I still like club sandwiches. My love does not…but I aim to convince her with…the MUSHROOM club sandwich! Yes! A mushroom club sandwich. Coarse cut butter fried mushrooms instead of the original chicken. I need to investigate the peppy mayo though. Because I live with an anti bacon person…I have to skip that too…making it a vegetarian dream sandwich. You know why? Because a little bit of olive makes a fine substitute for bacon when it comes to vegetarians.

I will start with the “Original” club sandwich and continue with the mushroom. Look at the photo though for the Turkey, Duck, Goose, Tongue, Roast Pork, Lobster, Salmon, Flounder Cheese, Boston, or Oyster Club sandwiches.

The Original Club Sandwich

3 slices toast
Butter or Margarine
Lettuce
Mayonnaise
2 slice cooked white chicken meat
2 crisp cooked bacon slices
2 slices tomato

Toast the bread and spread with butter or margarine.Cover one slice with chicken; spread with mayonnaise and top with a lettuce leaf. Place bacon and tomato slices on top. Cover with the remaining toast slice. Fasten securely with 4 wooden toothpicks. Cut the sandwich diagonally into 4 triangles. Stand them upright on a plate. Garnish with pickles, olives, or halved slices tomato.

Mushroom Club Sandwiches

Make according to directions for the original club sandwich; but use instead of chicke, a layer of coarse-chopped butter-fried fresh mushrooms. Add a little chopped scallion or minced olives and use “pepped up mayonnaise”

Better Cooking Library, Sandwich and Party Snack Cook Book, 1964

I tend to cheat when it comes to stuffing. Stove Top makes most of the family happy. Denise’s stuffing makes them all happy except me. (The crumby kind in a bag–made with water. Sorta mushy and bleah) I grew up with a traditional stuffing like the one below and a stuffing with apricots and raisins added.

This however is a very traditional stuffing without any mixes. I tend to toss some of the drippings from the fully cooked turkey to the stuffing in place of the butter and add a bit more for moisture if needed.

Traditional Herb Stuffing

3 quarts slightly dry bread cubes. (either buy them or start saving the ends of bread now and dry them a bit for Thanksgiving)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground sage
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1 cup canned chicken broth (or make your ownO

Saute onion in butter. Add broth to heat. Combine bread, seasonings, parsley, onion and butter. Toss lightly to mix. Makes 8 cups.

I tend to go with the thought that the best chicken salad is the simplest.

1-2 cups cut up leftover chicken

2 stalks celery finely chopped

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

Enough mayo to stick it together

Add about a teaspoon of lemon juice if the chicken was baked plain or boiled without additional flavor.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Chop everything about the same size. Mix together. Dollop on some bread. Add a slice or two of tomato and a leaf of lettuce if you want to get fancy. Also makes a lovely ladies luncheon served on a lettuce cup.

It is called explosively good because well, we have a little microwave. It doesn’t defrost very well and the chicken was frozen this morning. I ran it through the defrost, but it wasn’t quite defrosted enough to stick in the slow cooker. If I was oven cooking it, I would have shrugged and stuck it in the oven, but I wasn’t. I hit the button to defrost some more, but I think perhaps I forgot to hit defrost. 10 min later I had a mess in the microwave-thus the explosive. You can skip that part.

We had it for dinner tonight. The kids LOVED it. They want it again. I doubled the broth part because I was worried it wouldn’t be enough in my big crockpot-things often aren’t. I didn’t need to worry. I also skipped the skinning the chicken part. I put it breast side down in the crockpot for most of the cooking, then turned it over about an hour before I served it. It wasn’t necessary but shrug. I did.

I served it with rice on the side and ladled a bit of the juice/sauce over the top of that and vegetables. In any case, the family loved it. It made for a delicious chicken-y scent in the house too. We walked in from a busy day and dinner smelled yummy.

It made a nice busy day dinner and a nice change of pace from our usual roasted chicken.

Thanks to KathyP100 for a fab recipe for my family.

Onward with the recipe–frugal…only 2 legs, 2 breasts to serve 4 people….a bit sweet but you can cut the sugar a bit. It won’t glaze as nicely but unless you seriously like your chicken sweet…a good idea.

Chicken Waikiki Beach

2 whole chicken legs and 2 whole chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup salad oil or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Sauce
1 can (1 lb 4 oz) sliced pineapple
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 large green pepper, cut crosswise in 1/4 inch circles

Wash chicken: pat dry with paper towels. Coat chicken with flour.

Heat oil in large skillet. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time and brown on all sides. Remove as browned to shallow roasting pan, arranging pieces skin side up. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 350F.
Make sauce: Drain pineapple, pouring syrup into 2 cup measure. Add water to make 1 1/4 cups. In medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, pineapple syrup, vinegar, soy sauce, ginger and bouillion cube. Bring to boiling stirring constantly. Boil 2 minutes, pour over chicken.

Bake uncovered 30 minutes. Add pineapple and green pepper. Bake 30 minutes longer or until tender. Serve with rice. Makes 4 servings.

Luscious Lemon Chicken

2 pounds chicken parts
2 tablespoons shortening
1 can Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup
1 tablespoon lemon juice (I tend to use 2 T. just because I like the extra lemony flavor)
1/2 teaspoon paprika

In skillet, brown chicken in shortening. Pour off fat. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover cook over low heat 45 minutes or until tender. Stir occasionally. 4 servings.

