Jackson Jambalaya

 Old memories from an old guy....

I am aware I have already shared this employment resume data with you, but here it comes again. A long-long time ago, (Key in vocals of Don McLean, singing "Bye Bye, Miss American Pie") the company I worked for did business with some good folks in Barbourville, KY. I was in their plant for a day or two every other week for three years and on my KY trips, I stayed in Corbin, which is on I-75, the Highway built specifically so folks from Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan would have a nice 4 lane to drive to Disney World. 

I am sure in another post, I mentioned Agnes and Velma cooking wonderful Smashburgers for me at The Corbin Burger Barn, years before they became a popular burger cooking method on many YouTube videos. Back then, there was also a great “Mom and Pop” “Meat and Three” place in Barbourville where we enjoyed lunch each day and I discovered Hot Chicken Salad. Their version of the casserole was really tasty, and the portions were generous. How could a QC/QA guy on the road have eaten anywhere else?

Eventually We began making Hot Chicken Salad at home in an attempt to fill up two football playing sons. It was as much of a hit in Mississippi as it was in Kentucky and has remained in our once or twice a year rotation since the first time the boys, said, "Are there any seconds left?" The boys are long gone in their houses, with their own food budgets to worry about now, so a smaller size casserole is what we make these days. 

Here is how we make Hot Chicken Salad at our house. The recipe has remained the same over 49 years, so there is a pretty good chance you will like it too. The version I will show here used a chicken Béchamel sauce, because we had no cream of chicken soup in the pantry, and I did not feel like driving a mile to the little grocery store. If you decide to try this, I recommend using Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup, which produces a better Mom and Pop taste in the finished dish. It's not that I don't like a good Béchamel sauce, which is one of the Five Mother Sauces of French Cooking - "une sauce mère", just that what I made wasn't a real Béchamel, since it used chicken broth where milk is the classic liquid. 

Oh well ... I do lots of things wrong and almost always know they are wrong when I do them. There is nothing better than a nice Béchamel sauce when the recipe calls for it. My excuse for making an improper sauce here is that the recipe actually calls for a can of Cream of Chicken soup.

Here is a nice dish your family should like:

Hot chicken salad

Ingredients:

2 cups boneless chicken thighs cooked then pulled apart into fork sized pieces. You can use breast meat also. I just like thighs.
1 cup celery, diced (1/2 cup will be sauteed with onion and the other 1/2 cup mixed in just before baking)
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, Cut into slithers
1/4 cup almond slithers
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup "chicken broth Béchamel sauce", or better - 1 can cream of chicken soup
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
2 Tablespoons dried parsley
1 Tablespoon green onion tops, sliced
Salt and black pepper
2-3 cups Ruffles potato chips, lightly crushed, plus more if desired

Ingredients For cooked chicken thighs and chicken broth

2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, (Maybe 6 total) cooked and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 of a medium onion, left whole
1/2 stalk celery, left whole
2 cups water
salt and black pepper

Ingredients For chicken Béchamel sauce:

4 Teaspoons flour
4 teaspoons butter
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
2 cups chicken broth (from cooking chicken thighs)

note for Béchamel sauce - 1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup works better

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook chicken thighs (or breast if desired) in water, with celery, onion, salt and black pepper. When tender, remove chicken meat and pull apart. Set aside.

Strain onion and celery from broth and set the broth aside.

Make Béchamel sauce by cooking flour in butter for 2 minutes, add salt and black pepper then slowly stir in chicken broth. Reduce the liquid until a thick gravy is formed then stir in the Hidden Valley Mix and parsley. If using cream of chicken soup, add parsley but only add 1/2 can of water to the soup concentrate, mix well and do not cook.

Sauté the diced celery and onion in 1 Tablespoon butter, until softened then add the water chestnuts, slithered almonds, and chicken. Mix well, remove from heat and set aside.

Place the chicken mixture, an additional 1/2 cup of diced celery, mayonnaise, green onion tops, and lemon juice in a large bowl and mix to combine well. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.

Transfer the chicken mixture to a 3-quart (9-by-13-inch) shallow baking dish. Spread it out evenly and top with the crushed potato chips.

Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes, until the chips are golden brown, and the mixture is warmed through and bubbling lightly at the bottom. Serve hot.