Best Poached Chicken Salad With Chopped Vegetables Recipes

POACHED-CHICKEN SALAD WITH THINLY SLICED VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Make the poached chicken: Bring water, wine, chicken, fennel fronds, tarragon, salt, coriander, and peppercorns if desired, to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover, and let stand for 35 minutes to cook chicken through. Shred chicken; discard skins and bones.
• Make the vinaigrette: Whisk together oil and vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.
• Make the salad: Combine lettuce, vegetables, apple, and tarragon in a large bowl. Add chicken. Drizzle with some vinaigrette, and toss. Serve remaining vinaigrette on the side.

POACHED CHICKEN BREASTS WITH PARSLEY-ONION SALAD

Steps:

• Place racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven, and heat oven to 275 degrees. In the microwave or in a small pot on the stove, heat chicken stock until it comes to a simmer.
• Pull skin off chicken, keeping the skin in large pieces, and spread out on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Place chicken breasts in a small baking dish, cover with hot chicken stock and add bay leaf.
• Thinly slice 3 of the garlic cloves. In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, toss together garlic slices, tomatoes, olives, 3 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Top with the rosemary sprig.
• Place pan with chicken skin on top rack and chicken and tomatoes on bottom rack. Toss the tomatoes occasionally. Bake everything until chicken skin is golden, the chicken breast is cooked through (a thermometer inserted in the center should read 155 degrees), and tomatoes are starting to shrivel. This will take 60 to 65 minutes for chicken skin and tomatoes; 70 to 80 minutes for the chicken. Transfer chicken skin to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt to taste, reserving the rendered chicken fat. Transfer chicken breasts to a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes before slicing meat off the bones. (Save stock for another use; it can be frozen for up to 3 months.)
• Grate 1/2 teaspoon zest from the lemon, then cut lemon into wedges. Finely grate remaining garlic clove into a medium bowl. Add a squeeze of lemon juice from one of the wedges, and a pinch of salt. Pour some of the reserved chicken fat over garlic, then toss with parsley, lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and red-pepper flakes. Break up chicken skin into bite-sized pieces and toss into parsley mixture along with the red onion. Serve immediately with the tomato-olive mixture and chicken, drizzling with olive oil, if you like.

THE BEST CHICKEN SALAD

Steps:

• Whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, 1 tablespoon salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl.
• Toss together the chicken, celery, shallot, dill and parsley in a large bowl.
• Add the dressing to the chicken and mix gently until combined. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to overnight to meld flavors. Garnish with chives.
• Put the parsley, thyme, onion, carrot, celery and chicken breasts in a medium saucepan. Cover with the broth and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to very low and cover. Poach the chicken until firm to the touch, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, uncover and cool the chicken in the liquid for 30 minutes.
• Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and reserve the liquid. Bone and skin the chicken and roughly chop the meat into about 1/2-inch pieces. Discard the bones and skin.
• Strain the broth and store, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 days or freeze for later use. Remove any fat from the surface of the broth before using.

CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD

Steps:

• Remove the tough outer leaves of romaine and discard. Wash and dry the remaining leaves. Tear into medium pieces, and place in a salad bowl with the chicken, croutons and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan.
• Place the garlic in a mortar and pestle with a little salt, and mash to a paste. Add the anchovy, and mash together with the garlic. Stir in the lemon juice. Add the vinegar, mustard, coddled egg yolk, salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil. Shortly before serving, toss with the salad. Sprinkle on the herbs and remaining Parmesan, and serve.

POACHED CHICKEN AND VEGETABLES IN BROTH

Steps:

