Dish of Coronation Chicken
(click to enlarge)

Coronation Chicken


England   -   Poulet Reine Elizabeth
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 3 #
***
3+ hrs
Yes		 A very popular Chicken Salad in England, also popular as sandwich filling and potato stuffing. This recipe is much closer to the original than most. Read All the Notes - there are decisions to make.

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-- Poach
Chicken Thighs (1)
White Wine
Chicken Broth (2)
Lemon
Onion
Ginger Root
Bouquet Garni (3)  
-- Sauce
Shallots
Bay Leaf
Curry Powder (4)
Olive Oil
-- Flavors
Tomato Paste
Red Wine
Lemon Juice
Brown Sugar
-- After Strain
Apricots dry (5)
Mayonnaise
Greek Yogurt
Whipping Cream (6)  
-- Garnish
Watercress (7)  
Almonds sliced (8)
Do Ahead   -   (2 hr + cool - 30 min work)
  1. IF using: dry pan roast Sliced Almonds until just barely colored. Set aside for Garnish.
  2. Soak APPRICOTS in warm water for a few hours or overnight. Hold for finished Sauce.
  3. Peel ONION and quarter lengthwise. Slice LEMON thin. Slice GINGER about 3 slices. Place all, and the Boquet Garni, in the bottom of a pot (4 quart minimum).
  4. Arrange the Chicken Thighs tightly over the Onion mix. Pour in Wine, then BROTH to just cover. Bring up to a bare simmer and hold at a very slow simmer (just a few bubbles breaking the surface) until Chicken is tender, about 1 hour. Chicken will swell some at first so you may need more broth so it is almost covered.
  5. Let Chicken cool in the Broth, tightly covered in a cool place, as long a overnight, Remove Chicken, leaving broth, and remove Skin and Bones. Refrigerate meat until needed.
  6. Toss skin and bones back into the pot and simmer another hour or so. Strain, de-fat, and reserve for another use.
Sauce   -   (45 min )
  1. Chop soaked APPRICOTS very fine.
  2. Squeeze LEMON JUICE.
  3. Chop SHALLOTS fine.
  4. In a medium size pan (2 quart) heat Olive Oil and fry Shallots, Bay Leaf, and Curry Powder stirring until Shallots are translucent.
  5. Stir in all Flavors items and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  6. Strain the sauce through a fine strainer and discard solids.
  7. Whip the Whipping Cream (if doing that). Stir in all After Strain items.
Finish   -   (20 min + chill)
  1. Cut cooled Chicken into about 1/2 inch cubes - or for sandwich filling or stuffing shred the Chicken.
  2. Tumble Chicken with Sauce. Chill well before serving.
  3. Serve over Lettuce garnished with Watercress or Cilantro, and (IF using) scatter Almonds. If using for Filling or Stuffing, just mix the Garnishes in.
  4. Serve cold
NOTES:

  1. Chicken Meat:

      Weight is for Thighs, bone-in and skin-on. Most recipes use Breast, but Thigh Meat gives better texture and flavor. Breast Meat does slice more neatly, it's only advantage. The original recipe was for a whole 5 pound chicken poached in water 2/3 up. In those days chickens were only sold whole.

  2. Chicken Broth:

      Plain Water can be used, but Broth gives more flavor to the Chicken. Some recipes use Water and Chicken Boulion cubes.

  3. Bouquet Garni:

      This is just stems of fresh Herbs tied together for easy removal. Traditional for this recipe are Parsley, Thyme, and Bay Leaf.

  4. Curry Powder

      This should be a good quality Madras Curry Powder. Ship and Sun brands are good - or even better, you could make it by our recipe Madras Curry Powder.

  5. Apricots dried:

      These must be well soaked and chopped fine. Today, quite a few recipes use chopped Mango or 3 T Apricot Jam or Mango Chutney and skip the Brown Sugar.

  6. Whipping Cream:

      In the original recipe the Whipping Cream is whipped, but today it is often not whipped - or replaced with Crème Fraîche (a high fat sour cream) - your choice.

  7. Watercress:

      The original was garnished with Watercress but Cilantro is much more common today.

  8. Almonds, Sliced:

      These are considered optional as they were not in the original recipe, but are very popular today to add some crunch to the sauce.

  9. Comments

  10. History & Variations:

      This dish was composed for the corination of Elizabeth II in 1953 by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume of the Cordon Bleu cooking school. It had to be simple because a lot was needed and England was still under rationing from the war. This much Chicken would have been a real luxury at the time. This recipe is actually quite similar to the Jubilee Chicken served for George V's Silver Jubilee in 1935, which is itself similar to some Medieval chicken with fruit and sauce recipes. This recipe is much closer to the original than most recipes published today. The main difference is I have cut the amount of Mayonnaise with some Greek Yogurt to make it lighter.

    Other recipes today skip the Shallot fry entirely and may use all Greek Yogurt. They may also use chopped Mango instead of the Apricot. Others use white raisins instead of appricot. Most skip the flavorings for the poached Chicken. Some roast the chicken rather than poaching it, which makes it quite close to our California Chicken Charmoula, and some cut corners by using Rotisserie Chicken from the supermarket.

    There is also Golden Jubilee Chicken (2002), a "modernized" version of Coronation Chicken which has never gained popularity. There is also Diamond Jubilee Chicken (2012) which is a variation of Coronation Chicken - shredded chicken spiced a bit differently and garnished with Cilantro.
  11. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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