Coronation chicken with new potatoes, green beans, and courgettes followed by gooseberry cranachan on Tuesday 5 July 2016
Yes, I made Coronation chicken. You have a problem with this? Make it like I do, have it with some new potatoes or rice, and then tell me that I’m stuck in some bizarre time-warp.
1 whole chicken (mine said ‘Serves 3-4.’ There was enough for six.)
3 centimetres of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
Find a large, lidded casserole dish that will hold the chicken. Place the chicken in it, add the spices, cover it with water, and bring the water to the boil. As soon as the water has come to the boil, reduce it to a simmer and allow the chicken to poach until cooked through. I give it 90 minutes.
You can leave the chicken to rest overnight in the poaching liquor if you wish, or remove it immediately to allow it to cool so that you can proceed with the rest of the dish. If you allow it to rest overnight, please remove the ginger and cinnamon from the stock.
As soon as the chicken is cool enough to handle, begin to dismember it. I start by removing the skin and pulling off the legs and wings. The meat should be extremely tender and crumple at the joints. Run a knife along the breast bone and pull off the breasts. Then turn over the bird and pluck at the meat on its underside. Ensure that you have all the meat from the carcass, and discard the bones and skin.
I use my hands to break up the leg meat and shred the breast meat into bite-sized pieces. All the rest should be morsel-sized already. Put the meat into a large bowl.
1 heaped tablespoon good curry paste (I use Patak’s Madras)
6 apricots, fresh or canned, cut into eighths
5 tablespoons mango chutney
One mango, cut into bite-sized pieces
Fry off the apricots in the curry paste until tender. This should take a few minutes. Pour the spiced apricots into the bowl with the chicken and add the all of the other ingredients, excepting the mango.Â
Stir carefully but thoroughly, so that everything is coated evenly with the spices, chutney, and mayonnaise. Test for flavour balance. If it needs anything else, now is the time to add it. It should be spicy but not too spicy and definitely not drowning in mayonnaise.Â
At the last moment, stir through the mango. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter and scatter with some slivered almonds if you fancy. It’s best at room temperature, but if you’re making it for a crowd, please don’t give them food poisoning.
A quick word on the courgettes. I used a Julia Child recipe. I grated two large courgettes, salted them, and placed them in a sieve to degorge their bitter juices. I rinsed them and dried them dry with a tea towel. I minced two small onions and fried them in olive oil before adding the courgettes and allowed them to get some colour. I spritzed them with lemon juice and a grinding of black pepper before serving. There were just sufficient for four people. We loved them.
As for gooseberry cranachan. The raspberries aren’t ready yet but the gooseberries, just, are. I placed the gooseberries (300g) in a saucepan with a sprinkling of sugar and cooked them until they split. I whipped 300ml cream into soft peaks with 2 teaspoons of honey. (There should be whisky in there, too, but neither parent likes whisky.) I toasted 50g oats with just under a tablespoon of brown sugar. I then layered everything into four glasses and drizzled it with the cooking juices from the gooseberries.
It might not sound it, but this is a stress-free meal when you have people joining you for supper. The chicken can be prepared in advance, the vegetables take but a moment, and you can prepare the elements of the dessert well before you need them, assembling it just before your guests arrive.
