Salad "Walldorf": how to cook? Recipe for the famous salad "Walldorf"

Waldorf Astoria is a famous hotel, located in Manhattan between 49th and 50th streets and Park Avenue. There are only honorable guests who literally dive into the atmosphere of prestige and power, slowly sipping expensive drinks and admiring the masterpieces of decorative art that decorate the salons and foyer of this luxurious building.

In the meantime, the guests of this hotel enjoy extraordinary dishes prepared by the best chefs specially for them, they do not get tired of being amazed and surprised at the culinary excellence and art of service. After all, behind the scenes (that is, in the kitchen), the professional team is doing everything possible and impossible, so that every moment of stay in the hotel left an unforgettable impression on the customers.

General information

Waldorf salad is an incredibly tasty, delicate and light dish, which was prepared for the first time at the named hotel (in 1896). It should be specially noted that it is served to the hotel guests to this day. Of course, since then the recipe has changed a little, but the salad from this became only better and tastier.

Many housewives, hearing about such a culinary creation as a Waldorf salad, begin to doubt whether they will be able to prepare their own delicious food for the festive table. After all, most people believe that if it was served in an expensive American hotel, it contains strange ingredients that are difficult to find in Russian stores, and even at an affordable price. But this is an erroneous opinion, since "Walldorf" (chicken salad) is a simple dish, which requires the use of inexpensive and quite affordable ingredients. And so that you can see for yourself, we decided to present to your attention a step-by-step way of creating it.

American Salad "Walldorf": recipe for cooking

To make such a delicate, tasty and light dish, we will need to purchase a small number of the following products:

• A large apple of sweet and sour variety - 1 piece;
• Celery (it is advisable to purchase only stems) - 2 pieces;
• Chicken fillet frozen or chilled - 300 g;
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice - add to taste (about 2 dessert spoons);
• Walnuts peeled - average handful;
• Cedar nuts - a small handful;
• Cranberry dried - to decorate a ready meal;
• Lettuce or Korean cabbage - to decorate a ready meal;
• Salt, small table salt and pepper ground fragrant - add at personal discretion;
• Grapes red not very large - 90 g (can be replaced with black raisins without pits);
• Mayonnaise of maximum fat content or thick sour cream - add to taste (so that the dish is not too dry).

Processing of meat products

Initially salad "Walldorf" was prepared in the famous American hotel without the addition of meat ingredient. But after some time the chef of the hotel of the same name considered that such a dish is too easy for guests. To make it more satisfying, but leave it still gentle, the culinary masters decided to add dietary and healthy white poultry meat. And in this they were not mistaken. After all, this component really makes the salad "Walldorf" more calorie, but no less delicious.

To prepare the chicken fillet, you should wash it thoroughly, and then put it in a salty boiling liquid, remove the formed foam with noise, close the lid tightly and cook for 35-45 minutes until completely ready. After the specified time, the meat product needs to be taken out, cooled in cold air, and then remove the skin and bones and cut the fillets into small pieces. If desired, the meat can be divided along the fibers.

Preparation of nuts

As a rule, the salad "Walldorf" includes only walnuts in its composition. But for greater benefit and unusual taste, we decided to use the nucleoli of cedar cones. Both of these ingredients should be washed well, and then put in a frying pan and fry a little. Next, it is recommended to crush the nuts in a large crumb using a mortar or a conventional rolling pin.

Vegetable and fruit processing

In addition to poultry and roasted nuts, Waldorf salad, the recipe of which we are considering, includes such important components as stalks of celery and sweet and sour apple. The mentioned products should be washed well, and then must be cleaned of the peel. Next, the ingredients must be chopped into thin and small pieces.

To give the salad an unusual taste and appearance, it is also recommended to add fresh red grapes (preferably pitted), which should be thoroughly washed, slightly dried, then cut each berry in half. If such a product you could not buy, then a large black raisin would do as well. But before adding the dried fruit to the dish, it needs to be sorted, scalded with steep boiling water and held for about half an hour. After a while, the raisins must be rinsed in a sieve and allowed to dry.

The process of forming a dish

As you can see, salad "Walldorf" does not include overseas and expensive products. Therefore, not only the best cooks of America, but also ordinary housewives, who do not know culinary skills at all, can cook it.

After all components for the dish are prepared, you can immediately begin to form it. To do this, take a large enamel bowl and put into it the following products: chopped celery stems, sweet and sour apple, boiled chicken breasts, sliced grapes, fried walnuts and pine nuts. Then all the ingredients must be mixed, sprinkled with freshly squeezed lemon juice, ground sweet pepper and high-calorie mayonnaise (sour cream and even yogurt can be). After that, the prepared salad should be placed in the refrigerator and held in it for no more than 20 minutes. After this time, the dish should be laid out on a large flat plate, which is recommended in advance to spread a leaf of Korean cabbage or a green salad.

How correctly to submit to the festive table?

Ready-made and formed salad Waldorf (the recipe was described in detail above) should be presented to guests on a common dish before serving the main hot lunch. By the way, for a more saturated taste and presentable appearance, such a culinary masterpiece is recommended to sprinkle with dried cranberries or barberry. Having once tasted this unusual and delicious food, you will do it again and again. After all, on the taste and ease of cooking, this salad is many times greater than other culinary creations.

Helpful advice

In the preparation process, do not be afraid to fantasize. After all, many famous dishes became much more tasty and satisfying due to the fact that the chefs tried to improve them in every possible way. As for the presented salad, very often housewives do not limit themselves to such basic ingredients as chicken fillet, nuts and celery, adding new ingredients. So, a very delicious and juicy is obtained a similar dish with the use of canned pineapple. Perhaps someone will try to add a pickled peach or fresh orange ... Believe me, no one can refuse such an unusual salad.