Chicken Salad with Fennel Spice (Kopie)

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FROM: Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking Cookbook-Signed

Michael's Notes: It's important to simmer the chicken slowly to keep it tender.
To slice fresh basil thinly in what professional cooks call a chiffonade, stack several leaves together, then roll them up like a cigar and slice thinly crosswise.

Rather than making chicken stock the restaurant way, with bony necks and backs, I'm fond of making a rich broth using a whole bird. Every so often, I'll make a batch and fill my freezer, leaving me with the dividend of a lot of poached chicken. I'll shred the moist meat by hand, combine it with celery heart and red onion, and dress the mixture liberally with my best olive oil, lemon juice, and--the secret ingredient--Fennel Spice. It couldn't be easier or better, but you could add some greens or radicchio to make it more substantial, or you could spoon the chicken over bruschetta.

Ingredients
Serves: Serves 4 to 6

Boiled Chicken:
1 chicken, about 3 1/2 pounds
1 large celery rib, halved
1 large carrot, halved
1 large yellow onion, quartered
2 bay leaves

1/4 cup thinly sliced celery heart
1/4 red onion, very thinly sliced
6 to 7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Fennel Spice, or more to taste
Sea salt, preferably gray salt, and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

Directions
Prepare the chicken: Put the chicken, halved celery rib, carrot, yellow onion, and bay leaves in a pot just large enough to hold them comfortably. Add cold water to cover. Bring to a simmer, skimming any foam. Adjust the heat to maintain a bare simmer and cook, uncovered, for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and let cool in the liquid. Lift out the cooled chicken and strain the broth, discarding the solids. Refrigerate or freeze the chicken broth for another use.
Remove the skin and bones from the chicken. Shred the meat by hand into rough bite-size pieces.

In a large bowl, combine the shredded chicken, celery, red onion, 6 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 1/2 teaspoons Fennel Spice, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste and add more oil, lemon juice, or Fennel Spice, if desired. Add the basil and serve.
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