Aimee’s Pretty Palate: Picnic Perfect
Spring is in full swing, bringing with it the most vibrant blooms and an abundance of fresh produce. And as we also know, the milder daytime temperatures and cool evenings will be fleeting so before we move into the sweltering summer months, let’s savor the ability to picnic without melting.
The classic chicken salad, synonymous with picnic season, gets a delicious makeover with the addition of homemade poppy seed dressing for my Poppy Seed Chicken Salad. I love my chicken salad on a croissant, but you could certainly serve this on a simple bed of lettuce or eat it as is with crackers. For added sweetness, you could add some halved grapes, reminiscent of a Waldorf salad. It’s a versatile, crowd-pleasing dish perfect for springtime entertaining regardless how you choose to serve it.
The same can be said for the smaller-sized angel food cake recipe, affectionately named after my dear dog rescue partner in crime, “angel” friend, Lindy. Shortly after my grandmother’s passing, she gifted me a copy of her personal cookbook, Momma G’s Recipes, which she put together for her children over the holidays. In it, decades of family photos and stories accompany no less than 300 recipes. She thought it might cheer me up, and boy, did it ever!
When talking about her recipes, she wondered if I had any suggestions for scaling down her angel food cake recipe. Her chickens were producing an excess of fresh eggs, but she didn’t have the need for a full-sized cake.
It turns out she really didn’t need my advice. I simply cut her recipe in half, tweaked the sugar just a bit, added some almond extract, and reduced the baking time to accommodate the reduction in batter.
Delicately sweet, light and fluffy, Lindy’s Small Batch Angel Food Cake is springtime perfection and a recipe you may find yourself making on repeat, especially now that baking in a loaf pan has entered the chat. The loaf pan creates perfectly portable slices ideal for the aforementioned picnic season.
Poppy Seed Chicken Salad
For Poppy Seed Dressing:
¼ cup olive oil (or other neutral oil)
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
½ tsp. dried mustard
½ tsp. poppy seeds
Pinch of salt
In a small jar with a tight-fitting lid, add olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, dried mustard, poppy seeds and a pinch of salt. Shake vigorously to combine. Set aside while you prepare chicken salad.
For Poppy Seed Chicken Salad:
2 cups rotisserie chicken, cubed or shredded
¾ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup poppy seed dressing (store-bought or see recipe above)
½ tsp. poppy seeds
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup chopped pecans
4 croissants, for serving
In a large bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, poppy seed dressing, poppy seeds and celery.
Using a large spatula, fold in cooked chicken, dried cranberries, and chopped pecans and stir until coated. Let chill overnight or at least 4 hours for flavors to meld.
Serve on croissants or by itself with crackers.
Makes 4 servings.
Lindy’s Small Batch Angel Food Cake
¾ cup powdered sugar
¾ cup cake flour
¼ tsp. salt
5 egg whites, at room temperature
½ tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. almond extract
¾ cup granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and adjust oven rack to middle position.
In a small bowl, sift together powdered sugar, cake flour and salt three times, set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, combine egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla and almond extracts. Mix at medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar, 2 Tbsp. at a time, and beat until stiff peaks form.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in flour ingredients, ¼ at a time, into egg whites. Fold in gently, repeat three more times careful not to deflate the egg whites, but making sure there is no trace of flour remaining.
Pour into an ungreased loaf pan. Gently cut through batter to remove air pockets.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until top begins to brown and springs back when lightly touched.
Immediately invert cake, cool thoroughly in pan. Once cooled, loosen edges with a butter knife (or cake loosening tool) and remove cake from pan.
Top with whipped cream and fresh fruit, if desired.
Makes 1 loaf or 6 servings.
