Royal Chicken Recipes

Hello, dear friends,

I found today a recipe that I would like to share with you.

I find the story behind it very interesting and evocative of the times that the western world faces today.

It is also evocative of the mentality behind the absolute well off, 

probably more symbolically rather than in real terms,

the kings and queens.

Poulet reine Elizabeth, 

 as it was originally known,

 concocted for the banquet for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 2,1953,

was a deliberate and tactful compromise between the luxurious and the thrifty for a country still under the dreary yoke of postwar rationing.

 Coronation Chicken was invented for the foreign guests who were to be entertained after the Coronation. The food had to be prepared in advance, and Constance Spry, who also helped with floral arrangements on the day, proposed a recipe of cold chicken in a curry cream sauce with a well-seasoned dressed salad of rice, green peas and mixed herbs. Constance Spry's recipe won the approval of the Minister of Works and has since been known as Coronation Chicken.

Ingredients

• 1.5kg/4lb free-range chicken
• 4 spring onions, sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled, left whole
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 10 whole black peppercorns

For the sauce

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 85ml/3fl oz red wine
• 150ml/¼pint water
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• caster sugar
• 2 slices lemon
• squeeze of lemon juice
• 425ml/15fl oz good-quality mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp apricot purée (made by blending 4-5 stoned, dried apricots with 3 tbsp water)
• 3 tbsp whipped cream

To serve

• 1 tbsp roughly chopped coriander
• rice, cooked according to packet instructions

Preparation method

1. Place the chicken into a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, cover with water and add the spring onions, garlic, salt and peppercorns.
2. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes, turning the chicken once during the cooking process. Cover with a lid and switch off the heat. Leave for one hour, then remove the chicken, allow to cool completely, and tear the chicken from the bones into rough pieces.
3. Meanwhile, for the sauce, heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently for 3-4 minutes. Add the curry powder and cook for a further two minutes, stirring well. Add the tomato purée, wine, water and bay leaf.
4. Bring the mixture to the boil. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then add the sugar, lemon slices and lemon juice, to taste. Reduce the heat until the mixture is simmering and simmer, uncovered, for 5-10 minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine meshed sieve and set aside to cool.
5. Gradually fold in the mayonnaise and apricot purée, to taste. Add more lemon juice, as necessary.
6. Fold in the whipped cream.
7. To serve, arrange the portioned chicken on a large platter, pour the sauce over the top, sprinkle with the coriander and serve immediately, with rice.
   
   

For the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002, another version was made, with a more tangy sauce.

RECIPE FOR JUBILEE CHICKEN

Preparation time: 20 min, plus 2-3 hours marinating.
Cooking time: 25 min. Serves: 4.

INGREDIENTS
4 chicken breast fillets, about 18 oz (500g) in total
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg
2 tbsp olive oil
Bunch flat leaf parsley
1 lime quartered

For marinade:Half lime, juiced and zest grated 3cm fresh root ginger, peeled and grated 1 clove crushed garlic 1 shallot, finely chopped 2 tbsp olive oil

For dressing:3fl oz (100ml) creme fraiche 6 tbsp mayonnaise Half lime, juice and zest grated 2in (5cm) piece fresh root ginger

METHOD

Mix the marinade ingredients together in a shallow dish. Add the chicken and turn to coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. 

To make dressing, place creme fraiche, mayonnaise, lime juice and zest in a bowl. Peel and grate the ginger, then twist in a piece of muslin, or press through a sieve to extract the juice. Add 2 tsp of the juice to the dressing. Stir, cover and chill to allow the flavours to develop.

Scrape marinade from the chicken and pat dry with kitchen paper. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and nutmeg, and place in a roasting tin. Drizzle over olive oil.

Roast in oven (pre-heated to 190 degrees Celsius / 375 degrees Fahrenheit / Gas Mark 5) for 25 minutes, baste occasionally until the chicken is cooked through. Leave to cool completely, then cut into bite-sized pieces.

Combine the chicken and dressing, adjust the seasoning, and refrigerate. Serve with a pasta salad, lime quarters and chopped flat leaf parsley.

