Time for Another Chicken Recipe

 A tote I made for Danny and Kathi for their anniversary if I ever get it down there to them

A couple weeks ago when JJ and Ozzie were here I put another 6.5 lb. chicken on the grill.  I had butterflied it as suggested in an earlier blog and smoked it with some maple wood chips.  It was wonderful.  Five of us ate our fill and I still had quite a bit of meat left.  I took everything I could off the bones and then boiled the bones to make a really tasty, smoky flavored broth which I made into cream of chicken and vegetable soup.  We used some of the meat sliced rather thinly for chicken sandwiches and then I used some for my favorite, Hot Chicken Salad.  The rest of the chicken I froze to use in enchiladas, tacos or whatever!  I really like using the heavier chickens from our son's farm because we can get so many meals from one chicken!

If you want to learn how to butterfly and grill a chicken here is Kathi's blog on it and I will give you my blog on it so you can read the discussion on smoking it, too.
My blog is the one called Memorial Day Weekend Continued.  The video is on countrychickengirl.blogspot.com, May 20,2010 Raspberry Chipotle Barbecue Chicken.

Here is the recipe for  the Hot Chicken Salad:

Hot Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

2- 2 1/2 Cups cooked chicken cut up into bite size pieces

4 Tbsp. flour

4 Tbsp. butter or margarine 

1 Cup chicken broth

1 Cup celery, diced

2 tsp, chopped onion--I use more because we like it

1/2 Cup coarsely chopped pecans ( I toast them before chopping for best flavor)

2 hard cooked eggs sliced

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

3/4 Cup mayonnaise

1 Cup crushed potato chips

Directions:

Melt butter in a sauce pan stir in flour until it is a smooth paste.  Stir in broth and cook until thickened'  Add the rest of the ingredients except the potato chips.  Put a layer of potato chips in a baking dish, then the chicken mixture and finally another layer of potato chips.  Bake a t 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly and the chips are a delicate brown.

To toast pecans, spread them in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Place in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes stirring several times until they are lightly browned.  Watch carefully so you don't burn them!

This will feed 4 to 6 people depending on how much chicken you use and how hungry they are!

Full view of tote

Collapsed tote.  Kinda neat, huh?