Coronation Chicken from A Scone of Contention @LucyBurdette

 

LUCY BURDETTE:  Sometimes while I'm researching and writing a book, I eat a dish that has to be worked into the story. This is what happened with "coronation chicken"--I ordered it in a town called Peebles in Scotland, and I knew Hayley would eat it too. From A Scone of Contention:

Half an hour later, we met up with the others and hiked down a short hill that led into town. The most adorable shops mushroomed alongside the road as if we were in an Agatha Raisin mystery. We settled into a small coffee shop on the edge of Main Street. Within minutes, a waitress in a frilly white apron and red hair pulled into a ponytail bustled over to our table to welcome us.

“If you haven’t been here before, and from the looks of you, you haven’t, we’ve two local specials on our luncheon menu. Our coronation chicken consists of roasted chicken dressed in a sauce of mayonnaise and whipped cream with curry spices, mango chutney, and apricots mixed in. And our Scotch pie was a runner-up in the World Scotch Pie championship. Questions?” She held her order pad up with pen poised.  

On our Scottish vacation, I saw “coronation chicken“ on the menu and had to know what it was. It turns out to be curried chicken, but not just any curried chicken. The recipe was developed for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Jacket potatoes are baked potatoes served with the crispy skin left on.

​To make this at home,​  I looked at recipes from Tom Aiken, the New York Times, and the petite cook. E​ach​ recipe that I looked at was different, and each proclaimed itself to be better than ordinary curried chicken salad. There is no slapping of curry​ powder​ into mayonnaise and proclaiming it done ​(which I have been guilty of myself.)​ ​The dish can be served either as a sandwich, (the real English versions insist​ this​ should be soft white bread), ​as a ​salad, or ​as the topping ​on a baked potato.  ​One recipe called for​ ​M​ajor Grey's chutney​, another for chopped dried apricots, others for chopped fresh mango.​ I chose ​good​ apricot jam​ and mango for this version. You could substitute whole yogurt or sour cream for the whipped cream if this seems too rich.

Ingredients

2-3 cups fresh roasted chicken*
1 tablespoon butter
1 to 2 teaspoon curry powder
​1 small red onion, diced​
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 Cup water or chicken broth
1/3 cup white wine
2 tablespoons apricot jam
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup whipped cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Cayenne to taste
Fresh diced mango
Slivered almonds or scallions or both

​2 baked potatoes​

 I roasted a large chicken the night before I made this salad, but you could use a roast chicken from the deli counter if you need to, or bake chicken breasts and shred them.​ While you're preparing the sauce, put the potatoes in the oven at 350 for an hour to hour and a half until​ soft inside and crispy outside.

Melt the butter, stir in the curry​ and chopped onion​ and cook over medium heat​ for a couple minutes,​ being careful not to burn. And the tomato paste, water, and lemon juice​.​ ​Simmer​ the mixture until reduced by about half​, and quite thick​.  Mix in the apricot jam  and a sprinkle of cayenne and set this aside to cool. 

In another bowl combine the mayonnaise with the whipped cream. Stir in the curry mixture when it ​has​ cool​ed​ off​. Fold in​ the chicken, fold​ in​ the mango,​ along with​ almonds or scallions as you prefer​.​   

 Refrigerate the chicken mixture until you’re ready to serve. ​Cut the hot baked potatoes open and squeeze them to allow space for the chicken to be piled on top. Serve with a salad and green vegetable.  I don’t know if Queen Elizabeth would have been happy with this version, but we ​found it rich and delicious​!

*This amount of sauce could easily have covered 3 cups of shredded chicken.

Reds, have you ever read about a fictional meal and later cooked it for yourself?