 thing, I bought a rotisserie chicken. It was delicious, but I had about ¾ of the chicken leftover. And it’s July, so making soup did not appeal to me for the same reason that roasting a chicken didn’t appeal to me either. But chicken salad did appeal. Wash your hands and don a pair of disposable gloves that I’ve previously suggested you keep stocked as part of your ‘batterie-de-cuisine’ (your stash of kitchen tools and equipment). Directions are below for breaking down and shredding the rotisserie chicken. This recipe is based on a yield of about 3 cups or 12 ounces of shredded chicken meat, both light and dark meat combined. Adjust ingredient amounts according to the amount of chicken
you have. data-pin-do=)
Curried ‘Rotisserie’ Chicken Salad by Foodie’s Chef Laura Brennan
July 21, 2022
I wanted roast chicken for dinner last week, but I didn’t want to cook it. So, I did the next best (or best) thing, I bought a rotisserie chicken. It was delicious, but I had about ¾ of the chicken leftover. And it’s July, so making soup did not appeal to me for the same reason that roasting a chicken didn’t appeal to me either. But chicken salad did appeal. Wash your hands and don a pair of disposable gloves that I’ve previously suggested you keep stocked as part of your ‘batterie-de-cuisine’ (your stash of kitchen tools and equipment). Directions are below for breaking down and shredding the rotisserie chicken. This recipe is based on a yield of about 3 cups or 12 ounces of shredded chicken meat, both light and dark meat combined. Adjust ingredient amounts according to the amount of chicken
you have.
- Prep: 50 mins
- Cook: 10 mins
- Yields: About 1-pound/4-cups finished chicken salad.
Ingredients
1 leftover rotisserie chicken, about ¾ leftover
½ cup very finely diced red or sweet onion, divided
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons curry powder, plus more to taste
2-3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
Fresh ground black pepper
¾ cup mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lime (or about 1 to 1 ½ teaspoons of lime juice)
1/3rd cup chopped celery, very small dice (about 1 stalk, depending on size)
1/3rd cup dried cranberries, soaked in cold water for 10-15 minutes, then drained
1/3rd to ½ cup pecans, lightly toasted and chopped (by hand
Optional: 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Optional: very small pinch of cayenne pepper
Directions
Shredding the chicken
You don’t need a knife. Use your cleaned and/or gloved hands and carefully remove the skin and any string that may have been used to tie-up the chicken prior to roasting. Discard string and skin. Remove the breast meat in one or two pieces by sliding your fingers between the meat and the breastbone and lift off. Set aside. Pull the legs (2) back and snap them off the carcass. Remove any skin from the legs and thighs. Separate the legs and thighs by snapping in half at the joint. Pull the meat from each thigh (2) and each drumstick (2). Look around the chicken carcass for any other tidbits of chicken meat. Be careful to make sure you remove any small bones and pieces of cartilage form the chicken meat. Now, shred the meat: take chunks of meat and tear the meat apart into shreds. Put all the shredded meat into a mixing bowl and refrigerate while you work on the rest of the recipe.
Sauté onions with curry (to season the mayonnaise)
Divide the chopped onion amount in half. Put half of the onions into the bowl with the shredded chicken in the fridge. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a small sauté pan and heat gently. Add the other half of the chopped onions along with a pinch of kosher salt. Sauté on medium
heat until translucent, 2-4 minutes. Add the curry powder and stir to combine. Cook for another minute on low heat. Remove from heat and spread the mixture out on a plate to cool. (Cooking the curry powder like this will help the flavors ‘bloom’ and be less bitter in the finished
product/mayonnaise.)
Prep the rest of the ingredients
Soak the cranberries in cold water for 10-15 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Set aside. Lightly toast the pecans @ 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Let cool and roughly chop. Set aside. Wash and dry the celery stalk. It’s a nice touch to peel the outside strings from the celery before chopping-it’s a very French technique! Cut the celery into strips and then into small dice. Set aside.
Make the seasoned mayo
Scoop the mayonnaise into a separate bowl. Add the cooled, cooked, curried onions and the lime juice, a pinch of salt and a twist of the peppermill. Add the pinch of cayenne pepper if using. Don’t overdo it with the cayenne!! Mix well. Taste the seasoning and adjust. Set aside.
Putting it all together
Take the bowl of shredded chicken with raw chopped onions out of the fridge. Add the cranberries, the celery and the pecans and the (optional) chopped parsley. Mix gently. Add most of the seasoned curried-lime-mayonnaise and mix gently. Add more mayo if it seems too
dry. Taste and season.
