This weekend is the Victoria Day long weekend in Canada, during which we celebrate both the birthday of the late, great Queen Victoria, and the unofficial beginning of the Canadian summer.
Things are getting a bit confusing for me in my dotage given I was sure that we used to celebrate this holiday on May 24th, which is, in fact, the date of Victoria's birth and not even close to this weekend's dates. But Wikipedia assures me that we always celebrate this uniquely Canadian holiday on the last Monday before May 25th. It also states, however, that the holiday has been observed in Canada since at least 1845 and originally fell on the Queen's actual birthday. Ha!
This British recipe for a curried chicken salad has been drawn from the website called Panning The Globe. It serves 6-8 very refined people. Truthfully, I found this salad to be somewhat bland. I've noticed that other similar salad recipes call for lime zest as well as juice, and sometimes raisins are added for a bit of sweetness. At any rate, while others may be barbecuing hotdogs and setting off fireworks this weekend, you, you can be eating curried chicken salad and waving a tiny British flag.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ yellow onion, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons mango chutney or apricot preserves
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, (poached in water with an onion, a few peppercorns and whole cloves and a bayleaf)
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| Poaching...nobody said it was going to be pretty |
Poaching is a moist-heat cooking technique that involves submerging foodstuff in a liquid. It's differentiated from the other "moist heat" cooking methods, such as boiling, in that it uses a relatively low temperature. This makes it particularly suitable for delicate food, such as eggs, poultry, fish and fruit.
Instructions:
Poach the chicken. Place breasts in a large deep pot. Add cold water to 1 inch above the chicken. Add onion, pepper corns, cloves and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Allow the chicken to cool in the pot for 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and cut into bite-size cubes. Cool chicken in the fridge, covered, until you're ready to use it.
While the chicken is poaching, heat oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add the finely chopped onion and sauté 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft but not brown. Add the curry powder to the skillet and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, until fragrant. Remove from heat and allow to cool. When cool, mix with mayonnaise, chutney/preserves, lime juice and salt in a small bowl.
To finish, toss the cooled poached chicken with the curried mayonnaise. Season with salt, to taste.
