Chicken Salad with Homemade mayo

I want to use this post to extol the virtues of rotisserie chickens. omg. I love these things: they are totally delicious, are cost efficient, and contribute to amazing stock. and um, they are super easy, because well, somebody else made it.

My personal fave way to use one rotisserie chicken: get rotisserie chicken from the seward after work on Friday when they are $1 off. Proceed to take it home and eat some of it (thigh and leg) immediately, thus relieving hunger and the need to cook at the end of the week. Sometime over the weekend, when a person might again want food to magically appear, heat up the other thigh and leg in the broiler for a few minutes. Make the chicken salad (from the breast meat - see recipe below) - preferably on Sunday so that it is fresh and tasty for Mon/Tues lunch. Make stock, now or freeze to do later. Homemade stock tastes so much better to me, and it is really easy if you already have bones and bits left. And basically free since folks throw these away otherwise.

So. Really. This is a great item if you do a lot of solo food prep...though you know, you could totally share it too. That is also fun.

Chicken Salad (made up by me, but I am sure this recipe exists somewhere):

2 Chicken breasts, diced
One apple, diced
One celery rib, minced
1/4 c. Currants or Raisins (optional)
1/2 c. toasted almonds (whole or chopped)
homemade mayo (whatever amount you like...I seem to prefer 1 c. or so)
1/2 t. salt (more to taste)
1 T. Tarragon

Just mix everything together and you are done! Great with green lettuce for a refreshing salad! (I am channeling Lynda Barry's Marlys here. She expresses a lot in short exclamatory sentences.)

Homemade Mayo: do not be intimidated. It is so easy (as long as you have a blender)! From Fanny Farmer

1 egg at room temp
1/2 t dry or dijon mustard (I prefer dijon)
1/2 t. salt (or more to taste)
2 T lemon juice (at room temp)
1 1/2 cups olive oil (not extra virgin)

*Before you start, there are a few important notes: if you make this with a fancier extra-virgin olive oil, the taste will be pretty olive-y. I thought it almost tasted like the oil was rancid (it wasn't) because it was so strong. I recommend using whatever cheap olive oil you have on hand. Also, the mayo is MUCH more creamy and fluffy if you use ROOM TEMP ingredients. Really. If you forget, like me, just put a cold egg into a cup with some warm water to help it warm up a little faster.

Put everything but the oil and water in the blender and blend. With the motor running, add the oil VERY slowly in a stream - it will begin to thicken. Sometimes the blender clogs up and needs to be stirred a bit to keep going. Once you have all the mayo in, it is done! omg, this mayo is SO good.

It is also excellent as the dressing for the carrot salad posted last month. Also, I did a little research on how long this lasts in the fridge: look at the expiration date of your egg, and then add a week. That is how long this mayo will keep. Which is probably pretty long. Though I have to say, when I have homemade mayo, it doesn't last too long because i eat it on anything it is so good.