Coronation Chicken

What with it being the Jubilee Weekend, (and I had the most beautiful banquet of British goodies imaginable yesterday to celebrate at a family buffet yesterday) what better time to celebrate that renowned national dish that is Coronation chicken.

Coronation chicken was created by Constance Spry, a florist, and Rosemary Hume, a chef, as a celebratory dish for the coronation of the Queen. It was supposedly inspired by Jubilee chicken, a dish prepared for the silver Jubilee of George V, mixing chicken with mayonnaise and curry. Modern day versions are very different - some include raisins (essential in my opinion), some flaked almonds and some creme fraiche. Recipes vary so much - and this is what makes coronation chicken so amazing - but also so disliked by some.

For a supposed 'national' dish, I know very few people who like coronation chicken. And this is the result of varying recipes and version. To take supermarket versions, for example, there is marked differences in quality in the various ones available. The Sainsbury's one I've tried is a horrendous mess. If this is people'e experience of Coronation Chicken, no wonder people turn their noses up at it. A claggy, gunky orangey mess that is far too sweet and is sickly with its mess of a mayonnaise.

The M&S one is by far by absolute favourite. Spread into a soft brown roll, sprinkled with a crunchy seed topping, it is hard to imagine a nicer lunch. It is a gloriously golden yellow, speckled with dots of spice that perfectly counterbalance the sweeter elements. The tender, generous sized pieces of chicken are lovingly coated in the smooth, silky sauce that has enough spice to provide a bit of bite but is never overpowering.

In time for the Jubilee, they've released a coronation chicken sandwich in their food to go range. I had this for lunch last Friday and it so satisfying. Sandwiched between onion bread with a generous helping of this beautiful deli filler, it more than justified its £2.50 price tag. They've also released coronation chicken hand cooked crisps. Wonderfully crunchy, with bite, texture and lovely spicy flavouring, these made an appearance at our Jubilee party yesterday and, of course, I had far too many.

I think people think they dislike coronation chicken because of the afore mentioned bad supermarket versions but also because of frumpy versions given to them at school or being force fed badly made versions by elderly relatives. At our Jubilee party, amongst many other delicious offerings, my aunt made a gorgeous coronation chicken. Though it was missing he raisins that I feel are essential to the dish's identity, it was still an absolute pleasure to eat. It wasn't swamped in mayonnaise, which is the cause of a many a bad coronation chicken, but rather, sparingly coated in a beautifully creamy, not claggy sweet and spicy sauce.

Piled high on slabs of a gorgeous bread from the local deli, this was food heaven. Soft, doughy bread with a mountain of fragrant, herbed flecked chicken heaped on top - it was no wonder I went home with tight jeans.

Coronation chicken is a national treasure for a reason. When it's done right, like this, I can think of no better reason for my love of being British.

Peanut Butter & Forgotton Favourites

Of all of today's moments of food heaven, it was something as simple as plain old peanut butter that stood head and shoulders above the crowd. Considering I've also made a lovely sweet and sour stiry fry with brown noodles, had copious free flavoured hot chocolate samples at Whittards and bought a beautifully sweet cinammon pretzel coated in a blanket of sugar at Westfields, this is no easy feat.

But what was it amount this tub of gungy goo that lines the shelves of even the most understocked coner shop, that made it stand out so?

Obviously, taste was probably the critical factor. This wasn't just any old peanut, this was an M&S Thick and Crunchy Peanut Butter. So attractively packaged in the new Simply M&S design (and quite good value at only £1.38), this peanut butter had the most gloriously thick and gungey texture. As I spread it across a perfectly crisp piece of toasted French Pain de Campagne, there was friction and it stuck to the knife. This is eaxctly what I want from peanut butter - it was fabulously sticky.

Better yet was the way this smooth, thick goo stuck to the roof of my mouth, blanketing my tongue and tastebuds in a rich, creamy, peanutty goodness. Speckled throughout were great big shards of peanut. These weren't the pathetic little tokens cheaper peanut butters offer you but, rather, were crunchy, providing heft and bulk.

But I think the reason I enjoyed this so much was because I so rarely eat or buy peanut butter. I don't know why this is, I love peanut butter, but somehow it never makes its way into my shopping factor. It is an overlooked and forgotten favourite of mine. We all have them, whether it be foods from our childhood or things that are hard to fine.

So think about something you love but you just never seem to get round to buying and go and get some! The pleasure of devouring a personal pleasure that you rarely eat just makes the eating experience that bit more special.

Butternut Squash

Today's inspirational ingredient is the Butternut Squash. Big, bulging beasts of a vegetable with a cheering mellow orange flesh lurking underneath that smooth, tough exterior.

What inspired me to have Butternut Squash tonight was a simple idea I saw in Delicious Magazine. You just cut your Squash into chunks, put it in a roasting tin and annoit in with the golden lubricant that is olive oil. Then, simply add a good dollop of heat with the help of some harissa paste and after roasting in a hot oven for 45 minutes, I had a comforting but healthy supper that left my stomach feeling as warm and glowing as the yielding Squash flesh.

All of that with no effort - now that's what I call a result. The beauty of this was that you do nothing, the oven takes care of transforming the hard, firm Squash into a blissful bath of sweet tang. I didn't even pother peeling it.

And whilst we're on simple ideas for Butternut Squash, here's another one of my favourite standby ideas, courtesy of Nigella:

Roast some diced Squash with olive oil and thyme in a hot oven. Take out and then crumble over some salty nuggets of blue cheese and scatter over some toasted crunch courtesy of some pecan nuts. Again, nothing to it but I really cannot describe how comforting this is.