bacon is browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate. Pat dry the beef pieces and add about 1/3 of them to the Dutch oven. You don’t want to add too many or the pot will cool down and the meat won’t get nicely browned. Brown the beef, turning with tongs till there’s a nice crust on them. Place on the plate with the bacon. Repeat with the remaining pieces of beef in batches till it’s all browned.

Add the chopped carrot and onion to the pot and sauté until onion is starting to brown, just a few minutes. Drain the remaining oil from the pot.

Place the bacon and beef pieces back into the pot and add the salt and pepper. Sprinkle the flour all over till the beef is coated in the flour. Place the Dutch oven in the oven for 4 minutes. Remove, stir the beef, and place in the oven for another 4 minutes. Place the pot on the stove and turn the oven down to 325F.

Pour the wine and stock into the pot and add the garlic, anchovies and thyme. The liquid should just cover all the beef pieces, so add more stock if you need to. Bring this to a simmer, then cover and place in the oven for 2 1/2-3 hours or until the meat is falling apart tender.

Remove from the oven and bring to a simmer on the stove over low flame. Skim off any excess fat from the stew. Stir in the frozen peas until they are thawed and heated through. If the stew liquid is too thin, simmer over the stove until some of the liquid evaporates. If the liquid is too thick, add a little more stock.

Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with potatoes or egg noodles.

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Roasted Delicata Squash Soup with Chicken and Corn

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It’s dinnertime yet again and I’ve got a leftover Costco rotisserie chicken taking up space in the fridge. I also picked up some delicata squash, which I never know what to do with. Soup time!

I love inventing soups. I use some pantry staples, rummage around in the fridge for other ingredients and an hour later I’ve got something wholesome, healthy and delicious on the table.

Roasted Delicata Squash Soup with Chicken & Corn

Serves 6-ish
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

  • 2 delicata squash
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 ear fresh corn
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 2 medium carrots, chopped
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1/4 cup white wine (I used sake)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, stem discarded
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme, stems discarded (or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme)
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 1 can white beans, drained
  • 2 cups chopped leftover rotisserie chicken meat
  • Cream, for serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F. Chop off the ends of each squash and cut them lengthwise. There is no need to peel them. Scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Place the squash halves on a sheet pan and coat inside and out with the olive oil. Bake for 30 minutes or until squash is fork tender.

Meanwhile, chop the kernels off of the corn and set those aside. Don’t toss the corn cob because it goes into the soup!

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed 4-quart pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions, celery and carrots. Sprinkle with a little salt and sauté until onions are soft, about 7 minutes. Add the white wine and let it bubble away for a minute or so.

Add the bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, chicken stock and the corn cob. Bring to a simmer, cover, and let simmer for about 20 minutes, until the carrots are soft.

Remove the squash from the oven. Roughly chop the squash and add it to the pot along with the drained beans. Cover again and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the corn cob and bay leaf from the pot and discard.

Remove pot from heat and blend with an immersion blender until it’s a consistency you like. I like mine a little chunky.

Place pot back on the heat and add the chicken bits and corn. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serve with dollops of cream.

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Salmon Smashburgers

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Everyone has a salmon burger recipe. But THIS salmon burger recipe is really, really good. My friend Matt adapted a Mark Bittman recipe and served them up to my family a few months ago. I coined them “salmon smashburgers” by the way he haphazardly tossed balls of the salmon mixture into a pan and smashed them with a spatula (I cover a potato masher in parchment paper and secure with a rubber band around the handle. This keeps the salmon from sticking to the masher).

These burgers are so good, no bun is needed (but you can certainly add a bun if you’d like). They are moist, super flavorful, and a total hit.

This is also a great way to use the extra salmon meat when you’re filleting salmon. I filleted about 70 sockeye salmon over the past week and I used a serrated grapefruit spoon to scrape away any meat I might have left on the ribs after I filleted each fish.

Salmon Smashburgers

Makes about 4 burgers
Cook time from start to finish: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless salmon
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 3 scallions
  • 1/2 cup panko
  • Juice of half a lime
  • 1 tablespoon capers
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • Arugula, for serving
  • Sriracha mayo, for serving (See recipe below)
  • Lemon or lime wedges, for serving

Sriracha mayo:

  • 1/3 cup Kewpie mayo (the non-American kind with MSG is the best)
  • 2 tablespoons Sriracha (or more to taste)
  • Juice of half a lime
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions:

Cut the salmon into chunks and place a quarter of it in a food processor with the mustard. Turn on the food processor and and let it run, scraping down the sides if necessary, until it’s a paste.

Add the scallions and remaining salmon and pulse the food processor until the fish is chopped and well combined with the salmon puree. The salmon pieces should be about 1/4-inch big.

Scrape the mixture into a bowl and stir in the panko, capers, salt and pepper. Form into four equal balls and set on a plate.

Combine all the ingredients for the Sriracha mayo and set aside.

Heat a griddle or large frying pan over medium high and melt the butter. When the foam subsides, add each salmon ball, smashing it down so each one is nice and thin. Cook till browned, about 3-4 minutes, then flip and cook the other side for 1-2 minutes.

Serve on a bed of arugula and top with Sriracha mayo and a squeeze of lemon or lime.

Salmon smashburgers
Cooking, salad

The Best Chicken Salad

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Chicken salad has always been “meh” to me. I don’t mind the flavors, but I’m not a fan of big chunks of cold chicken. It turns out it is mostly a texture thing for me. The other day, the Instagram algorithm suggested a reel from Rachel Halldorson that I had to try. She uses a leftover rotisserie chicken in a creative way and puts the chicken in a food processor. Having a consistent texture in my chicken salad is what does it for me apparently!

I highly recommend her method of making crispy chicken skin to top off a chicken salad sandwich, but I wanted to jot down my version of her chicken salad recipe here so I don’t forget it.

The Best Chicken Salad

Serves 4-5

Ingredients:

  • 2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 of a medium onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 pound leftover rotisserie chicken meat, chopped into chunks
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 cup Duke’s mayonnaise
  • 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Toss the celery and onion into a food processor and pulse till it’s coarsely chopped. Add the chicken and pulse until chicken is finely chopped, but not too fine as to create a paste. Place mixture in a mixing bowl and stir in the mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. It should have the consistency of tuna salad.

Serve on toasted, buttered bread, havarti cheese, and finely chopped romaine lettuce.

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