Ina's Curry Chicken Salad -- It's the best!!!

 Curried chicken salad is probably my favorite type of chicken salad.  This Barefoot Contessa staple is outstanding.  Instead of baking chicken breasts, I (read: Keith) shred a rotisserie chicken from Costco.  The dressing really is best in a food processor vs a whisk.  The food processor blends the fruit chunks from the chutney.  Also, I add all the nuts at once, though it causes the nuts to eventually lose their crunch.

Hope you give this one a try!

Ina's Curried Chicken Salad

8 cups shredded chicken (approximately 1 rotisserie chicken shredded)

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/3 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup Major Grey's chutney (non negotiable)

3 tablespoons curry powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup diced celery (about 2 large stalks)

1/4 cup chopped scallions (green onions), white and green parts (2 scallions)

1/4 cup raisins

1 cup roasted and salted cashews

Shred chicken and place in large mixing bowl; set aside. 

Combine mayonnaise, wine, chutney, curry powder, and salt in food processor fitted with a steel blade.  Process until smooth.

Pour dressing over chicken, enough to moisten well (I usually use all of it).  Add celery, scallion, raising, and cashews.  Mix well and refrigerate before serving.  

Celery stuffed with Brandied Blue Cheese

 Oldy but a goody.  Blue cheese, walnuts, and celeery always work.  Here's a yummy recipe for parties or Sunday afternoons.

Celery with Brandied Blue Cheese Spread

1/4 cup walnuts

1/2 cup (2 oz) crumbled blue cheese

1 tbsp cream

2 tbsp butter, cut in pieces

1 tbsp brandy

salt and pepper to taste

Celery, cut into 2 inch pieces

In food processor, corsely chop walnuts (this step can also be done by placing in a Ziploc and hitting with a wooden spoon). Remove nuts from food processor and set aside.  Add blue cheese, cream, butter, and brandy to food processor and process 5-7 seconds.  Season with a little salt and pepper to taste.  Add walnuts and pulse several times to distribute evenly.  Tranfer to storage container and chill.  Spoon onto to celery and serve.  

Onion Rings Flatbread with Comeback Sauce

 If you don't already follow SaltnPiipa on instagram, you should.  This father and his elementary school son create some really good recipes.  I made this "flatbread" for the Super Bowl.  I put flatbread in quotes, because it really tastes like onion rings or onion ring loaf.  We ate it with ketchup, but I think it would also be excellent with ranch dressing or fry/"Comeback" sauce.

Onion Rings Flatbread

1 1/2 Onions (sliced)

1 Red onion (sliced)

1 2/3 cups Flour

1/4 cup Olive oil

1 1/2 cups Water

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Black pepper

1/2 tbsp Garlic powder

1/2 tbsp Paprika

1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (grated on top)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400.  Line a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan with parchment paper.  Drizzle olive oil on the paper and set aside. 

Slice onion into thin half-rings. Set aside.  In large mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients, except parmesan cheese. 

Fold onions into the batter and combine until all the onion rings are separate and coated.  Pour mixture onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet and spread to cover the entire surface (keep on the parchment for easy clean up). Sprinkle on the parmesan cheese.

Bake at 400F for 45-50 min or until crispy.

Comeback Sauce

 1/2 cup mayonnaise

 2 tablespoons ketchup

 2 tablespoon hot sauce (like Texas Pete)

 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Whisk together.  Refrigerate leftovers. 

Matthew McConaughey's Tuna Salad Recipe

After NEVER eating tuna salad growing up - traumatized by my sisters disgusting and smelly tuna salad in the fridge - I'm slowing learning to appreciate it.  Here's another tuna salad recipe that lives up to the hype. 

Matthew McConaughey's Tuna Salad

1/2 cup mayonnaise, plus more as desired

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar, since that's what I had)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons wasabi paste

2 teaspoons Italian dressing

3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion (or shallots)

3 tablespoons finely chopped dill pickles

1/3 cup crispy jalapeño chips

1/4 cup chopped apple

1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (I used left over steamed corn)

1/2 cup frozen peas

10 ounces tuna packed in olive oil, drained (I used Costco albacore in water)

Directions:

Stir mayonnaise together with vinegar, lemon juice, wasabi, and Italian dressing in a medium bowl until combined. Add in onion, pickles, jalapeño chips, apple, corn, and peas, and stir. 

Fold in the tuna until well combined. Add more mayonnaise if desired.

Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Keith's Famous Italian Lentil Soup

 Keith has been making this soup for decades.  He started making it when we lived in Naperville, IL when Anna was a baby.  He'd make up a pot of soup in the Crockpot and make bread in the bread maker.  Yum!  The house always smells amazing when he makes it!  

Keith's Famous Italian Lentil Soup

1 large onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 carrots, chopped 

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 bay leaves

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 TBSP Italian seasoning

24 oz water

1 (32 oz) box chicken broth

2 cans whole stewed Italian tomatoes (do not drain), chopped

1 cup dry lentils

1 lb Italian sausage, browned

Combine all in a Crockpot.  Cook on high for 4 hours and low for 4 hours. Remove bay leaves. Serve with homemade bread. 

Asian Tuna Salad

 Everyone who knows me knows that I hate canned tuna.  Blech. Barf.  Smells like cat food.  Ugh. So it's no surprise that I never cook with canned tuna.  Right after Keith and I got married, I made tuna-noodle-hot dish topped with potato chips (Minnesota standard) to see if I could eat it. Nope. So gross.  

Recently I came upon a TikTok of a father and son making a tuna salad with Asian ingredients, that I thought sounded interesting.  I like siracha.  I like Kewpie mayo.  I like soy sauce and sesame oil.  Maybe?

The answer is YES!  We bought the most expensive canned tuna at Lunds (still smelled like cat food, btw) to make it. Loved it and will make it again!

Here's the recipe.  I had just taken a screen shot, so I'm not sure of the assembly.  I mixed everything together, then added the tuna.  Enjoy!

Asian Tuna Salad

1 can light tuna, drained

1/2 tsp soy sauce

2 1/2 TBSP Kewpie mayo

1 1/2 TBSP Sriracha

1/2 TBSP sesame oil

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 cup chopped celery

3 green onions, chopped

1 cup grated carrots

Mix everything together.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Serve with seaweed snacks (Nori)

Thanksgiving Aperol Spritz

 It's no surprise that I love Aperol spritz.  It's not really a winter drink, tho.  Here's a new option.

Thanksgiving Aperol Spritz

Mix together:

3 oz sparking wine (prosecco)

1 oz Aperol

1 oz cranberry juice

Garnish with an orange slice and cinnamon stick.