the best chicken salad

Imagine a chicken salad without mayonnaise. Healthy yes. But delicious? Unlikely. Right?

WRONG. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to my mother-in-law for sharing some of her kitchen skills and for teaching me how to re-create one of my all time favorite recipes of hers. Turkish Cerkez Tavugu involves creating a "sauce" of ground walnuts and garlic, combining it with meticulously shredded chicken, and adding a bit of spice. The seemingly odd secret ingredient? A piece of day old bread.

We had this for dinner Sunday night with a bit of bread and a big salad of mixed greens, watermelon, feta and balsamic. Yesterday it made for an insanely awesome chicken salad sandwich. Now that I know how to make this dish, there's no doubt I will be making it again and again.

Here's what you'll need:

1 4-5 lb whole chicken

2 cups of whole walnuts

3 cloves garlic

1 1/2 cups reserved stock {from poaching liquid}

2 pieces day old bread (crumbled)

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

Here's what to do:
Remove giblets from chicken and pat dry. Place in large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 30-45 minutes, until cooked through. Do not boil. Once chicken is done cooking, remove chicken and set aside. Reserve 1 1/2-2 cups of poaching liquid and set aside. Once chicken is cool, shred meat from entire chicken into small pieces. Set aside.

Add walnuts and garlic to a food processor and pulse until walnuts and garlic are ground into very small pieces. Then, in a saucepan over medium high heat, add stock, crumbled bread and walnut/garlic mixture. Whisk to combine until you have a uniform mixture. Remove from heat and stir in chicken, adding a bit more stock if needed. Add in paprika and salt. Refrigerate until ready to serve. You may sprinkle with additional paprika or a drizzle of olive oil before serving.

Serve with crackers or bread and enjoy!