Waldorf Salad the Crystal Chef way

I had a pretty severe craving yesterday for Waldorf salad. I am not even sure how that happened! It is not something I have ever made, its just a dish that I always hope someone makes at a pot-luck dinner at church. I decided it was time to figure out one of my own.

I started with the following:

1 cup of celery chopped very small (if you like celery bigger, go for it but I like it small in this case)

2 cups of large red seedless grapes, cut in halves to quarters (if you are lucky enough to find the really big ones you will need to quarter them)

4 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2/3 cup of dried cranberries

1/2 cup of Duke's Mayonnaise (okay, I don't usually list a brand name but seriously, I don't believe there is any other brand better than Duke's! I am a total Duke's devotee. You can use whatever mayo you want...but I would not recommend it!)

3 tablespoons of Daisy sour cream (yep, did it again, Daisy is the only sour cream I use...)

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

In a large bowl whisk the mayo and sour cream together with the lemon juice and the sugar until nice and smooth. Next add your apples, grapes, celery and cranberries and toss well to make sure everything gets coated. DO NOT EAT IT AT THIS POINT. Put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. The flavors need a chance to marry.

Something to remember when you are making this, when chopping your apples, add a squirt of lemon juice to them while you chop so that they do not turn brown while you are making the rest of the salad. It helps.

I will tell you....the dressing does not taste the best right after you first make it. It takes 24 hours of sitting in the refrigerator and marinating with all of the fruits and celery to develop it's flavor. And it is so worth it! I know that I am the one that made it, but this is the best Waldorf salad I have ever had. Of course, tradition states one is supposed to put this salad on top of lettuce to serve, but I do not follow tradition. I just put it in the bowl and eat it. Serve it anyway you like. Just enjoy it.

PS...I added some chopped walnuts to the top right before serving. I liked the added texture. I would not add them until you are ready to serve. I like the crunch.

Chicken Salad Adventure

No one, and I repeat, no one can make chicken salad like Ms. Stella out at our church. People have been known to volunteer for events just because they know she is making it!  I do not even pretend to think that I could replicate it but I have decided its time to create my own recipe. My mother had her own version. I was not a real big fan as it was heavily laden with Miracle Whip. That stuff makes me shudder. I guess it has its place....just not in my household. A very nice lady at our church named Linda made a chicken salad recipe that had dried cranberries in it that my daughter and I loved. I used that as the basis of inspiration for my first attempt at our salad.

The ingredients I used were as follows:

• 2 stalks celery diced
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 chicken breasts, boiled, shredded and cut up
• 1 4 ounce bag of dried cranberries for salad
• Duke's Mayonnaise
• 1 lemon
• Salt and pepper
• dried dill

I found bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts on sale at Kroger. I boiled these and carefully removed the bones. This is a great opportunity to save the chicken stock for later. (I'm going to freeze mine in ice-cube trays!)  Just be very careful to get the bones out of the chicken.  Set the chicken aside to cool while you dice your celery and onions small.  Even my picky oldest daughter will eat this.  She loves chicken salad! She usually does not eat anything with vegetables but as long as the celery and onion are small, she eats!

After dicing the celery and onion, I shredded then cut up my chicken.  I like to shred the chicken with my hands. This way I can feel for any bones I may have missed the first time. After shredding and chopping the chicken, I mix in my celery and onion. I am still using my hands at this point.  I did not use all of the celery and onion.  It is a matter of taste at this point. As I mixed it in, I watched the ratio as I added it.  I really did not want the celery or onion to out-gun my chicken.

After washing my hands I decided it was time to switch to a spoon.  Here is where the measuring goes out the window! Once again it comes down to a matter of taste.  I cut my lemon in half and only squeezed half into my chicken/celery/onion mixture.  I tossed in the bag of dried cranberries and stirred.  Next I added the first of what was to be three large tablespoons of Duke's Mayonnaise.  I kept stirring.  Added salt, pepper and approximately 1/2 teaspoon of dill weed.  I stopped. I tasted. I added more mayo.  More salt. More stirring.  This is where you just have to go with your gut....or more with your taste buds.  I did not want soupy chicken salad.  I did not want salty chicken salad.  I knew if I accidentally added to much dill weed my kids would not eat it.  It was a ballet of chicken salad in the kitchen.  Eventually I stopped adding things and called in the BIG GUNS.  My seventeen year old son has no problems telling me like it is when it comes to my cooking.  He came in.  He took a bite, nudged me out of the way, grabbed the bread and made himself a sandwich.

Later he came into my office and declared it was good.  He thanked me for dinner and asked me to make it again.  He said it needed a little something more.  "Mayonnaise?" I asked.  "No." he said.  "More crunch?" I said. "No, but maybe more of the dill weed next time." Hmm...I was surprised.   Stay tuned for the next chicken salad adventure...