SimplEdibles: CHICKEN SALAD SANDWICHES

RECIPES THAT WOULD MAKE YOUR MOTHER PROUD OF YOU BECAUSE YOU’RE GOING THE EXTRA MILE AND STARTING FROM SCRATH

Now we're really getting down to basics. I think almost everyone likes a good chicken salad sandwich, but here you have 'the real thing' which means starting with a real chicken and not just canned chicken or frozen chicken or the kind of chicken that comes all cut up in little packages from the meat department of the grocery store. At least you don't have to go out and catch this chicken and bring about its demise and then clean it out and pluck all the feathers from it. Gratefully, that part is all done for you but still it's a chicken, the whole thing and not just a few parts here and there. After that, it's all easy peasy with just a few ingredients but delicious taste and it makes quite a lot so you'll be able to make LOTS of chicken sandwiches. Actually, you can do quite a few things with chicken salad like:

Stuff a scooped out tomato
Place it on top of a halved avacado
Make an open-face sandwich
Fill a toasted pita pocket
Add sliced mango and toasted almonds
Add chopped apples and curry powder
Add fresh tarragon and minced red onion
Add diced red bell peppers and chopped scallions
Add peas and crumbled bacon
Put on top of a toasted English muffin and cover with cheese; then broil until bubbly.

However, here we're just making simple chicken salad sandwiches which is my favorite way to eat it. So,

here is how you do it:

1 3-4 lb. chicken

1 gallon of water in a large pot or enough to cover the chicken.

1. Put the chicken in the pot, cover it with water and bring it to a boil.

2. Cover the pot with a lid, lower the heat and simmer for one hour.

3. Remove the chicken, allow it to cool, take away all the skin and bones

4. Cut up the chicken into small pieces. Then add:

2 C. finely sliced celery (I use a food processor)

1 small onion also thinly sliced (optional)

2 C. mayonnaise

1. Mix well together, then chill overnight until ready to use.

Here is the chicken:

In the pot, ready to be cooked.

Cover the pot to bring to a boil.

Here is the chicken completely cooked.

Here is the chicken without the bones and skin.

The chicken now completely diced into small pieces.

Shredding the celery and onion into a small bowl with a food processor.

Ready for the mayonnaise

Ready to eat or to be chilled which I think tastes much better.

After the chicken has been removed from the pan, continue boiling the water which is now broth until it has been reduced by half. After it has cooled in the pan, pour the broth into a quart jar(s)

and refrigerate it so the fat will rise to the top and can easily be removed. This will be used in tomorrow's recipe for carrot soup.

I do like to eat my chicken sandwiches on homemade rolls and so if you feel up to it and really want to do the 'from scratch' thing, here is the recipe and how I make them. Otherwise, just pick up some fresh rolls from the bakery which will be every bit as good.

First, I do use a bread maker when I'm making a small batch but only to knead the dough and rise once. This is the recipe I use:

1 1/2 C. warm water

1/2 C. dry milk

1 tsp. salt

1/4 C. sugar

2 T. oil

4 C. good quality flour

2 1/2 tsp. yeast

The thing I like about a bread mixer is that you can put all the ingredients into it at night, set it on the dough setting and then let it sit overnight and push the 'start' button in the morning when I get up so it can be kneading and raising while I'm getting breakfast ready. This is just to save time.

After it's ready to take out of the bread maker, I put it on a clean, floured surface and roll it into a big ball, cut it in half, then roll the smaller balls into a big circle.

I cut each circle into eight even pie-shaped pieces, roll them up and put them on a greased or sprayed cookie sheet and allow the rolls to raise for approximately one hour.

Once they are big enough, I bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes or until they are brown on both the top and bottom.