Waldorf Salad

Though I'd heard of it frequently, I had never tried - much less made - Waldorf salad until I started my job as a cook almost two months ago. Ours is not the traditional recipe, but I think I like the sound (and certainly taste) of ours better. Make sure to read the "Variations" section after the recipe for some of my ever-helpful suggestions.

Ingredients

chicken, cooked and diced (no skin)
celery, diced
dried cranberries

red apples, diced
fresh lemon juice
mayonnaise

walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions

Combine equal parts chicken, celery and cranberries.

In a separate bowl, sprinkle the apple with lemon juice to keep from discoloring. Mix the apples into the rest of the salad.

Mix one or two teaspoonfuls into desired amount of mayonnaise, and coat salad with this "dressing." Dressing should be very light. When serving, sprinkle the salad with walnuts. Serve atop lettuce if desired.

Variations

The traditional, and I suppose vegetarian, version does not include chicken, so don't include it if you don't want to. At the restaurant, we use candied walnuts, which add a nice sweet touch - I keep intending to make this at home using some of those flavored Almond Accents. If for some reason you'd prefer raisins instead of cranberries, you could do that.

I have also seen versions of this recipe where mini-marshmallows are used. That's a little bit weird for me, but whatever turns your taste buds on!

Lemon-Cranberry Scones

Don't tell my boss, but I'm about to give you our top secret scone recipe! Okay, maybe "secret" is the wrong word. It's a recipe my boss got from her neighbor, who got it from a book. But it's still very good. Fun fact: We refer to the act of making these as "sconing."

Ingredients

1 egg
1/2 cup yogurt (plain or vanilla) or sour cream

2 cups flour
6 tbsp + 2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

lemon zest
3/4 cup craisins

1 stick frozen unsalted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a small bowl, beat the egg and mix in yogurt until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Stir in the lemon zest and craisins.

Coarsely grate the frozen (yes, it MUST be frozen) butter and stir into the flour mixture until evenly combined. Stir in the egg/yogurt mixture until a sticky dough forms.

Put the sticky dough onto a lightly floured surface and quickly pat into a square about 1/2" thick. Cut the dough into triangles (I usually cut the large square into four smaller squares, and then cut each smaller square into four triangles) and place on baking sheet.

Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the scones are golden brown.

Variations

This recipe is great because you can change it up anyway you like. Leave out the lemon zest and craisins for a plain scone, or substitute orange zest for the lemon zest, or substitute raisins for the craisins. I even once made a savory scone by mixing in grated cheese and chopped red peppers. Yum!