Recipe 3 Hot Chicken Salad on Hoe Cakes

I am not only trying new to me recipes, but I am also trying to use up a lot of the bits and pieces I have in the freezer, and trying my best to shop first from home. Consequently, we are having some interesting, possibly less than stellar meals. This weeks new recipe is from a blog I found called Retro Housewife. She has tons of recipes from the 40's-60's and very few of them require exotic ingredients. I had cooked boneless skinless chicken thighs in the freezer, and nearly everything else The only thing I had to purchase for the hot chicken salad was celery and it was just because I was out of it anyway. I have literally copied and pasted her recipe. I don't feel too bad about doing it since she credits it to "Generic Housewife Betty 1954".  At the end of the recipe I will tell you what changes I made.

Hot Chicken Salad in Corn Meal Tulip Cups

Chicken Salad:
3 cups cut-up cooked chicken
2 cups chopped celery
½ cup chopped blanched almonds
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons chopped pimiento
2 tablespoons minced onion
¼ teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup grated Swiss cheese
Combine ingredients for Chicken Salad.

Tulip Cups

3 cups sifted enriched flour
1 cup enriched corn meal
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup shortening
2/3 cup water
Preparation Instructions
 For tulip cups, sift together dry ingredients. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water a little at a time, until dough will just hold together. Turn out on lightly floured board and knead gently a few seconds. Divide dough in half; roll each half out to form a 10 x 15 inch rectangle, Cut into six 5-inch squares. Place squares in custard cups shaping dough against the sides of the cups and allowing corners to hang over. Fill each pastry-lined cup with chicken salad; place cups on cookie sheet and bake in hot oven (400° F.) 25 to 30 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 12 tarts.

First I will tell you I had no intention of making the corn meal tulip cups. I figured the hot chicken salad could bake perfectly well in the oven in a baking dish (it did), cornbread pancakes would be a perfectly acceptable delivery item (they were) and I was just not willing to put that much time into something that was just going to be a simple supper. (So, I didn't)

I am sure it would be adorable and probably taste very good so if it floats your boat to make them by all means, have at it. Just don't judge me for believing a recipe is just a suggestion for me to play with.

I made the chicken salad recipe more or less, except for a main dish where measurements are not critical I eyeballed the ingredients. I know I was close but not exact. Though I had almonds, mine are raw and I did not want to toast them and skin them, so I left 'em out. I did the same with the pimento even though I had a jar in the pantry. I have 3 packages of cheddar cheese left from the holidays and I had rather make pimento cheese than have the pop of red in the chicken dish. I also added about a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and the zest of 1/2 of a lemon to the chicken. When I read the recipe it just sounded to me like it needed something bright to compliment the earthiness of the curry powder. I also did not mix the cheese with the salad mix. I had about 1/4 lb of jarlsberg cheese which I grated and sprinkled over the top of the chicken salad once it was partially baked.

Mix all the chicken stuff except for the cheese. Put into an 8x8 oven safe pan and bake at 350 until it is hot and the celery has softened (about 30 minutes) Throw the cheese on top and return to the oven until it melts. Serve on top of hoe cakes.

You can call me out on this if you wish. I had a package of corn bread mix in the pantry (one of those that only needs water added) and I essentially made cornbread pancakes on a stove top griddle. Yes it is a cheat and I should feel ashamed but it was just dinner and just for the two of us, so I felt no shame at all. I made the pancakes, put them on a small breakfast plate, scooped out the hot salad and called it done. I meant to serve it with broccoli, but forgot to cook it so we had a bowl of bagged salad on the side instead.

The verdict: It was tasty, uninspiring, and a good way to use some of the frozen chicken. I might or might not make it again. There was nothing objectionable to it, it had enough flavor (and yes it definitely needed the pop of citrus). There was just no wow to it and we do tend to eat more extreme flavors than this, but it really was perfectly fine. Maybe if I had made the bloomin' tulip cups and they were prettier we would not have noticed how basic it really was.