A Session with my Second Self
You know how these can end up…
Warning this is kind of a whiny, b*tc# session.
That happens when you get two people who are alike together.
Though, I consider it a therapy session.
Proceed with caution…
People love chicken salad. JZ loves chicken salad; it's weird. So I asked Stef about our old recipe and this is what she gave me.
LZ- I need The Chicken Salad Salad recipe!
SC-
Diced chicken breasts
Honey aioli
Champagne vinegar
Celery
Red onion
Dried blueberries
Fresh tarragon
Fresh mint
Salt and pepper
LZ- Stef! I need more of a "recipe"
Leave it to a chef. I'll make her spell it out and have it ready for you at the end of this post.
LZ- Why do you think so many people loved our chicken salad?
SC- Probably because I made sure the aioli was strong and seasoned well. I'm a salt, sweet, fatty, and vinegar queen. It needs to be well-rounded, or I'm bored.
LZ- And in our world, that is called?
SC- LOL, palate fatigue!
LZ- Where did it all start?
SC- ZZest Cafe’s lunch menu.
LZ- It later moved on to ZZest Lunch Counter, a combination of the ZZest Cafe Lunch menu, a small market, and some of our catering goods. Like goat cheese brownies! [recipe included at the end!].
Catering Platter from ZZest Cafe.
LZ- What the hell was this? I need one now!
SC- LOL, we had them in the grab-and-go case at ZZest Cafe. A little Spanish Plate. Chorizo, new potatoes, Hard boiled eggs…
LZ- To be honest, today in the FU shop, it was pretty quiet and basically pretty depressing. Made worse that I think it’s a beautiful sun-shiny day out there at street level. It’s hard to tell in a basement.
Then Stef sent me a bunch of photos of our time at ZZest Cafe and Catering [see above] and our stint downtown as ZZest Lunch Counter and Lettuce Unite. I’m not sure if that makes me feel better or worse, but it made me feel HUNGRY!
The abundance of deliciousness!
The Truffled Piggie! Another FAN FAVE!!!
Prime Rib with Pony Sauce. I literally just had 2 guys in here talking about this sandwich. We sold it for $9.95. We were hoping for quantity of sales to off set the low margin. Sigh. That didn’t happen.
LZ- Holy crap, we kicked ass. D.y. i .n g [ Well, that’s not what I texted Stef.]
SC- Yeah, I said the same thing at the same exact moment. We were so ducking good.
LZ- Stef, you are my second self, and we both have kitchen mouths.
LZ- So, back to chicken salad. How many renditions did we have?
SC- 2 ways. Curried Chicken Salad (chicken, honey aioli, madras curry powder, celery, red onion, sweety drop peppers, fresh parsley, mint) and Chicken Salad Salad (chicken, honey aioli, champagne vinegar, celery, red onion, dried blueberries, fresh tarragon, and mint)
LZ- I’m going to post the recipe, but no one will make aioli! I can’t believe we did. We can achieve the aioli by adding honey to Hellmans and a bit of garlic. You have roasted garlic in the recipe. That’s a whole other step…
SC- That’s why we were so damn good! We put forth all the effort for amazing results. But, yeah, add some honey to some Hellmans; make it the Hellmans made with olive oil. About 1 TBSP of honey to 1 cup of mayo. Don’t use raw garlic, though. Maybe a sprinkle of garlic powder.
LZ- If you wanted to make the curry version just add curry and sweet drops to the recipe?
SC- That works. Just about 1/2 teaspoon or so of curry powder. Taste it. Personally, I like it with a bit more curry flavor so I add more. Start with 1/2 teaspoon you can always add more.
LZ- Why do we call it chicken salad salad?
SC- Because when we changed ZZest Lunch Counter, to Lettuce Unite we didn’t want to take away a popular item. We put in on mixed greens with balsamic and olive oil and of course, seasoned it!! And, you could get bread with your salad and therefor would not miss the sandwich.
THE Chicken Salad Sandwich
LZ- Thinking back, why did we change Lunch Counter? It looks great?! But as I recall, the checkbook said otherwise. So the two of us got together and created Lettuce Unite. Again we outdid ourselves. Amazing salads. Another story, another time.
SC- As I recall, it was the Chicken Salad Salad was the second biggest-selling salad. Cobb Salad was #1, And then there was the Mozz Salad…
LZ- Don’t even get me started on House Pulled Mozzarella. And the pic you sent from ZZest Cafe. Holy crap, I miss that warm milky goodness!
SC- Let’s do it again!
LZ- Well, let me think about that. LOL. You were the best mozzarella puller, and we have done events before…
I can tell by the photo, Justin had a hand on this recipe!
LZ- What's your favorite way to eat chicken salad?
SC- Back then, it was the sandwich on the baguette because the Tribecca baguettes are to die for. But now that I'm old and need to watch my carbs to keep my girlish figure, I would eat it on greens.
LZ- I have the Tribeca bread here at my shop!
SC- I KNOW!
LZ- I LOVE chicken salad, don't you?
SC- YASSS!!
LZ- We are the same, remember!
SC- We are twins, that's for sure. You got the better looks though, LeeAnn. Same pallets and creativity.
LZ- Not the same pallets. I got Caprcious down. More on that another time.
SC- OMG!
LZ- My favorite chicken salad is with tarragon, grapes, and almonds. And I may or may not add melon chunks and sometimes hard-boiled eggs. I add some cheese on the side and crackers. JZ likes Ritz. He's never going to be in our club.
SC- Never on a cantaloupe half! Haha. I tried adding chopped hard-boiled eggs to the chicken salad before, and it was actually really good!
LZ- Of course you did!
.
LZ- Do you know what Coronation Chicken is?
SC- No, but I just Googled it, and it's sort of like my Curried Chicken Salad version, and I didn't even know it!! That's crazy!
LZ- The queen would have loved our chicken salad.
Here’s the recipes WE promised.
Chicken Salad Salad
Actually, this isn’t much more info. Well, you can’t really mess it up!
4 chicken breasts cooked and diced. Oven roast or poach.
1 cup diced celery
1/2 diced onion
1 tbsp minced mint
1 tbsp minced tarragon
1/4 cup dried blueberries
1 cup honey aioli [see comments above in post]
salt and pepper to taste
Fold it all together and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Text me if you really want to make aioli.
If you made it this far and were wondering what Stef was doing on the blog post photo. She was torching créme brülée. Yes, we had créme brülée in our food court space. AND, one year we sold it at Thursday’s on First.
Stef, we reigned supreme.