The ever-so-amazing man of the house loves — that should be LOVES— casseroles and bacon. The combination of casserole and bacon is just enough to send him over the edge into pure Midwesterner bliss. Enter the hot chicken salad, the recipe for which should be in every woman’s weekend survival kit:
Hot Chicken Salad says, ” Here I am. Now what are your other two wishes?”
I confess that I am not usually a casserole sorta gal but this one had me at hello. It is incredibly easy to make so I’ll start with the basics. Make your mayonnaise by gathering the following ingredients:
- 2 egg yolks
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered mustard
- 1/8 teaspoon sugar
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 4 to 5 teaspoons lemon juice or white vinegar
- 1-1/2 cups olive or other salad oil
- 4 teaspoons hot water
Beat the first six ingredients in a blender or food processor on medium speed until they become thick and pale yellow. Add the oil drop at a time and alternate with teaspoons of lemon juice and then hot water. Continue to blend. Add a steady stream of oil and lemon juice, blending well after (if not during) each addition. Cover and refrigerate.
Now begin to cook up four or five chicken tenderloins and three or four pieces of bacon (I used four slices of beef bacon because my husband is an addict). Don’t cook the chicken all the way. I like to leave it a little pink inside for the casserole. Don’t over do it on the bacon either:
Gather the following ingredients:
- 1/2 cup crushed or slivered almonds
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup diced celery
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 2/3 bread crumbs (homemade if you’ve got them)
- parmigiana cheese
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Chop up the chicken into bite-sized pieces and the bacon into bits. In a bowl, mix the chicken, bacon, almonds, celery, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cheese, and 1 cup of the mayonnaise* (that you just put in the fridge).
Grease a 13X9″ pan. Spread the mixture in the bottom of the dish and sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top. Throw some grated parmigiana cheese on for good measure.
Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbling. Grate a little more parmigiano cheese over the top while it is still bubbling and sending off the most fabulous scent. Yankee Candle Company should contract this one for sure. Let me tell you, if I had known that casseroles could taste like this when I was a kid, I’d have been making them in my Easy-Bake Oven.
*You don’t have to make your own mayonnaise. I’m not gonna tell anyone if you cheat. But there really is a difference. Homemade mayonnaise is really just that good. You could also substitute plain yogurt for the mayonnaise.
Christine - This looks good enough that maybe my picky kids will even eat it! Of course, when they are too picky, hubby doesn’t mind as it usually means more for him! 😉
I’ll have to put this on my menu plan for next month for sure! Thanks for sharing!
Dawn - That looks awesome. We only use beef bacon around here. We just love it. I have not made my own mayonnaise as of yet. This is the second post today with a recipe for homemade mayo. I guess that might be a hint.
Valarie in AL - Oh my goodness that looks good!!
I know what you mean about the ducks just wanting bread. We used to have some mallards, that I would feed bread everyday. Well one day I had a knock at my door, so I went to see who was there. It was the ducks, they were tired of waiting on me to bring the bread so they hopped up on the porch and knocked on the door. 🙂
lacyrazor - Howdy, Christine! My stepson ate it and loved it. The scent is what gets to them — bacon, cheese, and chicken. They like that combo. Who doesn’t? I just went up a dress size talking about the stuff!
Hi Dawn! I’m so glad you stopped by! So you are a beef bacon household, too? It is just yummy… way better than pork bacon (in my book). Don’t you think?
Speaking for the homemade mayonnaise: <> “I’m kind of a big deal.”
Homemade mayonnaise is the pepper to my salsa. I love it. It’s dreamy stuff. If you haven’t made it — don’t worry. It is easy-peasy!
Blessings and thanks!
-Lacy
lacyrazor - Hey Valerie! We were posting at the very same moment! Pretty nifty!
We have flightless ducks and since it is 1:30 a.m. the breed has completely floated out of my cluttered brain. I want some mallards when we get our pond. My husband just smiles and nods.
I LOVE ducks!
Blessings!
-Lacy
Dirkey - Wow what a cool site, I’m planning to start alot of the stuff that you have on your blog soon 🙂
I’ll be back 🙂
rhonda jean - Hi Lacy, I changed the link on my blog. The recipe looks good. I’ve never heard of beef bacon, but I haven’t eaten meat for ten years so it might be in our shops.
The site is looking great. Keep up the good work.
Robin - Hey Miss Lacy!
How are you doing on this fine spring Sunday?
We just had a lovely service at church, followed by a healthy snack and a walk around the church parking lot that lasted 35 minutes. It’s 65 degrees and lovely here.
