One of the more commonly used ingredients in cooking also can be counted among those scant on flavor – boneless, skinless chicken breast.
Bones and fat in the skin give chicken more flavor. The skin also helps guard against the chicken drying out during roasting. But, biting around bones is a textural challenge or is too messy for some people. Instead,many healthy eating regimens feature the skinless cut of the yard bird.
There are a few options for infusing flavor into this boring cut of poultry. Examples include slicing the meat in half and then tenderizing and/or marinating it. Another is to pressure cook the meatwith seasonings or secondary ingredients to imbue flavor, such as in an Instant Pot.
In response to my request weeks ago for suggestions on how to use an Instant Pot, Pat Chrane of Chrane Ranch Beef submitted the following recipe for Chicken Salad at the Ranch.
She acknowledged in her email the irony of the matriarch of a cattle ranch about 20 miles south of Abilene submitting a chicken recipe. But, it was her go-to meal every week last summer during gardening time, she wrote.
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“This recipe makes a lot - a large bowl full - but when I divide between daughters-in-law and granddaughters that come by to help, it makes about 2 cups apiece. Very good on a sandwich or Wheat Thins for supper on a hot summer evening,” Chrane said in the email.
Because the three of us in my house would tire of this amount of chicken salad after three days, I set aside two-thirds – or about 4 cups - of the cooked chicken before mixing in the other ingredients to use later in soups, casseroles or other dishes. I divided the chicken between two quart-sized freezer bags. I then used about one-third of the measurements for the other ingredients in Chrane’s original recipe to make the chicken salad.
Chrane also noted that she prefers mayonnaise.
“If Miracle Whip is used, the salad gets watery fast,” shesaid.
The recipecalls for fresh dill, but I had to substitute dried, which seemed successful in brightening the salad.
Share your favorite Instant Pot or other recipes or food-related historical recollections by emailing Laura Gutschke at laura.gutschke@reporternews.com.
Chicken Salad at the Ranch
(Recipe courtesy Pat Chrane)
Ingredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup apple juice (or chicken stock or water)
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons eachsalt and black pepper (to taste)
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup sweet pickles, chopped (or pickle relish)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
2 to 3 sprigs fresh dill, chopped
Directions
1. Set the Instant Pot to pressure cooking and follow owner’s manual directions for pressure cooking for 8 minutes on high.
2. When pressure cooking is completed, let the pressure vent naturally.
3. Remove the chicken breasts to a cutting board and shred with a fork or cut with a knife.
4. Place the shredded chicken in a large bowl and mix in the onion, celery, sweet pickles, dried cranberries and optional pecans. Dress with mayonnaise and work in fresh dill to taste, if interested. Taste and adjust salt and pepper, if necessary, before serving.
