Joy's Curried Chicken Salad

I had just read the tuna salad recipe and was thinking I should post my curry chicken salad recipe when Linda's post came in. The curry chicken salad was my attempt to reproduce one that Alice Waters came up with many many years ago for a mutual friend's wedding buffet. It was so good we nearly cried (so was the vinagrette on the asparagus which I've also tried to duplicate.) I went home and experimented until I had something close enough to get those kinds of reactions. Unfortunately, my measurements are approximate - this is one of those "to taste" recipes where you keep adding pinches until you like the balance:

Joy's Curried Chicken Salad

2 good-sized boneless and skinless chicken breast halves
     (avoid using frozen bulk chicken for this one)
1/2 cup peeled and diced apple - preferably something tart and firm
1/2 cup chopped pecans (walnuts will do in a pinch)
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup good quality mayonnaise (homemade is best, but any good brand will be okay)
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1-3 tsp curry powder (a sweet type)
1/2 to 1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
salt to taste

Braise the chicken breasts in as small an amount of water as possible until just done and still very moist. Set aside and chill while reducing the liquid from braising to a half cup or less. Chill the stock while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

Cube the chicken into approx 3/4" cubes. Mix mayo, applesauce and all spices except salt until creamy and then stir in pecans, celery and apple chunks until well coated. Add chicken meat and salt to taste and mix until just blended. Taste and add more applesauce or spices as needed. If mixture is too dry, add some of the chicken stock a tablespoon at a time until moistened to your liking. When adding ingredients, mix as lightly as possible so that chicken stays chunky rather than shredding or getting mushy. This shouldn't have enough mayo to actually appear creamy, but it should be moist. Serve well chilled on a bed of lettuce.

Joy
(8/01/04)