Chicken is fairly cheap and we all have some. I got tired of the same 3 or 4 dishes I always make so I went looking for something new! I picked chicken salad. Chicken salad isn’t one of my favorites, the main reason I chose it. Mayo and celery and nuts, the grapes are OK but chicken and grapes do not a salad make. Why does chicken salad have to have any of those things in it? I get that the mayo holds it together, the nuts and celery are for crunch and the grapes are for the sweet. Radishes are spicy and crunchy like celery. Apples are sweet like grapes. Hard boiled eggs can be sort of a binder. Creme Fraiche is tangy like mayo, so is sour cream and Greek yogurt. Mustard is good, pickles, banana peppers, cucumbers, olives. Why not add some cheese?
I thought about a Greek style. Olives, feta cheese, tzatziki sauce and banana peppers. I thought about more of a deviled egg kind of thing. Hard boiled eggs, mustard, bacon bits, fresh dill, miracle whip and some smoked paprika. I thought about a Caesar salad, those have chicken in them sometimes. Caesar dressing, croutons, Parmesan cheese, arugula. I didn’t consider Asian but…sriracha mayo, pickled cucumbers or carrots or daikon radish, soy sauce and sesame oil to season the chicken. BBQ chicken salad with a slaw.
I ended up with chicken thighs, radishes, mustard, creme fraiche, cider vinegar, cornichons, shallot and parsley. I wanted tarragon but my store didn’t have any and I didn’t want to shop just for an herb. I didn’t measure any thing for this, I went totally on looks. I also didn’t have enough of just one kind of mustard so I used some whole grain and some Dijon. I had wanted gherkins but we didn’t have those either.
Based on looks here is what I did. About 1/2 cup of the Creme fraiche as the base, couple of tablespoons of the mustard, maybe a teaspoon each of the cider vinegar and pickle juice. It was just thick enough to coat the chicken. I seasoned with salt and white pepper.
Now the best parts, the bits that get stirred in. Diced shallot, radish, cornichons and chopped parsley. I stashed it in the fridge for about 30 minutes so everyone could hang out and get to know each other. I toasted a brioche bun in a bit of butter so it would be crispy and soft. I didn’t use any dressing on the bun, no lettuce either. Just beautiful cold chicken salad straight on the toasted bread. The warm from the bread helped the sauce loosen up a bit. The bun was basically getting dressed with every bite.
I think I changed my own mind about chicken salad! I’m going to go Greek with the next round. Olives, sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese and tzatziki sauce stuffed into a pita.
It’s a whole new world of chicken salad! For me anyway.
Enjoy your kitchen! Turn old standards into something new!
Ali's Kitchen 