A retro chicken salad recipe using a unique technique of poaching a whole chicken slowly to keep it extra moist and flavorful.
Chicken Salad à la Danny Kaye
This retro chicken salad recipe uses a unique whole chicken poaching technique to keep the meat extra moist. The chicken is slowly simmered in broth with aromatics. Once cooked, the chicken is shredded and then combined with a Dijon mustard dressing, mayo, tarragon, and grapes for crunch. The result is a moist, flavorful chicken salad inspired by actor Danny Kaye.
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 1 chicken, about 3 ½ #
- ½ sliced carrot
- 1 small leek, washed and left whole
- 1 rib celery, washed and left whole
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black peppercorns
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 7 cups warm water, enough to cover the chicken
Dressing:
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp finely chopped garlic
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp Tabasco
- 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Garnishes:
- 1 dozen Boston lettuce leaves
- 2 dozen fresh tarragon leaves
Directions
- Place the chicken in a narrow pot, breast side down. Add remaining ingredients. Water should come about 1” above the chicken. Bring to a gentle boil and boil for 5 minutes, covered. Remove from heat and let it sit in the hot broth for 30 minutes (until breast reaches 165).
- For Chinese Cold Poached Chicken, chop the chicken into 2” pieces.
- For the salad recipe, let chicken cool on a platter and then shred meat from bones, discarding fat, skin and bones.
- Mix the dressing ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken also. Add chicken shreds to dressing, toss gently. Place chicken on top of the lettuce leaves, either on a platter or on individual (4) plates and top with the tarragon leaves.
- Save the chicken stock for later use.