Sunday 15 April 2007

Coronation chicken sandwich

Whatever its origins, coronation chicken in a sandwich can be particularly unpleasant. Often I see sandwiches advertised as 'coronation chicken' with an off-puttingly lurid yellow filling that holds little appeal. Mass catering often serves some version of this and when it isn't violently yellow, it is often soggy, sickly, singularly unappetising. I have no idea what a coronation chicken sandwich looks like in Pret-a-manger, but for some reason the recipe from the book that has just come out, called Food on the Move, appealed to me and I overcame my prejudices to give their coronation sauce a try. We take sandwiches to work every day and we can get stuck in a rut, which was a good excuse to buy this new book (OK, so I don't really need an excuse, but I like to offer one anyway) and do some experimenting.

The base of the coronation chicken sandwich is the sauce. Pret's sauce is made as follows: fry a small diced onion, 6 diced dried apricots, a diced green apple and 1 tbsp raisins until beginning to brown. Add 1 tbsp mild curry powder and cook for 3 minutes, stirring well. Add 100 ml water and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the apricots are soft. (Keep a lid on and add more water if needed) Whizz everything in a food processor until smooth and cool before adding juice of half a lemon and 25g mayonnaise (preferably homemade).

Mix cooked chicken in a little of the sauce and spread over a slice of malted grain or wholemeal bread. Spread mango chutney over the chicken mixture and then sprinkle over some toasted almonds. Add a tomato slice, season and top with a Cos lettuce leaf and another slice of bread.


I liked this sandwich. It contrived not to be yellow, soggy or sickly, and it had gutsy flavour. The best thing was that the sauce keeps in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days, providing a tasty base for a few days worth of packed lunches. I look forward to trying more homemade Pret lunches!

7 comments:

Kelly-Jane said...

Your sandwich looks good mmm.

I love coronation chicken, but it does suffer badly at the hands of some caterers! The Pret book looks really good, all fresh and delicious, I'm looking forward to reading it properly. Haven't managed to make anything yet, but bought some brie to make something next weekend, once it's ripened.

KJxx

Gemma said...

I do like a good corontaion chicken sandwich as long as the sauce doesn't have any lumps of the fruit left in!

Anna's kitchen table said...

I'm going to have to search out the pret book now...
The coronation chicken looks and sounds delicious!

Sally said...

Hi Kathryn,

I can't believe you've got the Pret book! I've been eyeing it for a while now. Will definitely be getting it! BTW I've been following your blogs for a while now and they're very informative and a great read. You've even inspired me to get the Jo Pratt and Jamie Oliver books!

Kathryn said...

No lumps, Gemma - a food processor was involved, happily!

KJ, let us know what you try - and Anna, if you buy the book.

Sally - thanks for your comments and for reading - Jo Pratt's book is really fun and has good stuff in too! Jamie's is fab. Do you have any book recommendations for me to spend more money???

Kathryn x

Sally said...

Not at the moment- but I'll let you know if I do! Have a good week :-)

Freya said...

Paul and I are both huge sandwich fans and this looks delicious! We're just happy because a Subway is opening near us soon!
Freya x
by the way, if you still want to vote, we're under Best Food Blog and currently on Page 11 but listed as ZombieSnack so that might be the problem. Thanks!