Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Molded Chicken and Grape Salad

Sigh. People of the 70's. This is your fault. What made you people decide that encasing vegetables and meats in fruit jello was a super-de-duper idea? Shame on you.

Out of all the molded dinners, I chose this one because it sounded sort of like that yummy chicken salad on croissants you get at church dinners.

It was not.

IMG_2916.jpg picture by seshet27

Molded Chicken and Grape Salad
1 package (3 oz.) Jell-O brand gelatin, lemon or lime flavor
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
1/8 teaspoon tarragon
3/4 cup cold water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 cup diced cooked chicken or turkey
1/4 pound green or purple grapes, halved and seeded (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup diced celery

Dissolve gelatin and salt in boiling water, add tarragon. Add cold water and lemon juice and chill until thickened. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon into 4-cup mold or individual molds. Chill until firm, about 4 hours. Unmold and serve with mayonnaise. Makes about 3 1/2 cups or 4 entree servings.

IMG_2917.jpg picture by seshet27

Verdict:
This is an abomination. The bits with grapes and celery were sort of fine, but the chicken was... well, it was coated in lemon Jello. What more can you say? I ate a few bites, then chucked the rest in the trash. If someone served this to me at their house, I would be able to eat it so I wouldn't offend them. I would just never, ever make this again. Or anything like it. Ever. I tried a bit with mayonnaise, as per instructions. Awful. So bad. So bad. Hubby ate all of his and said he'd had worse, but then accused me of trying to make recipes until finally he would not be able to say this. He claimed that I was doomed to failure.

Curses.

I do love my Jello mold though. It is plastic and had interchangable designs that snap onto it to fill with mayonnaise or whipped cream, for festive occasions. When you pop it off, it also breaks the seal so the Jello slides right out. So look out! Now that I'm super good at using it, we're having lime jello with green beans and pimentos and a mayo-filled Christmas tree next Christmas!

Oh, did you think I made up the green beans and pimentos bit? No.



REJECTED.

French Bean Basket
2 packages (3 oz. each) or 1 package (6 oz.) Jell-O brand gelatin, lemon flavor
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 cups boiling water
1 package (9 oz.) Birds Eye 5 minute French style green beans
1 1/4 cups cold water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped pimento

Dissolve gelatin and bouillon cubes in boiling water. Add frozen beans and stir until beans separate and gelatin begins to thicken. Stir in cold water, lemon juice and pimento. Pour into 4- or 5-cup ring mold or individual molds. Chill until firm, about 2 hours. Unmold and garnish with crisp greens, if desired. makes about 4 cups or 8 servings.

REJECTED.

Gazpacho Salad
1 can (7 oz.) pimientoes, drained and diced
1 1/2 cups diced unpeeled cucumber
3/4 cup diced green pepper
2 medium tomatoes, diced
4 scallions, sliced
1 cup sliced pitted ripe olives
1 small clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons salad oil
1/3 vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can (10 1/2 oz.) consomme
2 packages (3 oz. each) Jell-O brand gelatin, lemon flavor
1 1/2 cups boiling water

Combine pimentos, vegetables, olives, garlic, oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Mix well and stir in consomme. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Chill until thickened. Fold in vegetable mixture. Pour into 8-cup mold. Chill until firm, about 4 hours. Unmold and garnish with tomato, lemon and cucumber slices, if desired. Makes 14 servings.

10 comments:

Nonna said...

Total abominations for sure ! I detest any kind of meats or veggies inside of jello. Whoever thought this was a good idea back in the '70's is just like the people who invented platform shoes, leisure suits, mullets and the horrible polyester everything was made of back then.
BTW, I must give your Hubs KUDOS for trying this...he's a total Prince !!!

Jana said...

You are too right. And hubby is indeed pretty awesome!

Anonymous said...

Seriously... totally nasty!! I gotta give you props for even daring to taste it!

Jana said...

Thanks, Alecia!

Mary said...

I was a teenager in the '70's, and we never ate meat in jello. That's revolting.

Jana said...

You dodged a bullet, my friend.

Unknown said...

I have the 70's "Joys of Jell-O" cookbook. It contains so many jell-o aspic horrors. Because olives, seafood, ham, turkey, avacado and other such delights can only be better encased in Jell-O, right?? Heh. Or... you know... not.

You are a braver woman than I. As is your husband (well, not the woman part).

Jana said...

I love it too. So much Jello, so little joy. When Husband said he hated American cheese above all things I had made for this, I specifically mentioned this recipe. Still the cheese.

I wonder if I could find a Jello recipe with American cheese...

Unknown said...

A quick peek yielded one (http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/cheese_party_mold) on the internet, so I am guessing there are more out there.

My book has shredded cheddar, blue cheese and swiss cheese, but no American Cheese. Huh. Odd that.

Lest you think this means it has some form of common sense, however, it does still think that anchovies, canned mushrooms, barbecue flavoring (it suggests pineapple jello for that one) and bacon are appropriate ingredients for jello molds. Heh.

Jana said...

About that, I have to say: it is important for your food to look like it tastes. In this case, vomit.

I keep trying to find something in what you have said that is especially horrifying... but I just can't grasp it.