“Chicken High” is a salad that not only has its original name, but also boasts its great taste. This dish is valuable in that the ingredients included in it can be found in the kitchen of absolutely any housewife. But there is still one small nuance that many, having started preparing, forget. But it was thanks to him that the salad “Chicken High” got its ambiguous name. But more on that later. In the meantime, let's still find out which foods are part of the dish.
Hen
The first and main ingredient is, of course, chicken. It is her that we will introduce "high". For a salad, it is better to take the flesh, and for this, nothing more than a breast is suitable. You can use other parts of the chicken, but then be prepared for the fact that you have to tinker with the bones, picking off the flesh from them. The chicken can be taken both smoked and boiled.
There are no questions with smoked: bought, cut meat into slices and proceed to cooking. But the boiled must be approached with special attention. Firstly, it is better to boil in advance so that it has time to cool and give off excess water. Secondly, the broth in which the chicken is cooked should be salted at the end, then the meat will retain its juiciness and taste. Well, and thirdly, do not oversalt. Since the salad is dressed with mayonnaise, excess salt is completely unnecessary here.
So, the chicken is ready. By the way, for a regular salad, it will require about 300-450 grams. This is either one large breast, or a pair of legs. By the way, it’s better to fry the boiled chicken, already sliced, in a dry pan until golden brown: it will be tastier.
Bread
The second ingredient, which requires a high chicken salad recipe, is bread. But not any, but white. His choice should also be approached carefully, because the taste of the loaf slices in the salad will depend on its quality.
You should not take a very fresh bun, it will be badly cut or crumble. And since we will fry the bread, you need to cut it into perfectly even cubes. This is unlikely to work with fresh pastries. Therefore, it is better to take the most ordinary loaf, maybe even yesterday, and even better - a long baguette.
Cut the bread with a sharpened knife with a thin blade. You will see: working with such an instrument is a real pleasure! So, cut the half of the baguette or loaf into neat cubes, and then fry in a hot pan with a minimum amount of oil. The final color should be golden. By the way, you can prepare a bun for the salad "Chicken High" in the oven, and even in the microwave, slightly dried in the desired mode. The main thing is not to miss time and not to make coals instead of crackers.
What else?
Other products that we need are tomatoes, eggs, mayonnaise. Three pieces of ripe tomatoes is enough. Make sure vegetables are not overripe. In this case, they will empty the juice and make the dish too wet, and oh, how “High Chicken” doesn't like that! The salad should be perfect.
You need to cut tomatoes with the same knife as bread, that is, very sharp. Before you start cutting the remaining products, we take care of the preparation of eggs. They need to be welded. And it is advisable to do this in advance so that they have time to cool. Remember a simple secret? The eggs are cooled under cold water, then they will not cause disturbance during cleaning. Cut them and tomatoes into small cubes and, without mixing, set aside.
Main secret
All the ingredients seem to be listed: chicken, tomatoes, eggs, white bread, mayonnaise ... What have you forgotten about? What kind of mysterious product is this, thanks to which Chicken High - salad, in principle, unpretentious - got such a name?
Let's open the secret: it's a poppy. Yes, it is he. Of course, now there are a lot of different packages with confectionery poppy on sale; it is widely used in the preparation of cakes, rolls, pastries and, as you already understood, salads. Well, now it’s not difficult to guess why our chicken was stoned. To fully taste the salad, it is better to take more poppy seeds. We will sprinkle them with the top layer, but in fact in a plate everything will still mix.
High Chicken Salad: Recipe
Now that all the products are ready, you can proceed directly to the formation of the salad. It is laid out in layers. And you can do this both in a deep salad bowl and on a flat dish: the choice always remains with the hostess. The first (lower) layer spread the chicken, cut into cubes (if it is boiled - fried until golden brown). Lubricate with mayonnaise a little, and even better - make a thin mesh from it.
The next layer is tomatoes, also with mayonnaise net. We lay eggs gently on them. You can not lubricate them, but immediately sprinkle with croutons, that is, fried loaf cubes. By the way, instead of croutons, cooked at home, some suggest using purchased crackers such as "Compash". It is at your discretion, but crackers from the packet can be too callous, which will negatively affect the quality of the dish. So, pour the last layer with mayonnaise and sprinkle thickly with poppy seeds. "Chicken High" - a salad that will surprise everyone. And he is ready!
Little secret
By the way, if you decide to form a salad on a flat plate, you can do it very beautifully. To do this, you need a special round shape without a bottom, and through it we will spread the ingredients. Then, carefully removing the form, we get a salad in which all layers will be visible. If there are small rings, then “Chicken High” can be served in portions. We decorate the salad with herbs and cherry tomatoes.