Mom's Shower Chicken Salad Jazzed up My way with Homemade Potato Chips

I had potatoes in my pantry that were about to sprout eyes. I never get through a 10 lb bag fast enough. Anyway. So I had potatoes. I made potato salad last week did not want to make french fries just for lunch so I made potato chips for dinner. The girls love the potato chips so do their dad. What to make with them though. Hmmm.


My Mommy has this chicken salad recipe she got from her friend's Grandma Mrs. Schroll. I have always  called it "Shower Salad" because she made it for my bridal shower, and both my baby showers. She makes it for other women's showers too. And it is very good but boring. ( No offense Ma!) So I made my own version a couple of years ago and I love it! I hope you will too. It has so many uses. You can make it and serve it cold for hot summer days or as a yummy warm sandwich . It is great comfort food. You can make a reduced calorie version and make lettuce wraps out of it. Gluten free Friends. Just use Gluten Free Bread. Bring it to picnics, eat it at home or bring it to a "shower".

Homemade Potato Chips

Equipment- A Mandoline, a dutch oven or deep pan, a fryer/candy thermometer , lots of paper towels, a glass or metal big mixing bowl. A bowl of ice cold water, A Spider Strainer. (see my side page on kitchen gadgets)

6-8 small russet potatoes or 3-5 large.

2 quarts of oil peanut or canola are best

A roll of paper towels

Salt and Pepper 

You can use Parmesan, Garlic Powder, Paprika, Cayenne Sugar. GO WILD. Make awesome chips. I am going to make more I will add to this when I have some great flavors to share.

Using a mandoline slice potatoes as thin as you can. Use the guard unless you are trained. I do not want you to lose a finger by slicing it off and a mandoline is very dangerous with out the guard.You should be able to almost see through the potato slices. Put them in a bowl of cold water so they do not oxidize and turn brown. Pour oil in dutch oven and turn heat on med heat. Using thermometer watch the oil until it gets to 400*. Pat the chips dry! Do not EVER put wet anything into hot oil. You will get burned. In batches add the chips to the hot oil. Let fry until golden brown. Using the Spider Strainer, keep chips separated. Line the mixing bowl (not plastic it will melt) with 3 paper towels. Put the cooked chips on the paper towel. Season right away. Add three more paper towels and add chips to oil. Repeat til done.

You want to separate the chips in layers so that the oil from each batch does not leak on to the batch before. Same with the salt. And you want to season the chips right after they come out of the oil. They are the most vulnerable and take the seasoning the best then. You need to do them in batches so the oil does not cool down to much. The chips do not stick and you do not make the oil bubble over. They cook more evenly in batches of about a cup full of chips at a time.

Mom's Shower Chicken Salad All Jazzed Up

Equipment- knife, cutting board, mixing bowl

3 cups chicken cooked/diced

1 cup seedless red grapes halved

3 stalks of celery roughly chopped

1 cup of apples* small dice

½ cup mayo

½ cup Greek Yogurt**

2-3 pinches of sugar

½ cup roasted almonds

Tbsp of Lemon Juice

I used a nice artisan loaf of bread. Nice little potato buns are great, white bread wheat bread. Bread is just great! 

For low fat. Use fat free mayo and fat free plain yogurt. Use lettuce and make a Chicken Lettuce wrap.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Serve how you like. ***

* I used Pink Ladies. They are nice and tart/sweet. Sweet Red, Fuji, any good sweet apple works do not use a very tart apple.

**Remember I am not a huge mayo fan so I cut it with Greek Yogurt. You can use a whole cup of mayo.

***If you want it hot!

Preheat oven to 350*

Add ½ cup of mayo so the salad does not dry out.

Mix together in an oven proof dish. Top with grated parmesan cheese if you want too. Put in oven for 30-45 minutes. Until bubble and starting to be nice and golden.