THE CORONATION BANQUET

If you wish to recreate the banquet held at Buckingham Palace after the Coronation in 1953, you may be interested in the menu:

Consommé Royale
(Chicken consommé garnished with cubes of royale)

Filet de Boeuf Mascotte
(Fillet of beef garnished with quarters of artichoke bottom tossed in butter with cocotte potatoes and slices of truffle)

Salade

Glace à la Mangue
(Mango ice cream) 

Thus, dear frineds, we may be inspired for a royal banquet.

God bless us all!

Sources

50 facts about the Queen's Coronation

Coronation Chicken Recipe

 

November Days

November so far

 

In the garden

The maple trees have shed their leaves, golden yellow and most favorite red.

Off went tomatos, cucumbers and courgettes~

Thank you lots, see you all in a few months, sweet darlings.

The roses, encouraged by the sky's sunny disposition, produce some pretty amazing blooms.

In the spring we planted some vines.
They're tiny and I hope they will survive the winter.
I always wanted to have vines in the garden.
They remind me of my grandpa's estate in the Peloponnese...

Over the weekend we planted lettuce, sprouts and cellery.

Watched

  Cars 2  

 It's almost blasphemy, but... it's even better than #1. 

Well done, Pixar! 

 The Hangover Part II  

 Gross, but hilarious at times. 

 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 

 Julie Walters and Maggie Smith are perennial favorites. 

And the Neville guy, ha! he's my hero!

We have been watching Harry Potter on TV for the past two weeks. 

I absolutely loved the films, and I look  forward to reading the books.

 Cooked*

*Don't forget to use your favorite cuttlery.
I love mine, from Cath Kidston.
The sous-plat, barely seen here, but I'm sure you've noticed in previous posts :) is from French company Les Olivades that we used to stock at the shop.

Penne, cooked, then layered with mushroom, saucage and canned sauce, half tomato, in the middle, one cheese on top. 

Add grated cheese and nutmeg. I could smell of nutmeg every day.

On Sunday we cooked some veal with mushrooms in a red wine and tomato sauce.

As of November 14, St.Philip's, we are fasting for Christmas.
So, our stews will have to be vegan. Like this potato stew I cooked the other day.



