I have posted this recipe before, but it was buried in another post I wanted it to be easier to find for the folks who are looking for the recipes from the wedding picnic menu.  I usually poach my chicken for this recipe which also produces a wonderful chicken broth. However, since we were multiplying this recipe to feed 100 people for the wedding we just bought 12 rotisserie chickens from the grocery store.  This is a great time saver and you can still make stock from the bones if you like.  For instructions on poaching chicken or making bone stock go to The many virtues of home-made chicken stock.

This recipe is adapted from the Tea and Sympathy Cookbook.  Tea and Sympathy is an amazing, tiny tea shop in the west village that serves tasty British home cooking.  The kind of food that your English granny would make for a tea-time meal.  I can only assume that the bad reputation of British food has something to do with boarding schools and snooty restaurants that wish they were French, because British tea-time food totally delicious.  I think this is called Coronation Chicken because it was invented for the coronation dinner of  Queen Victoria (or was it Elizabeth?). This recipe is also an in-exact science.  It responds well to innovation, so have at it.  It also makes WAY more sauce than you need for one  chicken.  I usually freeze half of the sauce for future chickens or to use as fancy barbecue sauce for pork.

CORONATION CHICKEN SALAD

• One onion chopped
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup curry powder (like madras curry powder)
• 1/4 cup tomato puree or paste
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 bay leaf
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 4 cans of apricot halves (drained) or 1/4 cup apricot jam
• 1/4 cup mango chutney
• salt ans pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise, preferably home-made (see the recipe in 4  reasons to make home-made mayonnaise posted on August 8th)
• The meat from 1 chicken (poached or roasted), diced

1. Saute the onion in butter over medium heat
2. When the onion is soft add the curry, tomato, wine, bay leaf, lemon, apricot and chutney.  Cook, stirring occasionally until it reduces and becomes quite thick.
3. Let the sauce cool a bit.  At this point I usually put half of the sauce in the freezer.  The other half of the sauce I combine with 1/2 cup mayonnaise and the diced chicken. adjust the salt and pepper before serving.  I pack coronation chicken for my lunches with any or all of the following: salad greens, cucumbers, red pepper, avocado, toast.