My take on three British summer classics is as eccentric as they come. The coronation chicken doesn’t include chicken, the seafood co*cktail has got way too many ingredients, and the pudding is a homemade Solero, an ice-cream introduced by Walls in 1994 (– delicious, but scarcely old enough to qualify as a classic). I hope you’ll forgive such transgressions, because all three are deliciously summery and, in my book, British enough.
Passion fruit, mango and creme fraiche ‘Soleros’ (pictured above)
My son gave these two thumbs up, which is high praise indeed. If you have any of the cream and fruit mixtures leftover, just put them in another container, swirl them together to create a ripple effect, and freeze as you would ice-cream.
Prep 5 min
Cook 15 min
Freeze 5 hr
Makes 12 100ml lollies
500ml double cream
2 tsp cornflour
½ tsp vanilla bean paste
160g caster sugar
2 very ripe mangos, peeled, stoned and roughly cut into chunks (300g net weight)
1 tin peaches in fruit juice, drained (220g net weight)
360g creme fraiche
4 passion fruits, flesh scooped out and skin discarded
12 lolly moulds
Put the first three ingredients and 120g of the sugar in a medium saucepan on a medium-low heat. Warm for about five minutes, whisking gently until the sugar and cornflour dissolve. Leave to cool, then transfer to the fridge to chill.
Meanwhile, put the mango, the remaining 40g sugar and the peaches in a blender and blitz smooth. Tip into a bowl, stir in the passion fruit pulp and refrigerate to chill.
Put the chilled cream mix and the creme fraiche in the bowl of a stand mixer and whip on a medium speed to very soft peaks – you don’t want to whip it too much: it shouldn’t be stiff and you should be able to spoon it easily into the moulds.
To assemble the lollies, pour alternating large spoonfuls of the cream and fruit mixtures into the moulds to create a ripple, tie-dye effect. Tap the moulds a few times to make sure they are completely filled with the mixture and there are no gaps or air pockets, then freeze until solid – at least five hours, or overnight. To release, dip the moulds in hot water and gently pull out the lollies.
Fried seafood co*cktail with marie rose sauce (pictured above)
This marie rose sauce is made with seriously charred chillies and tomatoes, and a whole garlic head. They give it a particular depth that I love, and you can use it with all kinds of cooked vegetables and meats. The seafood co*cktail also works perfectly fine without it, though; you can also serve the co*cktail with a commercial tomato or chilli sauce.
Prep 15 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 4 as a starter
For the marie rose sauce
1 small garlic bulb, the top fifth cut off to expose the cloves
Flaked sea salt and pepper
180g cherry tomatoes
4 large red chillies
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp chipotle powder (or smoked paprika)
60g mayonnaise
For the fried seafood
60g panko breadcrumbs
40g desiccated coconut
40g sesame seeds
10g black sesame seeds
2 makrut lime leaves, pulled off stalks and finely chopped (optional)
100g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
200g squid tubes, cleaned, patted dry and cut into 6cm x 3cm rectangles
250g raw large king prawns, patted dry
600ml vegetable oil
1 red chilli, finely julienned
1 spring onion, finely julienned
1 lime – zest finely grated, to get ½ tsp, then cut into wedges, to serve
Start with the sauce. Heat the oven to 230C/450F/gas 8. Sprinkle the garlic bulb with some salt and pepper, wrap tightly in foil and put on an oven tray lined with baking paper alongside the tomatoes and chillies. Roast for 20 minutes, until the vegetables begin to blacken and blister, then remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the garlic cloves into the small bowl of a food processor, and discard the papery skins. Add the chillies (deseeded, if you don’t like too much heat), tomatoes, maple syrup, Worcestershire sauce, chipotle powder and half a teaspoon of flaked salt, and blitz to combine. Leave to cool completely, mix in the mayonnaise and refrigerate.
While the garlic is roasting, mix the panko in a bowl with the coconut, sesame seeds, lime leaves (if using), a teaspoon of flaked salt and a generous grind of pepper. In a second bowl, mix the flour with two teaspoons of flaked salt and plenty of pepper. Put the eggs in a third, shallow bowl.
Set a metal rack over a tray, then prepare the seafood. Dip the squid and prawns first in the flour, then the egg and finally the panko mixture, shaking off any excess as you go, then lay on the rack while you coat the rest of the seafood.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium-high flame and have ready a large tray covered with plenty of kitchen paper. Once the oil is very hot, fry the chillies and spring onions for about two minutes, stirring them with a slotted spoon until crisp and golden brown, then transfer to the lined tray and sprinkle with a little flaked salt.
Fry the squid and prawns in batches, so you don’t overcrowd the pan. Drop each piece carefully into the oil and fry for one to two minutes on each side, until golden brown and very crisp. Transfer to the lined tray as you go, and sprinkle with flaked salt.
When you’re ready to serve, arrange the fried seafood on a platter and sprinkle over the lime zest, fried chilli and spring onions. Serve with the marie rose sauce and lime wedges.
Coronation chickpeas
There are many points of difference that distinguish this salad from the original coronation chicken that inspired it, but the sweet-savoury creaminess that makes the original so loved (or loathed) is still here and makes this, at least for me, a perfectly satisfying summer meal. Feel free to leave out the raisins if you don’t like them.
Prep 20 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 4 as a starter
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1½ tsp tomato paste
1 tsp cumin seeds, roughly crushed in a mortar
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp mild curry powder
40g golden raisins
2 tbsp apricot jam
Salt and pepper
75g Greek-style yoghurt
2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained (480g net weight)
5 spring onions, finely sliced
5g coriander leaves (about 1¼ tbsp), roughly chopped, plus a few extra leaves, to serve
20g roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped
2 baby gem lettuces, trimmed and leaves separated
1 red chilli, finely sliced
¾ tsp mustard seeds
6 curry leaves
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high flame then fry the onion, stirring occasionally, for eight minutes, until softened and lightly browned. Add the garlic, ginger, tomato paste and spices, and cook for a minute more, until fragrant, then pour in 250ml water. Add the raisins, jam, half a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, and cook for 10 minutes, until the liquid has reduced to about 60ml, then leave to cool for 10 minutes.
Stir the yoghurt and chickpeas into the pan, then transfer about 200g of the mixture to a separate bowl and use a fork to crush the chickpeas into a rough paste. Return the crushed chickpeas to the main pan with the spring onions, coriander and half a teaspoon of salt. Stir and transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle the peanuts on top and arrange the lettuce and extra coriander to one side.
Put the chilli and remaining tablespoon of oil in a small frying pan on a medium heat and cook for about seven minutes, until the chilli begins to dry out without taking on any colour. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves, cook for two minutes more, until the leaves develop a deep green shine, then pour over the chickpea mixture. Serve at room temperature, using the lettuce leaves as utensils to scoop everything up.
