One downside of my propensity to get behind (ahead?) with blog posts (this one refers to the meal from 9 days ago) is how some of my endless chatter feels achronisitic by the date of publication. I really hope, of course, that it is warm and sunny by mid-March, but Friday, March 3rd, was anything but: cold, breezy, overcast, rainy...another of this winter's many days of drear. As noted in yesterday's post, though, a wonderful visit with a childhood friend brings sunshine all its own.
When there was a break in the showers and sprinkles, I embarked on that day's downtown stroll, clocking in at precisely 5 miles...and, I decided somewhat feverishly: starving. Still breathing just a little heavier I diced chicken breasts and chopped an onion and got the rice cooker set up and underway. The late afternoon supper was my house version of chicken with coronation sauce.
About 15 years ago, my father-in-law very thoughtfully gave me a recipe book focused on an incredible range of sauces, across a wide international spectrum. By now I should have tried many more of them but when I reach for it, I keep returning to this much-loved coronation sauce for chicken. I've consistently made it as a hot dish, served over rice, and it is always so good! Apparently it took me quite a long time to find out that the recipe's name is not merely generic: instead, this combination of flavors and ingredients was created for the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, as more of a cold dressed curried chicken salad. The Wikipedia entry indicates that the 1953 dish harkens back to inspiration found in the Jubilee Chicken developed in honor of the silver anniversary of King George V in 1935.
Its place of purchase here as a sauced chicken over rice is so deeply ingrained that I doubt I'll ever be faithful to its salad iteration. I've got my own chicken salad approach for sandwiches or for melts and wraps.
A Personal Note: The posting date for this blog entry is 12 March 2023, and I'd also like to note that that date is the centennial of my father's birth.
He died at age 58, when I was a 15-year-old about to head into his junior year of high school. The massive heart attack that killed him happened just over a month after he retired from his role as an associate superintendent of my home school system.
"Coronation Sauce for Chicken," from 400 Sauces, by Catherine Atkinson, Christine France, and Maggie Mayhew. Hermes House (2006, 2008), p. 155. Recipe is a variation on "Coronation Chicken," created by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume for the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
No comments:
Post a Comment