I was trying out a Curried Chicken Salad recipe – kindofa riff on Coronation Chicken Salad – and needed some cooked chicken.
Sure.
I could have picked up a rotisserie chicken at the market, or perhaps had planned things better so that we enjoyed a Pressure Cooker Whole Chicken, and then used the leftovers.
But I did not have my act together quite that much, and so, I looked at options.
Poached chicken?
Yeh, that could work!
And, apologies if you all new about this method and have been using it for years, but I really haven’t, until now; so, bear with me.
INGREDIENTS
•Handful basil leaves
•1 small onion, halved
•1 small carrot, halved
•1 stalk celery, halved
•1 garlic clove, minced
•1 tsp fresh grated ginger
•3 cups no salt added chicken stock
•2 cups water
•1-1/2 lb chicken tenders
•1 tsp dried parsley
•1 tsp dried thyme
•1 tsp black peppercorns
•1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt
•1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
Add the basil leaves, oni0n, carrot, celery, garlic, and ginger to a large pan.
Add the chicken tenders, the chicken stock and water, and the seasonings.
Bring to boil, then cover and simmer for 5 minutes, until the tenders are firm to the touch, then remove from the heat, uncover, and let rest in the cooking liquid for 30 minutes.
Note: want to use bone-in chicken pieces? No problem! Simply increase the simmering time to 25 minutes.
Once the chicken has been poached and rested, remove from the pan and use it as you will.
My 1-1/2 pound of tenders gave me 3-1/2 cups of chopped chicken for my salad.
Which was pretty darned tasty, with dried cherries and cream cheese and curry powder and pineapple and pecans and…
well, all those details, tomorrow…