Julia Moskin's Best Chicken Salad Recipe

    What lifts chicken salad up is the pure, clean texture of breast meat – one of the  very few really good uses for this almost entirely flavorless cut. Poaching it is the only way to get the right texture. But if the water boils, the meat contracts and stiffens and is ruined.

To counter this, some years ago Julia Moskin adopted a Chinese method for poaching that is foolproof, low maintenance and ideal for summer cooking. All it requires is a heavy pot – enameled or plain cast-iron is ideal – and a bit of nerve.

This is because you do not cook the chicken. Instead, you slip it into boiling water, turn off the heat and then walk away for at least two hours. 

Over time, the gentle but steady residual heat cooks the chicken through, giving it a texture the California chef and interpreter of Chinese cuisine Barbara Tropp called “plush” – perfect for chicken salad. (It turns out that the Southern-cooking doyenne Edna Lewis poached her chicken in much the same way.)

Choose a heavy pot or Dutch oven with a tightfitting lid. It should be large enough to hold the chicken snugly, but not much bigger. Fill pot about 2/3 full with cold water, but don’t put the chicken in yet. Boil some extra water in a teakettle.

Add 2 scallions and 6 peppercorns to the water, cover and bring to a rolling boil. Turn off heat and slip 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts into the hot water. If needed, add boiling water from the kettle to cover chicken with water by 4 cm. Replace the lid and let chicken rest in the hot water for about 2 hours. Do not turn the flame back on: The pot will retain enough heat to cook chicken thoroughly and safely. (To test, cut into 1 piece of chicken and check the meat near the bone. If it is still pink, return the pot to low heat, bring the water to a simmer and simmer 10 minutes more.)

Lift chicken out of the pot. Remove and discard bones, skin and fat. Pat the meat dry with paper towels, then cut or shred into small bite-size pieces and transfer to a bowl. (Meanwhile, simmer cooking liquid until tasty, strain and refrigerate or freeze to use as chicken stock.)

In a bowl, whisk together juice of 1/4 lemon, 70g mayonnaise and 40g creme fraiche. If using, whisk in 1/2 tsp Dyon mustard. Taste and adjust the seasonings and thickness to your liking. Pour over chicken, scraping the bowl clean with a rubber spatula.

Add 1 sliced stick of celery, 1/2 sliced red onion, 1,5 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves and salt and pepper. Toss gently but thoroughly. Refrigerate, covered, at least 4 hours. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. 

Serve as shown above, with walnuts and apple julienne, as a small appetizer.

Or, as a lunch, with salad, crackers, grapes and cherry tomatoes

(Recipe Julia Moskin, New York Times)

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Julia Moskin's Best Chicken Salad Recipe

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