In honour of the Queen’s Birthday on 21st April I thought we would look at recipes from 60 years ago that would have been around when she came to the throne. We start with the dish made famous at the Queen’s Coronation and of course was named accordingly. This dish is ideally served with cold meats and salads.

We could never cover all her reign, but I wanted to include the classic Woolton Pie which was a war time favourite when everyone was cooking with rationing. It’s interesting to see that these recipes are still very relevant today with healthy eating and everyone watching what they spend!

Buen Apetito

Coronation Chicken
100g (4 oz) mayonnaise
75g (3 oz) mango chutney
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 dessertspoon lime zest
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
500g (1 1/4 lb) skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets – cooked and diced

In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, chutney, curry powder, lime zest, lime juice and salt. Add chicken and toss with the dressing until well coated. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

Use half mayonnaise, half crème fraiche for a lower fat version of this recipe.

Woolton Pie
1lb diced potatoes
1lb cauliflower
1lb diced carrots
1lb diced swede
3 spring onions
1tsp vegetable extract
1tsp oatmeal

Cook everything together with just enough water to cover, stirring often to prevent it sticking to the pan. Let the mixture cool. Spoon into a pie dish, and cover with a crust of potatoes, or if you have it, wholemeal pastry. Bake in a moderate oven.

Sausage and Sultana Casserole
1lb sausage
1 large onion
2oz sultanas
1 sour apple
Stock
Pinch of herbs
Salt

Chop up and fry onions, then fry sausage in the same pan. Pour into casserole dish and cover with stock. Add sultanas, apple, herbs and salt and cook slowly in oven for 35 – 40 minutes.

Stuffed Artichokes
6 medium artichokes
3 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper
2 medium onions
350g streaky bacon
75g butter
700g ripe tomatoes
2 x sliced of stale bread made into breadcrumbs
Rind and juice of two oranges
90ml parsley
2 eggs
Melted butter

Strip away discoloured leaves and cut base so the artichoke stands upright. Using scissors snip off the leaf tips and then soak in cold water and 15ml of lemon juice for 30 minutes. Drain and place in large saucepan of boiling salted water with the remaining lemon juice. Cover and boil gently for 30-45 minutes. Artichokes will float, so turn them during cooking.

Fry onions and bacon in the butter. Add tomatoes (skinned and chopped) and cook. Add breadcrumbs, orange rind and juice, parsley, eggs and seasoning and beating well. Test artichokes by pulling on an outer leaf. If it comes out easily it is cooked. Drain and hold under cold water tap for a few minutes to set the green colour. Scrape out centre slightly and fill with stuffing. Bake in oven for 25 minutes on 190º or gas mark 5.

Carrot Fudge
Carrots
Gelatine
Orange essence

Finely grate carrots and cook four tbsp in just enough water for 10 minutes. Add flavouring (orange squash with grated rind if you havn’t got any) add melted gelatine to mixture and cook quickly for a few minutes, stirring all the time. Spoon into a flat dish and allow to set. Cut into cubes.