My Great Aunt Agnes was, as they used to say, comfortably well off as her husband Billy Dwyer was probably Corks biggest employer at one time. She could well have lived her life without ever going near a kitchen but, she loved to cook.
When my sisters got married, with the receptions (or breakfasts as we used to call them!) at home in our house in Cork it was Aunt Agnes who came to the rescue and cooked, mixed and carved wondrous buffets for the hundreds of guests.
One of her buffet specialities was the above named salad, this she usually made from boiled turkey rather than chicken as I will indicate but either works well.
I have adapted and adopted it as one of my own and over the years have produced it for lots of weddings and buffets of all kinds.

As she was a grandmother herself (of at least fifty great-grandchildren)so I think she qualifies for the Granny’s recipes in the Mercier as well.

The Recipe

1 large Chicken
1 hd. Celery
225g/8oz.. grapes (seedless for convenience, red for appearance)
175g/6 oz. Streaky Rashers

Mayonnaise:
3 egg yolks
280ml/10 oz. Sunflower oil
1 tbs. Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper

Cover the chicken with cold water in a large pot and bring it to a rolling boil.
Let it boil for about 10 mts. and then take it off the heat and let the chicken cool in the water. (This method of cooking keeps the chicken beautifully moist.)
When cool drain the chicken off the stock (keep this in the freezer for soup) and then take the chicken off the bone and discard the bones and the skin.
Chop this meat up roughly. Cut the rashers into little pieces and fry in a hot pan until brown and crispy, drain well on kitchen paper and add to the chicken. Cut the celery into small pieces and add to the chicken. Halve the grapes and discard the seeds and add them in.
Beat the yolks up well with the lemon and seasoning and then dribble in the oil (an electric beater is a great help at this stage) continue dribbling in the oil until it is gone and the mayonnaise is “a thick and yellow ointment”
Fold this into the chicken mixture .(If you push it into a bowl lined with cling film it can be unmoulded successfully and makes a great centrepiece for a buffet)