Coronation Chicken

The first time that I ever had Coronation Chicken was at a sandwich shop on Cornmarket St. I've always been a fan of chicken salad, and this added in another ingredient that I adore: curry. I've been wanting to make it for a while, but the recipe from The Hairy Bikers almost put me off. Then I found a recipe for 'Easy Coronation Chicken.' It hits the spot and has already proved a hit on this side of the Atlantic: (Also, it's orange-looking chicken salad... so I'm giving you a picture of HMTQ instead.)

Ingredients

• 100g (4 oz) mayonnaise
• 75g (3 oz) apricot chutney or preserves
• 1 teaspoon curry powder (or more if you like it as much as I do)
• 1 dessertspoon lime zest
• 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 500g (1 1/4 lb) skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets - cooked and diced
• some chopped coriander/cilantro

Preparation

Simple: put it in a bowl and mix it all together. Done. Serve it on some crusty white bread or a bed of lettuce. 

Kedgeree

I came into an SCR lunch one day at Oriel College and before me was this curried rice concoction... When I saw fish in it, I thought, "Well, here we go again, the kitchen's trying to use up leftovers. Another failed British culinary experiment." Well, one bite proved me wrong, and I was hooked. It combines several ingredients that I love: rice, smoked fish, and curry powder. When I tried to re-create it in the US, I looked to Jamie Oliver, who has not let me down when it comes to these fish and rice dishes.

Ingredients

• 2 large free-range eggs
• 680 g undyed smoked haddock fillets (I couldn’t find any in the US, so I used cod)
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 170 g long grain or basmati rice
• sea salt
• 1 knob pure butterghee
• 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 medium onion, or 1 bunch of spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 heaped tablespoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
• juice of 2 lemons
• 2 good handfuls fresh coriander, leaves picked and chopped
• 1 fresh red chili, finely chopped
• 1 small pot yoghurt

Preparation

This is Jamie, verbatim:

1. Boil the eggs for 10 minutes, then hold under cold running water. Put the fish and bay leaves in a shallow pan with enough water to cover. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes, until cooked through. Remove from pan and leave to cool. Remove the skin from fish, flake into chunks and set aside.
2. Cook the rice in salted water for about 10 minutes and drain. Refresh in cold water, drain again, and leave in the fridge until needed. Melt the butterghee in a pan over a low heat. Add the ginger, onion and garlic. Soften for about 5 minutes, then add the curry powder and mustard seeds. Cook for a further few minutes, then add the chopped tomatoes and lemon juice.
3. Quarter the eggs. Add the fish and rice to a pan and gently heat through. Add the eggs, most of the coriander and the chilli and stir gently. Place in a warm serving dish. Mix the rest of the coriander into the yoghurt and serve with the kedgeree.

Chana Masaledar

I love Indian food. I can think of no exceptions. The other week I had some chana masaledar (spiced chickpeas) with kulcha. Since I already had most of the spices at home, I gave Madhur Jaffrey's recipe a try. Easy. Simple. Make sure do you your mis en place first.

Ingredients

• 1 Tb vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 fresh, hot green chili pepper, minced
• 1 Tbs ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper 
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• 1 Tb amchoor powder
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 c. tomatoes, chopped small or 1 15-oz can of whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
• 2/3 c. water
• 4 c. cooked chickpeas or 2 15-oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 lemon (juiced) 

Preparation

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor (if using it), paprika and garam masala. Cook onion mixture with spiced for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, add lemon juice and salt to taste.

Jacob's Meat Market

In making the move back to the US, I've been looking for some exciting food opportunities that still remind me of the Old World. I cannot recommend Jacob's Meat Market more. They make their own dried sausage on site--even my German friends think it's some of the best they've had. It comes out every three months (how long it takes to age) and goes quickly. It's worth the rush...