Olla-Podrida

Monday, April 25, 2016

Tea Ladies’ Chicken Salad (To be eaten with a gloved hand.)

I don’t know why, but the months of April and May make me think of ladies dressed in elegant attire, strands of pearls at their neck, and wearing white gloves. I’m dating myself here, I know, but back when I was very young, my mother used to host ladies’ luncheons and teas. I would climb up on my bed, press my face against the glass in my window, and watch them arrive. I loved seeing the wave of the skirts on their dresses, hearing their heels click as they walked, seeing the flash of jewelry at their ears, and enjoyed the titter of conversation. What a lovely, civilized time! Often on the menu was one or other variety of chicken salad, so, to this day, I cannot make it without thinking of these ladies, all of whom are now, sadly, gone.

So, as we greet the warming months of spring, I’d like to honor the memory of these ladies with a chicken salad recipe that I know they would enjoy. The ladies would have loved it served with slice of freshly baked date nut tea bread, or sandwiched between same.

Tea Ladies’ Chicken Salad

(To be eaten with a gloved hand.)

1 cup finely diced rotisserie chicken

(equal parts dark and light meats)

1/4 cup celery, finely diced

1/3 cup Duke’s mayonnaise

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon sweet pickle juice

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon Melissa’s dried bing cherries, finely diced

Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together until well blended. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours to allow flavors to meld. Serve on a bed of spring lettuce, or sandwich between thin slices of date bread.

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This post is linked to:
Inspire Me Tuesday

Tuesdays At Our Home

Tweak it Tuesday

Tickle my Tastebuds
Two Cup Tuesday

Wine’d Down Wednesday

Wake up Wednesday

Dream, Create, Inspire

The Homemaking Party

Full Plate Thursday

Five Star Frou-Frou

Simple and Sweet Fridays

Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Friday Frenzy

Simple Saturdays

Saturday Sparks

Bouquet of Talent Saturday

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Benedictine Spread

Out of the blue, my youngest son said to me, “Mom, you're not a girly girl.”

I was crushed! I mean, I thought I was girly. I cook. I stitch. I try to knit. I do girl stuff. I looked at him, shoulders raised, palms up, and said, “What do I look like, Andrew, someone who could change a truck tire?”

"”Yeah, mom,” he said, “I really think you could.” It was a compliment.

When you've raised two boys, battled three bouts of cancer, spent a lot of time on your own, and even more time as a round-the-clock caregiver, you become pretty tough out of necessity. But still, I thought I was girly.

Where am I going with this you ask? Back to my early, girly-girl days when I had a pink room with pink and white furniture, lace curtains, ruffled dresses, and loved attending wedding showers that my mother seemed to host with great frequency. I loved the packages and ribbons and ladies, the blushing bride, glasses of punch, and fancy little sandwiches. A shower was not a shower without ribbon sandwiches. Remember those? A loaf of bread with crusts removed, sliced into three sections, slathered with two different fillings, put back together again, iced with a third filling, and then sliced? Those fascinated me, and were my first experience with Benedictine Spread, that often made up one of the layers or the frosting on the outside. It tasted fresh and delicate, and I felt like such a girly girl!

Showers haven't been the same in decades, but I still think of Benedictine Spread every time spring comes and wedding season begins. This recipe is one of my own, based upon years of tasting and experimentation. It is very forgiving, so add or subtract anything you like. It works well in ribbon sandwiches, individual tea sandwiches, piped into black olives, or onto slices of cucumber. It just tastes like spring!

Benedictine Spread

2 small Melissa’s mini cucumbers*

3 scallions (with tops)

1 garlic clove, roughly diced

8 ounces Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature

1 Tablespoon Duke's mayonnaise

1 teaspoon dried dill weed

Dash of Crystal hot pepper sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dense white sandwich bread

Cut cucumbers and scallions into quarters and place in a food processor. Add diced garlic and puree until combined thoroughly.

Place the puree in a fine mesh sieve to drain off excess liquid, pressing against it with a rubber spatula to facilitate draining.

Place the cucumber mixture back in the food processor and add the remaining ingredients, and puree until combined. Spread onto crustless slices of bread to make tea sandwiches, or pipe onto slices of cucumber. Serve immediately.

*If you don’t use Melissa’s that, with their thin skin, do not require peeling, use one medium cucumber (that you will need to peel) and remove seeds by cutting the peeled cucumber in half and scraping out the seeds with a spoon or the small side of a melon baller.

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