Saturday 14th April 2012

Everyday is a great day especially when it`s a sunny Saturday and it`s The Grand National. Coming from York the GeeGees are an overriding passion in my life and will be associated forever in my memory with the best of times spent with my Nanna and Grandad who were hot tipsters themselves. We would often be at their house in York on a Saturday afternoon and my Nanna would set us up a little tea table in front of the fire with a tablecloth and then she would present us with real chips and daddies sauce and we would play cards , eat as many Rowntrees chocolates as we could manage and watch the wrestling, darts or the racing.Those days are long gone and I have dined at many fine tables and restaurants but those chips my Nanna made me are Michelin starred memories and the taste will last a lifetime. I hope my own little ones will have similar happy memories of  fireside teatimes where the dish of the day was Love.

Coronation chicken

I think the original recipe was designed 60 years ago so this one is for the Jubilee. It`s gorgeous in a wrap at the races with a few glasses of Prosecco or Prozacco as we call it at our house!

1 chicken roasted
3tbs of madras curry paste
2 red onions diced
butter
3 cloves garlic crushed
1 pot of mayonnaise
1 large pot of double cream
sherry
tomato puree
4 tinned apricot halves
salt ,pepper, fresh chillis sliced

Take all the meat off the chicken and put in a serving dish. To make the coronation sauce fry the onions, garlic , curry paste, tomato puree(2tbs) in a pan with some butter. Then add the apricots and sherry and cook a little longer and then  put it all in a blender to make a smooth sauce in a bowl mix the cream and mayonnaise and stir in the curried sauce and mix with the chicken , taste and season. Scatter with a few raw green chillis if you like it spicier or a handful of chopped coriander and a splash of mango chutney.

I hope you win at the races today and that your table is full of special people to share the feast of life with.xxx