I have been wanting to make homemade mayonaise forEVER! I called my Emma & Beka over here and we all looked at this recipe and said that we are going to make it this week. 😀
Lacy, I can’t tell you how long it has been since I have been truly, and I mean truly motivated to finally lose this extra weight I gained ten years ago when I was on this prescription medicine that made me ravenous. I am really super-motivated!
I started typing you my journey in healthy living and then thought that I should probably go blog it. 😆
But, I do want to tell you that you, Miss Lacy and your enthusiasm is part of what has motivated me. I give God the glory and I thank you for being a tool that He used. 😀 You are special and I thank you! Hugs & Blessings, Robin
I’m off to blog my healthy living journey!
I’m going to see if I can put photos with it, as well.
Robin - P.S. How long will the homemade mayo last in the refrigerator?
Jan, San Francisco, CA - Oh, nummm! That casserole sounds delicious. But I’d never heard of beef bacon, and it looked much more lean than commercial or even the local pork bacon I saw yesterday at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Of course, I didn’t even know to look for beef bacon. That is now on my Farmers Market list for next Tues or Sat. Love local food and love good folks sharing recipes. Thanks. (1st time visitor from Ree’s site.)
lacyrazor - Hey there Robin — you sweet thing you! 🙂 You know… homemade mayonnaise has never been around my kitchen more than a week. So I’m going to say that you probably shouldn’t keep it any longer than that. Trust me… once you try — it’ll be flying out of your fridge faster than you can make it. Yum. I gotta tell you, Robin, I moved right into Chubbytown
thanks to some really crazy hormonal issues. My body thinks that it’s pregnant ALL the time. Really. I am constantly watching what I eat. Since we moved here and I made a goal to cook EVERYTHING from scratch — I’m healthier than I’ve been in a LONG time. Please keep me posted. I’m so thrilled to call you my friend, Robin!
Rhonda Jean, my blogging hero! I’m so delighted that you stopped in to say hello. Beef bacon is a delightful alternative to pork. Neither of us (Josh et moi) eat pork or anything cooked anywhere near pork. Once we discovered beef bacon — gosh, it sounds like I invented the stuff or something — there was no turning back. There is considerably less grease and fat. I use the drippings to make suet for our birds. I wish I could say that I invented beef bacon… I’d stick a flag in that faster than a classroom of five year olds on finger paints. 😉
Jan, you rock like KISS! < > Welcome to the site. Let us know what you think of beef bacon. If you can’t find it in your local market then you can order it (and it is SO heavenly — totally worth the shipping costs). Here’s the site I found:
http://www.localharvest.org/store/item.jsp?id=1745 for grass-fed beef bacon. Yummy.
Dirkey, I left a comment on your totally cool blog. Love those pictures!
Hugs to all of you gorgeous gals!
Lacy
The Holly Tree - OMG Lacy… That looks soooooo good… ::drools:: How many calories are in that dish? I can’t eat the bacon (I love it, but it doesn’t love me), but still… I can practically smell it, and boy, does it smell yummy… ::drools::
I hope you’re having a good weekend, my friend. Our weather has returned to near-arctic conditions, again – I can’t even get out for a day trip; the roads are just that bad. They’re worse up in the mountains; I can guarantee you that – and all the yo-yo-ing has caused both hubby and I to come down with nasty colds. ::sigh::
Just to make myself feel better, though, I’m about to gather and upload a bunch of pictures for The Camper – not just to waste time, but rather, so I can help myself (and what few readers are left) remember what spring and summer looks like… ::sighs dramatically:: 😀
Anyway, have a great day and a great week ahead, my friend. Catch you later! ::hug::
Happy Mommy - That looks wonderful!
We got our chickens today!! I do believe you are an animal lover too, so tell me how well did your dog/dogs do at first? It has been a long evening, we have an american bulldog (like the one in homeward bound) and a mt.feist, he is a hunting dog, anyway they were more than interested and I think it will take some time…
I am hoping to have some eggs tomorrow, it will be wonderful. The kids were so cute they asked God to protect our chickens tonight at bedtime, praying and telling God we will take care of the chickens you gave us and our chickens will feed us healthy eggs, amen.
I am really enjoying your site. I will post some pictures of our coop and chickens tomorrow.
Cynthia - Lacy, your comment warmed my heart. Thank you very much. I do hope you come back and visit whenever you can.
This potato salad with bacon looks super delicious!
Bless you!
Lynn - I WILL make my own mayo now that I have a recipe! Thanks for sharing that. The HCS is on my to-do list now. Looks fantastic!!!!
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