The last phase of roast chicken around here is chicken salad, a sort of Waldorf salad with small chunks of chicken breast added. Many people say they like the breast meat best and eat it first, but we tend to compete for the legs and wings, leaving the breast to be eaten cold. After a couple of chicken sandwiches have gone down range, the remainder becomes salad.

The components are: two or three ribs of celery, sliced, and the celery leaves, chopped; one or two tart apples, cored and diced but not skinned; an onion, sliced very thin; as much cold chicken as you have in the fridge, skinned and diced; and a handful of walnut or pecan halves. You may also add diced cucumber and sweet red pepper if you like. Add lots of black pepper and dried thyme leaves, plus marjoram if you have any around, and powdered dehydrated garlic. Dress with mayonnaise, mix thoroughly, and let stand for at least an hour before serving to let the flavours get to know each other.

This is a good dish for summer barbecues and potlucks, and my in-laws like it a lot. It goes very well with cider.