SECRETARIES' SALADServes 15-25 Perdue home economists developed most of the recipes in this book, but this recipe is one of the few that is mine. I served it first at what Frank and I jokingly call the "Perdue High Holiday," National Secretaries' Day. That's the day when we honor the people who we know really make the world go 'round. We usually have about 25 of the top secretaries from Perdue Headquarters for dinner along with their husbands to celebrate the day. 1 head lettuce, shredded 1 cup chopped celery 1 large green, red, or yellow pepper, chopped 1 cup thinly sliced carrots or if it's summer, 1 cup chopped tomato 1 cup chopped scallions 1 cup frozen peas, room temperature, not cooked 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise (I use Hellmann's) 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken 2-1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese In a large glass bowl, layer ingredients in the order given. Refrigerate for 24 hours to develop flavors.
PISTACHIO SMOKED CHICKEN SPREAD The green color and the crunch of the pistachios add a lot to this spread. Be sure to store the pistachios in an airtight container after purchase. Exposure to air affects the texture of the nuts and causes them to become soggy. 1 package cream cheese (8-ounces), room temperature 1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste 1/8 teaspoon liquid smoke 1/4 chopped pistachios 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice In a mixing bowl combine ingredients thoroughly. Refrigerate for 24 hours while flavors blend. Serve on crackers, or for a rich and delicious lunch, I have served it on croissants one time and on bagels another day.
SPICY CORNISH HEN TIDBITSServes 2 This is another of the recipes included in the Perdue Cornish Hen packages that people have requested from Frank dozens and dozens of times over the years. I'm including the recipe exactly as it originally appeared, but you may want to substitute fresh garlic (1 clove), fresh onion (1 tablespoon, finely chopped), and fresh celery (2 tablespoons, finely chopped), for the garlic powder, onion salt, and celery salt. If you make these substitutions, be sure to add salt to taste afterwards. 2 fresh Cornish game hens 1 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon onion salt 1/4 teaspoon celery salt 1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper or black pepper 1 cup vegetable oil or as needed 1 cup bottled garlic cheese dressing Cut hens into serving pieces. Combine dry spices and toss hens in spices to coat evenly. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat and fry Cornish pieces about 8 minutes on each side until tender and golden. Remove and drain on paper towels. Arrange on a serving dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight. To serve, dip Cornish pieces into bottled dressing. Serve at room temperature.
CHAPTER EIGHT CHICKEN FOR HOLIDAYS
If we were back in the 1920s right now, and you were planning a holiday meal, it would almost certainly not include chicken$unless you were either lucky or rich. Having chicken for holidays happens all the time today, but back then, chicken on the menu was either a sign of affluence or that you lived on a farm and had your own chickens. When Herbert Hoover was using "a chicken in every pot" as a campaign slogan back in the late 1920s, chicken was such a rare and expensive treat that people thought Hoover's promise was about as realistic as promising them pie in the sky. Few people believed that anyone could deliver on that promise.
All this changed because of a fortunate accident that happened near where Frank grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. In 1923, when Mrs. Wilmer Steele, of nearby Sussex County, was ordering baby chicks for her laying flock, someone processing the order got a zero wrong. Instead of the 50 chicks she was counting on, Mrs. Steele received 500 baby chicks. She found herself faced with the twin problems of first, the expense of feeding so many birds, and second, the hassle of trying to sell more eggs than the market in Sussex County could possibly absorb.
The solution she came up with changed the eating patterns not just of Sussex County, but of most of the world as well. It also had a lot to do with Frank's future career. Up until then, chicken production was no more than an adjunct to egg production and when someone had chicken to eat, it was most likely a "spent hen," a tough old bird which no longer laid a sufficient number of eggs to pay her feed costs. Mrs. Steele transformed all this by deciding to sell all her extra baby chicks for meat when they were only a few months old and hadn't yet cost her too much in feed.
The young and tender meat from these birds made them an instant success. Consumers loved them, and Mrs. Steele discovered that raising chickens entirely for meat rather than for producing eggs, was a lucrative business.
Other egg producers, including Frank and his father, Arthur W. Perdue, eventually switched over to growing chickens for meat rather than for eggs. Progressive farmers like the Perdues were soon breeding their chickens for larger size, faster growth, and better conversion of feed to meat$something no one had thought about when chickens were grown only for egg production. As a result of this specialization, the poultrymen were able to bring the cost of chicken down far enough so that it became affordable for everyone.
These changes literally transformed our eating habits. In 1923, we Americans didn't consume a pound of broiler chicken per person in a year; today we're eating about 70 pounds each per year. And where once only the rich could feature chicken for a holiday meal, now everyone can and many do.