You will need
potatoes, quartered
onion
olive oil
tomato puree
a fresh tomato
a chilly pepper
a carrot, thinly sliced
salt
pepper
bay leaves
~~~
sauté the onion.
add the potatoes.
season to taste.
add veggies and bey leaves.
cover and simmer.
serve with feta cheese.

TV snack.

First satsumas at the shop, a treat for our customers.

Mornings start earlier, with little people requesting breakfast instead of skipping it.
Here, eldest daughter, F

And here, big cat boy Patcha, with little daughter D.

And a new addition to the gang

Meet Feta, as in feta cheese. Found wandering outside our condo. 

"Come in, sweetheart, it's freezing out there".

Ice-cream, anyone?

Do you make ice-cream at home? 

My mom used to make vanilla ice-cream in stainless steel containers that she put on the fridge's freezer, beat twice and served often with a crystalline surface. 

My mil on the other hand still uses Tupperware containers from her great collection to make a coffee flavored concoction.

As for me, I have the ice-cream bowl that came with my Kenwood, but I have never used it.  

However, I find this to be the perfect comfort ice-cream, if I may say so. 

Hmmm!

Yoghurt and Nutella ice cream via 

Le weekend

Sunday morning

The monastery. i think what i love most about manasteries is the inner courtyard. the gardens. the collective work. collective singing. collective praying. and the free offering. perhaps i should open a monastery. perhaps i was always meant to be a nun, but took a deviation.

Saturday evening

I mended stuff. (D) liked the lttle button I used to hide a hole on her Florence pink t-shirt.
(F) photographed some of my stuff to be put on sale this week.

Sunday afternoon

Federer (left nr.2)-Nadal (right nr.1)

watched Roland Garros
me: only the awards ceremony and high lights:
Gosh, it was only yestrerday I used to watch the whole thing after the Sunday family lunch,
only the day before i had strawberries and creme at Wimbledon.
where does time go?

watched Oliver's Twist love him for getting my girls interested on cooking.

watched Cinderella Man 

cooked a nice little dish. leftover Greek salad dressing i.e. onions and olive oil with oregano + half a chicken + lightly golden on both sides + one glass dry white wine + 1/2 pack tomato puree +let simmer some more + potatoes chopped in squares = DH says it's the best I've evrer made. Am i supposed to be happy with this? Oh well, happy-happy-happy:)

Be good. Have fun. Happy new week.

Around the house this week

Things happen around the house these days.

We are living to the sound of the end of the year school exams for F and D.

We have been gardening, planting our brand new raised beds with tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes and even two watermelon plants per J's request.

We also watched some exciting soccer

and baked delicious cookies.

 They turned into biscuits as I hadn't baked them before and let them stay in (ahem!) a little longer, but nontheless, they were greatly appreciated.

(Recipe from the delightful Cherry Menlove).

We are having an end of season sale at the shop.
I hope to show you some of our for sale stuff in a future post.

What else?

Oh...yes, Happy Turtle received its first blog award in recent memory at least.

Thank you very much Jessica! 

I met Jessica through blog hop (does it sound like blind date to you? It does to me, lol!). 

She blogs at Cajunlicious which I think speaks for itself, but hey, this is marriage made in heaven as I have been attracted to all things South.
To be honnest with you, there are many people who know me for ages and they say I am a Southern Lady. Someone even run a past life test on me and said I'd definitively lived in the South during the Civil War.
Okey dokey, then. You know, with things going as they do in Greece...Well, let me not say any more for now...

 I must pass this award to 15 newly discovered bloggers.
Hmm. I don't know if I can do 15, but let me tell you.

The most recent one

Pink Princess in Paris

for the stroll to Montmarte.

Paraphernalia

who is spartan, inspiring and trully versatile.

Despinarion 

because she brings to me the best of both worlds from across the Atlantic.

Stephanie 

because she is so cool and talented yet doesn't make a fuss about it.

Meredith

the one mum blog that i recently discovered and that I trully enjoy right now.

And my NEW blog hop stops that tickle my blogging right now

Friday blog hop
Fashion Fridays
Say Hi Sunday
Weekend Windown
Post of the month club

Have a lovely middle end of the week everyone.
(Yes, that is how long it takes me to put together a post as simple as this!)
I love every single comment you write for me, you really make my day:)

Saturday Recipes

*Where I collect and share the recipes that caought my attention*

Risotto Primavera

Lemon Crème brûlée

Do tell if you make one of them (I'll let you know, too!)

(Sweet) Mosaic Monday

Views of a new pastry shop in town.

Some old favorites.

And a home made apple pie usign the fail-proof recipe from the fabulous  Cherry.

(Perfect!)

Thanking for stopping by!

Linking to Little Red House, with thanks for hosting.

Pumpkins galore

via Cajoline scrap

Tick-tock. We shall be having some rain tomorrow. Autumn is on its way! Let me see what I like about Autumn... Yes, I like the colours first and foremost.

Ina Garten's pumpkin cupcakes with maple frosting via House Beautiful

gorgeous pumpkin pillows with how-to at Martha Stuart

Halloween Pumpkin Stencil from The Graphics Fairy

Just so that we get into the mood...

Where Greek people eat

Some of the best Greek restaurants in Greece and abroad -part I of many :-))

