Sandra’s Taste of Britain – June 2012

HOW WONDERFUL that we are able to celebrate Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. I know there are so many celebrations planned in Britain, which actually will be played out over several days. An exciting thing to be able to celebrate in the recent trying times.

I remember the coronation, but we weren’t in England. My Dad was an RAF officer and we were stationed in Egypt at the time. I recall there was a lot of celebrating … but we didn’t have the telly to see it until we came back to England which wasn’t too long after, as we had to leave due to the Suez crisis … I still have a special memory of flying over the pyramids … of course I was somewhat unaware of all the hassle of packing up and having to leave without much planning. Anyway, we had outside celebrations, I guess as close as we could be to a street party. Since it was so hot and we were near a lake we had a water celebration, with boat and dingy races, swimming etc and I do remember my Mum cooking up a storm with her friends to plan lots of good food. When we got back to England, we gathered round my Grandmother’s telly, small black and white screen, and fascinated by it all … as I hadn’t really seen television before either! Hard to imagine how we lived without all these electronic devices, but we did!

This month I have decided to feature the original Coronation Chicken recipe that I presented nearly 10 years ago, based on the recipe that the Buckingham Palace Chefs had created especially based on the an update of the original Coronation Chicken. Apparently the coronation service itself was so long that the Queen and her attendants halfway through the ceremony went to the back of Westminster Abbey and had the chicken for sustenance!

We need to remember also to honour Father’s Day on June 17, I rather think it may be overshadowed with all that is going on throughout Britain; the Jubilee, Wimbledon, and the Olympics. I certainly don’t plan to go over until they are all over!

This recipe is a bit fiddling, but worthwhile. I prefer to use chicken breast on the bone as I feel it has more flavour, but you can use any chicken parts of your preference. Chicken stock can be used instead of the red wine, but the flavour from the wine cooking with the onions etc., are really yummy. I hope you enjoy my version.

Coronation Chicken

4lb chicken
1 medium onion
1 Tbsp curry powder
2 whole cloves
2 Tbsp tomato puree
1 carrot
1½ cup red wine
1 stalk of celery 1 Bay leaf
Salt and pepper 3 Tbsp apricot jam
1 Bay leaf
1¼ cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Peel the first onion, cut in half and stick with the whole cloves. Peel and roughly chop carrot and celery. Place in a large pan, top with the chicken pieces, add the bay leaf, and top with water. Cover and bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer gently about 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken, strain the vegetables and bay leaf , discard, and simmer the remaining stock until it reduces to about half a cup. Reserve.

Remove the chicken meat from the bone and cut into small pieces. Whip the cream and set aside.

To make the sauce: Peel and chop second onion finely, put into a pan with the olive oil and sauté until golden brown. Add the curry, tomato puree, apricot jam, second bay leaf, and wine, simmer about 10 minutes or until thickened slightly. Remove from the heat, cool and remove the bay leaf, discard. Puree or strain the sauce, add salt and pepper if needed.

Mix reduced stock into the mayonnaise, and mix in the onion sauce, mix well, Fold in the whipping cream. Stir in the chicken, and chill.

Yield: 6-8 servings

God Save The Queen!

(I welcome comments, recipes and requests and can be reached at Yourcuppatea1@yahoo.com.)