Eat.Live.Blog.

For my second month in the SRC, I was given assigned the blog Oh! You Cook! to peruse.  As soon as I realized that Dena was a kosher cook, I had to bring Lara in on the fun to help me choose what recipe to make. We had a tough time choosing between Mock Chopped Liver, Passover Almond Cake with Lemon Honey, and all types of other yummy recipes that are just in time for the upcoming Passover holiday!

But there was no question when we found it, the winner was the Gold Potato and Chicken Salad Mold…if for no other reason than pure curiosity. The pictures were not showing up when we tried to view this recipe, so you can imagine the things that popped into my head! Think 1960’s floating jello mold made out of chicken…

But then I read further and saw that this dish is based on a traditional Peruvian dish called Causa Rellena. The traditional version looks more like arepas than a jello mold…but I didn’t let that stop me!

This recipe involves 3 “sub-recipes”. A chicken salad, a mashed potato salad and a tapanade. I have listed each recipe separately, then instructions on how to put it all together. Enjoy!

Causa Rellena

Chicken Salad Ingredients

• 2 cups cook chicken breast, shredded (I boiled 1 ld of chicken breast and shredded)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp yellow mustard
• 1/2 tsp brown mustard
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp paprika

Chicken Salad Directions

• Place all ingredients in a bowl
• Mix well with a fork, breaking the chicken down further as you go
• If using in Causa Rellena, set bowl aside. If eating on its own, refrigerate until cold.

Mashed Potato Salad Ingredients

• 1.5 lb Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch cubes (about 4 potatoes)
• water
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Juice of 1 large lime
• Salt & pepper to taste

Mashed Potato Salad Directions

• Place potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with water
• Place on medium-high heat and bring to a boil
• Once boiling, continue to cook on a slow boil for 12 minutes until potatoes are cooked through
• Drain potatoes and place in a mixing bowl
• Add chili powder, crushed garlic, oil and lime
• Mix, using a spoon, crushing the potatoes as you stir
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• If using in Causa Rellena, set bowl aside. If eating on its own, may be eating chilled or warm.

Tapanade Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 20 Stuffed Manzanilla Olives
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp olive oil

Tapanade Directions

• Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender
• Pulse 10 -20 times until parsley is blended into all ingredients

To make the Causa Rellena:

• Potato salad and chicken salad should still be warm
• Line the bowl you would like to use as your mold with plastic wrap. Make sure plastic wrap comes up over the sides of the bowl.
• Place the potato salad into the bottom of the bowl
• Smooth down potatoes so the top is smooth and even
• Spread the tapanade over the potato layer
• Smooth chicken salad onto the top of the bowl. Make sure to smooth this layer down
• Cover dish with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator
• When dish is cold, remove plastic wrap from the top of the bowl
• Place your serving dish, upside down, on top of the bowl
• Flip bowl over so that mold is now on the serving dish. Pull on the plastic wrap a little if the mold doesn’t come right out.
• Once mold is out of the bowl and on the serving dish, remove the rest of the plastic wrap
• Traditioinal toppings you may want to sprinkle over the top are parsley, olives and hard boiled eggs.