Mommy's Creamy Macaroni Salad

     

     My mother only cooked out of necessity. She didn't like hanging out in the kitchen. She grew up working from a young age so learning to cook wasn't a priority. And when she got married, my Dad was the one who did most of the cooking.

     But since my Dad really wanted to get into the restaurant business, my Mom tried her best to learn how to cook to help him out. He was the planner while she was the executor. Ever the trooper, she enrolled in various short courses on cooking and baking and practiced at home. She helped develop the recipes of most of the menu items in our restaurant while doing the marketing and costing. 

     There are only a handful of recipes she passed on to me before she passed away and this Creamy Macaroni Salad is one of them. We served this for years at our chain of restaurants so we would make gallons of macaroni salad every few days. There is an extra step in the preparation that she taught me. We saute the onion with the chicken and salami. We did that to lessen the risk of spoilage and to dial down the taste of the raw onion.  But just the same caution should be taken to keep this salad chilled and consume it within three days.

     It's been awhile since I've made macaroni salad as we avoid dishes with mayonnaise for health reasons. I still make this for parties though and it is still a crowd favorite.


Mommy's Creamy Macaroni Salad

Ingredients
½ kilo salad macaroni
1 can pineapple tidbits, drained well
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 cups chicken breast fillet, boiled and flaked
¼ cup white onion, finely minced
½ cup chopped salami
1 cup cheddar cheese. cut into small cubes
2 tablespoon pickle relish
1½ cups plus ½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sweetened condensed milk
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Cook macaroni noodles according to package directions. Cool completely.
2. Heat up oil in a pan. Saute onions, flaked chicken and salami for a few minutes.. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and cool completely.
3. In a large bowl, gently toss together cooked macaroni, pineapple tidbits, sauteed chicken, salami and onion, pickle relish, 1½ cups mayonnaise, condensed milk. Season with salt and pepper if needed.
3. Chill well until ready to serve.
4. Right before serving, I like to toss in another 1/2 cup  of mayonnaise but this step is optional.