Chicken Stack-Ups and Fruited Nectar Salad

I know I've been getting quite chatty lately in the beginning of some of these posts, so let's just cut to the chase in today's entry and talk about the food. Up first, Chicken Stack-Ups, followed by Fruited Nectar Salad for dessert. Let's start with the Chicken Stack-Ups shall we?

Here's the mise en place:



The first thing I did was mix the sour cream sauce packet the recipe called for. Well, except the grocery store didn't have a sour cream sauce packet because it is 2007, so I substituted Hollandaise instead. I added the packet into a saucepan of simmering milk:



After whisking vigorously, I added 4 tablespoons of margarine:



After the margarine melted, the sauce was complete. I then chopped up the green bell pepper (the only fresh ingredient in this whole dish!):



To that, I added the canned chicken the recipe called for:



Then, I folded in half of the sour cream sauce... I mean, Hollandaise sauce:



Huh. Kinda looks like something I left on the basement floor of the Sigma Nu house after Spring Fling back in 1987. Anyhoo, the next step was to make the batter for the pancakes. That involved mixing flour, baking soda, and the remainder of the Hollandaise sauce:





Now, it's assembly time! In a baking dish, I followed the recipe to a tee: I did one layer of pancakes, then spread out the canned chicken/bell pepper/Hollandaise sauce mixture, then topped it with another layer of pancakes. I also added some Vienna Sausages because they were on sale and I thought they'd add to the classiness of the dish:



The last bit of work I had to do was make the cranberry sauce for the garnish on top of the Chicken Stack-Ups. It was really hard to do. Thank god the cookbook explained all the steps in excruciating detail:





Also, instead of making the cheese sauce packet I had purchased (I was running low on milk), I decided to melt some American cheese slices on top of the dish instead:



Here's a close-up of the deliciousness that is Chicken Stack-Ups:



Aren't the miniature porcelain bunnies and their musical instruments just darling? It seemed fitting for the photo somehow. Like they're heralding the arrival of such a tasty dinner!

Now that the main course was done, it was time to focus on dessert: a Fruited Nectar Salad. Here's the mise en place:



First step was to make the Jell-o. This involved mixing a lemon Jell-o packet with apricot nectar and water in a saucepan:



After it was done, I let it cool and semi-harden. Then, it was time to mix in the fruit:




[Sing with me: "Libby's Libby's Libby's on the label label label, you will like it like it like it on your table table table!"]

Up next was something not in the book, but an ingredient I felt compelled to add to the Fruited Nectar Salad, as we are approaching Easter -- Peeps. This involved quite a lot of prep work and mad knife skillz:









Look at those sad, pleading Peep faces... it's like they KNOW what's about to happen to them. Poor babies. Not.



I let the Fruited Nectar Salad "set up in the fridge" (Hi, TWoPers!) for about six hours before it was ready to be plated and then served. Here's what it looked like when removed from the mold:



And, here's a final plating of an individual tasting:



Of course, before I go, I must share the usual money shots of how much this food was loved, devoured, and enjoyed by my friends and family:





Happy April Fool's Day.

Seriously, up next week is the Lemon Sabayon-Pine Nut Tart with Honeyed Mascarpone Cream. From the French Laundry Cookbook. I promise.

Chicken Stack-Ups and Fruited Nectar Salad were lovingly adapted from Better Homes and Gardens' "Make-Ahead Cookbook" (1971), a book of recipes prepared and served by women who allegedly loved their families.