Chicken Confetti

4 to 5 pounds broiler-fryer chicken, cut-up
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup salad oil
1/2 cup onion
1 clove garlic
2 can tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
2 tablespoons snipped parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon peopper
7 or 8 oz spaghetti, cooked and drained
Grated Parmesan cheese

Wash chicken pieces and pat dry. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. In large skillet or Dutch oven, brown chicken in oil; remove chicken. Pour off all but 3 tablespoons fat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until union is tender. Stir in chicken and remaining ingredients except spaghetti and cheese.
Cover tightly; cook chicken slowly 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until tender, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary. Skim off excess fat. Serve in spaghetti; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. 4 to 6 servings.

2 cups cubed turkey
1 cup celery
1/2 cup ground nuts (Mama used pecans)
2 T lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
about 1 t. grated onion
mayonnaise to moisten

Place in individual servers (custard cups–but you can do the whole batch in one casserole dish if making for a potluck) Crumble potato chips and a few nuts on top. Top with grated sharp cheese. Place in 350 oven about 10-15 min till cheese melts and dishes are hot through.

Mrs. Eisenhower’s Jewel Ring Salad

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 c. cranberry juice cocktail
1 1-lb can whole cranberry sauce
2 tbsp. lemon juice
3/4 c cold water
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 c. mayonnaise
1 1/2 c. diced cooked chicken
1/2 c. diced celery
1/4 c coarsely chopped toasted almonds

Sprinkle 1 envelope unflavored gelatin onto cranberry cocktail in saucepan to soften. Dissolve gelatin over low heat, stirring constantly. Break up cranberry sauce; stir into gelatin mixture with lemon juice. Pour into 6-cup ring mold; chill until almost firm. Sprinkle remaining gelatin in cold water in saucepan to soften. Dissolve over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in soy sauce. Cool. Gradually stir gelatin mixture into mayonnaise until blended. Mix in remaining ingredients. Spoon over chilled cranberry layer. Chill until firm. Unmold onto salad greens. Yield: 8 servings.

Chicken Orange Salad

3 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold orange juice
2 cups hot orange juice
orange sections
2 tablespoons cold water
3/4 cup boiling chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 pimento, chopped
1/4 teaspoon onion juice
3 cups diced cooked chicken
3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped
Lettuce, Mayonnaise

Soften 1 1/2  tablespoons gelatin in cold orange juice for 5 minutes; dissolve in hot orange juice and strain. Cool. Decorate a large mold, ring mold. or individual molds, with orange sections and cover with half of the slightly thickened gelatin. Chill until firm. Soften remaining gelatin in cold water for 5 minutes; dissolve in boiling chicken stock and cool until it begins to thicken. Add salt, pepper, pimento, onion juice, and chicken. Fold in whipped cream and pour over orange gelatin. Chill. When firm, add remaining orange gelatin. Chill. Unmold on lettuce and serve with mayonnaise. Serves 12.

Chicken with Sherry

Salt and paprika chicken breasts and then dredge with flour. Brown both sides of breasts lightly in pan with stick of oleo or some corn oil. Arrange chicken in pan and pour the following mixture over it:

1 can mushroom soup, can of mushroom (pieces), carton of sour cream, and cup of cocktail sherry-plus the drippings from the frying pan mixed with a little water. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending on size of chicken breasts.

Cola Barbecued Chicken

Salt and pepper cut-up chicken. In a skillet warm 3/4 cup catsup and add the chicken. Then add 1 cup cola. Cover and cook 30 minutes, uncover and cook 30 m inutes. It will improve the chicken if it is floured and sauteed 5 minutes on each side first. Recipe from the kitchen of Mrs. T. T. Tunstall.

Chicken Pie

Filling

½ cup cold chicken broth
â…“ cup flour
1½ cups hot chicken broth
2½ cups stewed chicken cut in large dice
¾ cup drained canned peas
¾ cup sliced celery
1 teaspoon salt

Pastry

1 cup all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
â…“ cup milk

Make a paste by blending cold chicken broth and flour until smooth. Add paste to the hot chicken broth and cook over direct heat, stirring constantly until sauce boils and thickens. Combine with chicken, peas, celery and 1 teaspoon salt, and pour into 6-cup buttered casserole. Sift the 1 cup flour, measure and resift 3 times with baking powder and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives, then add milk, all at once, stirring quickly with a fork until dough just stiffens. Turn dough out onto floured board, knead half a dozen times, then roll out to make a circle about 8½ inches in diameter or to fit top of casserole, and about ¼-inch thick. Make several gashes near the center to allow steam to escape, then lay on top of the chicken filling. Crimp edge of dough, pressing it firmly against edge of casserole. Bake in a moderately hot oven (425°F.) from 20 to 25 minutes or until nicely browned. 5 servings. The Modern Family Cookbook

Chicken à la King (or Turkey)

2 tablespoons butter
â…“  green pepper, cut in strips
¼  lb. fresh mushrooms, cleaned, sliced
â…“ cup flour
1â…“ cups thin cream or evaporated milk
1â…“ cups chicken broth
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cups cold diced chicken (or turkey)
½ pimiento, cut in strips

Melt butter in top of double boiler over direct heat, add green pepper and mushrooms, cover and simmer 5 minutes. Lift out pepper and mushrooms. Blend flour into the fat, add cream or milk, broth and seasonings and cook with constant stirring, still over direct heat until sauce boils and thickens. Add chicken, pimiento, green pepper and mushrooms, place over boiling water, cover and cook until chicken is heated through. Serve hot over toast, baking powder biscuits, crisp noodles or fluffy boiled rice. 5 servings. The Modern Family Cookbook