Recipe for a Queen

In honor of Her Majesty Elizabeth II's visit to the colonies, I was doing some poking around and found this recipe, created for her jubilee in 2002. Tonight, the Windsors and the Bushes are breaking bread at a white-tie dinner at the White House. I hope somebody tells George which fork to use.

The recipe comes from the following website. God Save the Queen.

"Fifty years ago, Coronation chicken was invented by chefs Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume of Le Cordon Bleu School in London as a delicacy to mark the celebrations of 1953. This year, to mark The Queen's Golden Jubilee, Royal chefs at Buckingham Palace have created a new chicken dish which The Queen has tasted and approved.

The dish combines pieces of lightly cooked cold chicken with a fresh, tangy dressing. The delicious concoction was included in picnic baskets given to guests at the two Queen's Concerts at Buckingham Palace on 1 and 3 June."

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)