Slow: Food Worth Taking Time Over

Gingered Coronation Chicken (#ulink_058cde47-d059-5221-9adf-f262da1abc56)

Coronation Chicken is one of the best dishes to eat. I make and develop this recipe on what feels like an annual basis and it just gets better and better. The key is to cook out the paste and blend it to intensify the flavour. The garnish is a modern take but I think it lifts and freshens the dish, making it more of our time.

SERVES 8 AS PART OF A PICNIC

Preparation time 30 minutes

Cooking time 1 hour, plus 3 hours cooling

For the chicken

1 chicken, about 1.5kg

2 onions, thinly sliced

4 thin slices of fresh ginger

1 cinnamon stick

5 black peppercorns

pinch of saffron

1 tablespoon salt

1 bay leaf

For the sauce

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 onion, very finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, grated

3cm knob of ginger, peeled and grated

2 tbsp good curry powder

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

200ml mayonnaise

200ml Greek yoghurt

5 tbsp good-quality mango chutney

To serve

1 ripe but firm mango, very finely chopped

1 red chilli, very finely chopped

small bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped

green salad leaves

cold cooked multigrain rice

50g flaked almonds, toasted

Put the chicken breast up in a large saucepan along with the onions, sliced ginger, cinnamon, peppercorns, saffron, salt and bay leaf and cover with cold water until only the top of the breast is exposed. Cover the pan with a lid and bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down very low so only the occasional bubble rises to the surface. Cook the bird gently for about 1 hour, or until the juices run clear when you insert a skewer between the thigh and breast joint.

Turn off the heat and allow the chicken to cool completely in the cooking liquid. (This makes the most delicious, fragrant stock so don’t throw it away when your chicken is cool. Try freezing the stock in 500ml batches for future use in soups and stews.)

Heat the oil in a small frying pan and fry the onion very gently for about 10 minutes, or until softened and tinged with gold. For the last minute add the garlic and ginger. Mix in the curry powder and toast until fragrant. Leave this to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.

Put the mixture into a blender with the Worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise, Greek yoghurt and mango chutney and whizz until you have a smooth, light yellow paste. Once the chicken is cold, remove the meat from the bones and shred into bite-size chunks. I like to do this with my hands, but forks are also good if you are a little squeamish. Mix the meat with the sauce.

Mix together the mango, chilli and most of the coriander in a small mixing bowl. Lay a bed of salad on a platter, top with the cold rice, and then the chicken in its sauce. Scatter over a topping of fresh mango salsa, almonds and fresh coriander and serve.

How to Poach & Break Up a Crab (#ulink_af9d84a1-679c-5340-83bc-ffc9e04155df)

Lots of people baulk at the idea of preparing a whole crab and I know it can seem daunting, but it’s a really satisfying process once you have some guidelines. It’s worth doing as it guarantees the freshest, tastiest crab meat, and it works out cheaper than buying prepacked crab meat. Britain’s cold coasts produce some of the best crab in the world, but most of it is sold to Europe, where they seem to really understand its value. It’s high time Brits got in on the action and started appreciating what’s on our doorstep!

Preparing a crab starts with a trip to the fishmonger (something I always advocate), as that’s the only way to ensure that you are buying the freshest crab. When choosing your crab, make sure it feels heavy and dense, that it smells fresh and is relatively active. Crabs are best cooked immediately after they’re dead, so ask your fishmonger to dispatch it for you and cook it as soon as you get home (within two hours). Don’t ever buy a dead raw crab as you won’t know how long it has been hanging around, and that is not a risk worth taking!

SERVES 4

Preparation time 45 minutes

Cooking time 30 minutes

2 large 1.5kg cock crabs, freshly killed (ask your fishmonger to do this for you)

For the bouillon

2 onions, sliced

2 fennel bulbs, sliced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

3 bay leaves

small bunch of parsley

splash of white wine or white wine or cider vinegar