Tea-Brined-Chicken Salad with Peaches and Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette
2016-05-23 19:14:22
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
- 3 quarts water
- 1⁄3 cup salt
- 1⁄3 cup sugar
- ¼ cup loose Lapsang Souchong tea leaves*
- 3 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (about 2¼ pounds)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 large head Bibb lettuce
- 4 large ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
- 1 cup Gorgonzola crumbles
- 1⁄3 cup red onion slices
- ½ cup chopped toasted pecans
- Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette (recipe follows)
Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup balsamic honey vinegar**
- 1 teaspoon minced shallot
- ½ teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup extra-light olive oil
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, bring water, salt, and sugar just to a boil. Remove from heat, and add tea leaves. Cover, and let steep for 5 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl; let cool completely.
- Add chicken breasts, and cover. Refrigerate overnight to brine.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Remove chicken breasts from brine, and pat dry with paper towels. Line a baking pan with heavy-duty foil. Place chicken in pan, skin side up. Drizzle with olive oil, and season both sides of chicken with garlic salt and pepper.
- Roast chicken until juices run clear and meat feels fi rm to the touch, 35 to 40 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes before cutting. Discard skin. Cut meat from bone into 1-inch cubes. Discard bones.
- Place 3 to 4 whole lettuce leaves on each salad plate. Divide peach slices, chicken, Gorgonzola, onion slices, and pecans evenly among salad plates, arranging in a decorative fashion over lettuce. Drizzle with Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette. Serve immediately.
Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette
- In a small bowl, combine vinegar, shallot, mustard, salt, and pepper, whisking to blend. Add olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking until emulsified. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Notes
- *For testing purposes, our test kitchen used China Lapsang Souchong from Simpson & Vail.
- **For testing purposes, our test kitchen used Balsamic Honey Vinegar from Honey Ridge Farms.
Victoria https://victoriamag.com/
I absolutely love blue and white china ! To me , it is indeed the nicest and most elegant colour combination for any tablescape.
My daily china is Blue Willow by Johnson Bros. and I also have a tea pattern called Empire from Ralph Lauren (Wedgwood) – both of which creates so many compliments from friends and guests over for tea.
I especially love the recipe for Orange Bars as the colours of Blue and Orange are direct opposites – bringing attention to each other as they sit on the table waiting for guests to tuck in.
Brandon Hartford
Te Deum Cottage
I love the formality, the picture is so beautiful I went right in and imagined myself at tea… hmm, great scone.