• Pour the water into the pot, set it over low heat to get started, and add the seasonings-salt, peppercorns, porcini, bay leaves, and cheese rind. Cut up all vegetables as follows, and drop them into the pot:
• Cut the leeks crosswise into 4-inch lengths, but don't slice them open.
• Cut the carrots and parsnips crosswise into 3-inch lengths; slice thick sections lengthwise in half or quarters, so all pieces are about 1 inch thick (throw the skinny pointed ends of the parsnips into the broth too).
• With a vegetable peeler, shave off the outer layer of the celery stalks, then cut crosswise into 3-inch lengths.
• Slice the celery root into 2-inch, roughly square chunks.
• Trim off the tough root end of the fennel bulb, but leave the core intact so the leaves are held together; slice the bulb into six or eight wedges, through the core.
• Trim the onions but leave the root ends intact, so the layers are held together.
• When all the vegetables are in the pot, put on the cover and turn the heat to high. Bring the water to a rolling boil, set the cover ajar (I prop it up on a big wooden spoon), and lower the heat to maintain a moderate bubbling. Cook the broth and vegetables for about 30 minutes, while you prepare the chicken.
• Remove the giblets and neck from the chicken, rinse well, and drop them all (including the liver) into the broth. Rinse the chicken under cold running water. Set it on a cutting board; chop off the tail piece and add it to the pot. Pull off all clumps of fat and discard. Twist and fold the wingtips against the neck, so they stay in place under the breast.
• Put the seasonings into the body cavity: the salt, the peppercorns, the smashed garlic cloves, and the bay leaves. Rinse the lemon, cut it in half crosswise, squeeze the juice from both pieces into the cavity, then push in the squashed lemon halves too. Press the bird's legs together, close to the body, so the cavity is covered and the chicken is compact and evenly shaped.
• Spread out the cheesecloth square and place the chicken in the center. Lift two diagonally opposite corners, draw the cloth up and around the bird, and tie the corners in a simple overhand knot. Tighten the knot so it rests on the chicken breast and the cloth is snug against the bird. Now lift the other corners of the cheesecloth and bring them together, tie in another knot, and tighten it to wrap the chicken up completely. Tie the loose ends in square knots that won't unravel.
• Finally, cut a length of twine about a yard long (I double it for strength) and tie one end of the twine under the bulging cheesecloth topknots, in a secure knot. You should now be able to lift the cloth-wrapped chicken with the string-test it now, over the worktable, because you'll need to lift the cooked chicken out of the boiling broth the same way.
• When the broth and vegetables have been cooking for 1/2 hour, uncover, and lower the chicken into the broth with your strong string. Make sure the chicken is submerged, then loop the string around a handle of the stockpot, or any anchor point. Bring the broth back to a good boil, then adjust the heat to keep a steady but gentle bubbling on the surface.
• Cook the chicken, uncovered, for 40 to 50 minutes (less for a smaller chicken, more for a larger one or if you are using a capon). Set a big bowl close to the chicken pot. Turn off the heat, grasp your twine, lift the chicken bundle straight up above the stock, and lower it into the bowl.
• Let the chicken rest in the cheesecloth while you check the vegetables-they should be soft but not falling apart. Cook longer or lift them out of the broth with a spider or other big strainer, into a big bowl. Ladle a bit of hot broth onto the vegetables, and cover with foil or a pot lid to keep them warm.
• To free the chicken, lift it from the bowl onto a tray, a board, or a big piece of foil, which will catch the juices. Cut the twine, untie the cheesecloth knots-try to keep the cloth whole-and unwrap the bird. Spoon out the lemon, bay leaves, and other seasonings from the cavity and discard. To keep the chicken warm, put it back in the bowl, doused with fresh hot broth and covered.
• To strain the broth, drape the moist cheesecloth inside a colander or large strainer and set it over a big pot or bowl (you'll still have several quarts of stock). Pour the broth through the cheesecloth. Taste it for flavor; use (and store) as is, or bring it to a boil and reduce it if you want to concentrate it.
• To make a two-course meal, cook some thin pasta such as capellini or stelline (little stars) or rice in the broth and serve with some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for the first course. Then serve the chicken, whole or cut up, on a warm serving platter, surrounded with the vegetables. (If they have cooled off, warm them up in broth.) Pass around salsa verde and/or pepper sauce at the table.
• For my family, I like to carve the whole hot chicken at the table and assemble plates, arranging a few pieces of every vegetable around the chicken and spooning 2 tablespoons or more of salsa verde all across the top of the chicken and vegetables, with more salsa verde on the side.
• For the dressing, put 1/2 cup water, 3 tablespoons white vinegar, and 1 teaspoon honey into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Drop 3 tablespoons of golden raisins into the pan, and poach them gently for 4 minutes; then lift them out with a slotted spoon. Return the liquid to a boil, and cook rapidly until it is reduced to 3 tablespoons. Pour the dressing out of the pan to cool.
• Toast 3 tablespoons pine nuts in a dry pan until golden.
• Shred chicken meat to make 3 cups or so. Put the chicken in a pan with a few spoonfuls of broth (or water), and toss the shreds over low heat just to warm up and refresh. Put the shreds in a mixing bowl, and toss with the warm vinegar-honey dressing, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt-or more to taste. Scatter the plumped raisins and toasted pine nuts over the chicken, and toss together.
• Arrange the salad on a bed of greens, on a large platter or individual salad plates, and serve while the chicken is still slightly warm.
• This recipe gives you the bonus of several quarts of tasty broth. Whether you serve the broth as a soup right away, or save most of it for future meals, garnish it with any of the choices suggested for Turkey Broth (page 80): passatelli, tagliolini, quickly cooked tender spinach leaves, Cheesy Crostini (page 60), or just a heap of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano.