Last month a poultry brand that I had not heard of before, Gold’n Plump, offered me some samples of their chicken to try cooking at home. The company is based out of Minnesota and sells their products at Target. Most of the chicken I buy is store brand (ie. Fairway), so I was interested in checking out a different brand.
I received a couple packages of ground chicken, a package of split breasts and drum sticks. I started off with the ground chicken and made a ragu. Normally ground chicken is awful, dry and tasteless, but the combination of the simple ragu method with this delicious ground chicken turned it into something else all together. I think ideally I might mix some of this chicken with some veal or lamb and do a chili.
The second dish made with the chicken was chicken salad. To be fair, my mom technically made this chicken with her recipe for chicken salad, but I enjoyed and have since made it. No pictures will go along with the recipe, but the salad did NOT last long in the fridge. The recipe doesn’t call for celery or any other add-ons, but I prefer finely diced celery, maybe some chopped almonds, even curry powder and raisins for curried salad. The key here is the poaching liquid for the chicken.
Poaching Chicken Breasts/Chicken Salad
Adapted From Nantucket Open-House Cookbook
Fill a large saucepan/pot with water and pour in some white wine or dry vermouth.
Add to the water: sliced whole onion, celery leaves, sliced carrots, fresh parsley, salt and fresh ground pepper. Then add boneless chicken breasts. Bring the pan/pot to a full boil, and then turn it off, letting the heat of the liquid finish the cooking process. The breasts will be moist and tender. Let breasts cool, remove from liquid and cut breasts into cubes.
In a large bowl, mix the cubed chicken with a spoonful or two of the stock from the pot, mayonnaise, meyer lemon juice, white vinegar, salt and more fresh ground pepper. Adjust to taste.
You can mix it up with curry powder, grapes, apples, more herbs etc.
Never thought about adding some of the poaching liquid, although I tend to use leftover grilled/baked chicken rather than poaching. I love adding chopped apple and nuts to my chicken salad.
It is my mom’s trick. I usually use leftover chicken or roast some for the salad. I am a fan of cashews, apples and curry powder!