Short Cut Lazarus Chicken Salad

Looking for an all around great tasting and easily adaptable chicken salad recipe?  Well then you came to the right spot.  If you've ever tasted the Lazarus Chicken Salad recipe then you know how good it is.  And you also know its a bit time consuming as well.  I've taken some short cuts and adapted this recipe to save you some time while not changing the great taste or ingredients of the original recipe.  If you are interested here is the original recipe, or you can google "Lazarus Chicken Salad Recipe" and get numerous copies of the original recipe. 

So here is my adaptations of the recipe and it includes the crock pot...my new best friend. 

Ingredients for Dressing:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
2 cups milk
1 cup heated vinegar
1/4 cup egg yolks (3 large eggs)

Place the milk in a double boiler over medium heat.  Mix dry ingredients and add to milk, and cook in double boiler until flour is thoroughly cooked and mixture is slightly thickend. Add heated vinegar and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Beat egg yolks and add a little of the mixture to the yolks to keep them from curdling, return the yolks to hot mixture and cook for 10 minutes longer.

Crock Pot Chicken:
Take 6 thawed chicken breasts and place them in a crock pot on high for 2 hours (or frozen place on high for 4 hours).  Flip chicken over half way through.  Do not add water.  Make sure chicken is cooked through.  Place chicken in a large metal bowl and beat with an electric hand beater.  It shreds the chicken and takes all the work away from you doing it by hand.  Alternatively you could boil the chicken in a stock pot full of water for 20-25 minutes on medium high heat and then once cooked you can beat it with an electric hand beater. 

The dressing makes enough that you can freeze it in 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon portions and get plenty to last you a year. 

I add 2 stalks of diced celery to my cooked and beaten chicken.  You can also add grapes or nuts if you choose.  Then I take 1/4 cup +1 tablespoon of the dressing mixture and mix it with 3/4 cup +3 tablespoons of Hellman's Mayonnaise.  Poor dressing over chicken mixture and mix.  Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!  I usually serve this on croissants, but it also tastes great on crackers.