Chicken salad

Butterfly the chicken breasts, cutting them in half width-wise, then cover with plastic wrap and pound to about half an inch with a meat mallet or heavy skillet.

Lightly season both sides with kosher salt.

Put a couple of quarts of heavily salted water in a large pasta pot with a steamer basket in it, and add the juice and carcass of a lemon, two garlic cloves, a couple of bay leaves and a handful of peppercorns.

Tuck in the chicken with room to move, top with water, bring to 175 degrees Fahrenheit, then kill the heat, partially cover and take it off the heat entirely.

Leave undisturbed about 15 minutes until the chicken reaches around 155 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pull the chicken onto a rimmed baking sheet, cool completely, then refrigerate.

For the mayonnaise combine the egg, half a small clove of garlic, about half a teaspoon of Dijon and half a teaspoon of kosher salt in a container the exact width of the immersion blender head.

Pour a cup of neutral oil down the side of the blender shaft so it settles on top of the egg, blast on full speed until an emulsion forms at the bottom, then pulse the shaft slowly up and down to incorporate the rest.

Finely chop the celery, thinly slice the scallions, finely chop the dried apricots and pistachios, roughly chop the parsley and finely chop the tarragon; season with kosher salt and pepper.

Cut the chilled chicken to roughly the size of the chopped vegetables.

Whisk about a cup of mayonnaise with a quarter cup of sour cream and the juice of half a lemon, then fold in the chopped vegetables, herbs, fruit and chicken; taste and adjust the seasoning.

Cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface and optionally refrigerate overnight.

Serve on whole wheat bread with a couple of leaves of butter leaf, scooped with a huge ice cream scoop.