The Chicken Salad Post for the "How To" Blog

The Do's:

1) Do use chicken breasts that have the bone and the skin;
2) Do use real mayonaise;


The Don'ts:

1) Don't use boneless, skinless chicken breasts;
2) Don't use dark meat;
3) Don't use that nasty Miracle Whip

The easy way is to put the chicken breasts in the crock pot that you got at a yard sale,

cover them up with plenty of water because there's going to be a good use for that broth later.  Plus, whatever chicken meat isn't left inside the water gets a little dry and hard.

 I turn mine upside down so that I'm sure the meat is under the water.  (I know, this picture of the chicken looks nasty, doesn't it)

When it's done, put the chicken in a colander

that you've set over in a pie plate or a bowl or something:

 and yes, I despise the blue countertops and have for the last 21 years since we moved here.

Strain the broth in a mesh strainer so that it filters out all the little pieces of bone and stuff you don't want in there:

Get the skin, fat and bone out of/ off of the chicken.  Some of the pieces of bone like to hide, so make sure you've gotten them all out before you start cutting.

Use kitchen scissors and cut across the grain of the chicken.

Add salt, mayonnaise, and little pieces of celery (I cut the celery in half lengthwise, and then cut each one of those halves in half, then cut across all four pieces).

At today's shower, however, I put celery in one-half of the chicken salad and in the other half, I put green grapes that I had quartered, and chopped pecans.

And the broth that you have strained????

Put it in the freezer until you're ready to make soup.

What soup?

Put in:

Chicken broth,
Canned tomatoes,
Cabbage that has been run through the food processor (why run it through the food processor,  you ask?  To disguise it.  Because for certain, you will be feeding someone who says they don't like cabbage),
Frozen corn,
Salt and pepper,
Chopped up chicken

Cook it until the cabbage is "clear" enough that people-who-don't-like-cabbage can't tell it's in there.

While that's cooking, make you a little cornbread and set your buttermilk on the table to go with it.

Mmm, mmm.

"Hey Grandpa, What's for Supper?"