Shady Lane Chicken Salad
Chef Ouita named her signature Wallace Station chicken salad after beautiful Shady Lane. They make it in house every day with freshly prepared chicken, crisp celery, toasted almonds and sweet/tart dried cranberries and this is a peek behind the scenes.
Wallace Station’s Shady Lane chicken salad usually starts with 40 lbs of local boneless chicken breast from Clem’s Meats. For photos today, they scaled it down a bit so the camera person could squeeze into their tiny prep corner.
The chicken breasts are placed whole in deep hotel pans, seasoned with salt & pepper, covered in parchment paper, sealed with foil and roasted at 350 til tender.
While that cools Erik gets to work mincing celery and measuring out cranberries and toasted almonds. The chicken then gets cut and tossed with the prepped ingredients.
Normally he’s working with a whole gallon of mayo, today we just scoop out a quart, along with dijon mustard and other spices, adding his Erik flourish for the camera as he goes.
Gloves go on and everything is mixed together thoroughly with a spatula (sometimes just by gloved hand when working in a larger batch). Into storage containers to await being put to use on some toasted Midway Bakery bread or bed of local lettuces.
The home kitchen-friendly version from Chef Ouita Michel’s Cookbook, “Just a Few Miles South”:
Ingredients
2 # boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt & pepper for seasoning
½ c finely chopped celery
½ c toasted slivered almonds
½ c dried cranberries
½ t kosher salt
¼ t dry mustard
¼ t white pepper
¼ t black pepper
1 ½ T dijon mustard
1 c mayonnaise
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F
Spread chicken in a single layer on a baking pan and lightly season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake until done (40 minutes or longer, depending on size) Cool in the pan juice to retain moisture until the chicken is cool to handle. Cut into a small dice, discarding gristle and fat. Reserve pan juices for soup or another use.
Place chopped chicken, celery, almonds and cranberries in a large bowl. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients and fold into chicken. Mix well. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed. Remember that the chicken will absorb the dressing when refrigerated so you might have to add a couple extra tablespoons of mayonnaise.
Chill at least 1 hr before serving.
Makes almost 2 quarts.
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Wallace Station Then and Now
Chris and Ouita Michel opened Wallace Station on Old Frankfort Pike in the summer of 2003. Referred to on maps as US Hwy. 1681 and by oldtimers as Shady Lane, Old Frankfort Pike is a national scenic byway. It’s a beautiful drive any time of the year but especially in the spring and summer as ancient trees embrace in the center of the roadway to cast a canopy of shade.
