The original version of this crowned chicken was created at the Cordon Bleu School in London, which was responsible for the menu for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, under the name Poulet Reine Elizabeth. It consisted of cold chicken with a pink sauce made from mayonnaise, whipped cream, red wine, apricot puree and a touch of curry powder – a nod to the country’s colonial past – and was served with a rice and pea salad at the coronation banquet.
Double-edged tongues say that this salad, originally a delicious dish with delicate flavors, was eventually democratized and became a chicken salad with more or less surprising additions, very popular in the land of Brexit as a filling for sandwiches and on lettuce leaves. .
The New York Times says that the recipe has been democratized over the years to make it simpler, for example by omitting the reduction of red wine and whipped cream and instead adding sultanas, slivered almonds and mango chutney. A pinch of curry powder sometimes turns into a few tablespoons, giving it a radioactive yellow. Here we interpret it a little to our taste so that we don’t have to complicate our lives more than necessary.
Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Save it, be careful not to over-dry the chicken
Ingredients
For 4 people
- 600 g chicken breast (between 2 and 4 breasts, depending on size)
- olive oil
- ½ onion
- ½ tsp. Curry powder
- 50 ml red wine
- 50ml water
- 1 teaspoon tomato puree
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt
- 8 dried apricots
- Mayonnaise to taste
- Sliced almonds to taste
instructions
1.
Cook the chicken breasts with a little salt, either steamed – in the microwave, tightly covered or in a casserole -, in the oven or however you like, until cooked but tender.
2.
Cut the onion. Cover the bottom of a frying pan with oil and fry the onion until translucent.
3.
Add the curry powder and stir a few times.
4.
Add tomato puree, red wine, bay leaf and water and reduce heat to low for five minutes until a thick, thin sauce forms.
5.
Strain this sauce through a sieve, let it cool and add to the mayonnaise. Add the chopped dried apricots.
6.
Mix with the shredded chicken and garnish with almonds. Serve the chicken with a salad, with rice or on a sandwich.
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