***

Sometime ago I had posted a giveaway where I asked participants to tell me what they would like to see more of in my blog. "Restaurants" and "Hotels" were the most common answers.
I have done some posts about hotels over the years, so I thought I'd expand to the Restaurants.

***

Hytra is the Michelin-starred restaurant of one of the best hotels in Athens, the Astir Palace Beach Resort in Vouliagmeni, along the Athenian Riviera.

Chef Nico Karathanos and guest chefs bring a light touch to classic Greek cooking with a luxurious twist. Dishes include risotto with tzatziki, stuffed tomatoes with scampi and delicious fish dishes with a twist.

***

If you are not visiting Greece anytime soon, but want to have a Greek meal of great quality, visit Molyvos in New York (book in advance). The restaurant takes its name from a beautiful village on the island of Lesvos in the Aegean Sea.

They make great quality traditional Greek dishes such as octopus and stuffed cabbage leaves with great attention to ingredients and balance in taste, in a warm and wecoming atmosphere.
Bring home the delicious Greek recipes with chef Botsacos' book The New Greek Cuisine.

"The acclaimed chef from Molyvos—New York’s “very best Greek restaurant” (Esquire)—reinvents one of the world’s classic cuisines in 150 recipes that celebrate its fresh ingredients and bold flavors.

While staying true to tradition, the recipes in The New Greek Cuisine bring everything to the next level by emphasizing ingredients and presentation and intensifying flavors. Home cooks can start small by learning to make marvelous mezes, including mussels with mint or a crustless leek and cheese pie. When it’s time to move on to entrees, there are plenty of tasty and satisfying options, from braised lamb shanks with orzo to plank-grilled prawns. Inventively simple sides such as roasted “cracked” potatoes with coriander and red wine, or comforting pastitsio--a Greek macaroni and cheese--could become new family favorites. And no Greek meal would be complete without desserts like semolina cake with yogurt and spoon sweets or easy pinwheel-shaped baklava.

Based on staples such as fish, whole grains, and olive oil, Greek food is not only healthy and delicious but offers a welcome break from other overexposed Mediterranean cuisines. And this richly illustrated cookbook by one of the new Greek’s most talented practitioners is the perfect way to discover its many delights."

You may read more about Greek restaurants in NYC here.

Sardines, a great saurce of your omega3 via Greedy Diva

There is a very nice post on Greek food by an original Greek grandma on the island of Lesvos here.

Custard pie via Martha Stuart

And if you feel like bringing home some Greek delight, try this recipe from the Molyvos chef, via Martha Stuart. One of my favorite sweets, I must say!

Makes one 8-inch round pastry

* 4 cups milk
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 1 cup (2 sticks), plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
* Zest from 1 lemon
* 3/4 cup fine semolina (preferably Greek)
* 3 large eggs
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
* 9 sheets phyllo
* 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, 1 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, and lemon zest. Bring to a simmer over low heat. Whisk in semolina, and cook, stirring, until the mixture is thick, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat, and whisk in eggs, one at a time. Return saucepan to heat, and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 to 40 seconds, to cook the eggs. Remove custard from heat, and let cool to room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a small saucepan, melt remaining 2 sticks butter with olive oil; use some of this mixture to brush an 8-inch round nonstick springform baking pan. In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.
3. Stack phyllo on a work surface, cover with parchment paper, and top with a damp kitchen towel. Working with one sheet of phyllo at a time, place one of the corners into the center of the pan and gently press the dough so that it fits tightly in the pan. Lay the corner of the second sheet of phyllo into the center of the pan, slightly overlapping the first sheet of phyllo. Press the second sheet tightly into the pan. Lay a third sheet of phyllo in the same manner, covering the remainder of the pan (one layer of dough is now completed). Using a pastry brush, brush the phyllo with a generous amount of the butter mixture. Lightly sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
4. Place three more sheets of phyllo into the pan in the same manner, brushing with the butter mixture and sprinkling with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Repeat process again with the remaining 3 sheets of phyllo (you will now have completed three layers). Fill phyllo-lined pan with custard; spread evenly.
5. Working with one layer at a time, fold phyllo sheets toward the center of the pan. Brush generously with the butter mixture and sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Repeat folding, buttering, and sprinkling until all layers have been folded toward the center. Do not sprinkle the top layer as the cinnamon-sugar mixture may burn and darken the pastry. Prick all over with a fork, and bake, on a Silpat-lined baking sheet, until golden brown, about 1 hour.
6. Combine remaining tablespoon of cinnamon with the confectioners' sugar, and sprinkle over the surface of the phyllo when removed from oven. Let rest 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!