Queen Elizabeth II marked 60 years on her throne on Monday. Loyal subjects around the world raised a glass to toast Britain's second-longest reigning monarch as she and the royal family kicked off a year of celebration in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, her other realms and territories and various Commonwealth countries.
If you're celebrating the Diamond Jubilee along with the queen, don't forget to lift a fork too. While news reports tend to focus on what she won't eat — garlic, reportedly, in Italy; raw shellfish anywhere — the queen is said to eat sensibly and often on foods grown, raised or bagged on her own estates. She was local and green way before the rest of us.
Ruling can be boring work these days for monarchs; no marauding armies to lead or heads to chop off. There's always food, though, to keep things interesting. The queen's lengthy reign can be told in a long succession of dishes, from the fashionably curried chicken of her coronation lunch in 1953 to her own recipe for drop scones that she shared with President Dwight Eisenhower to the turbot with cockles and oxtail created by chef Bryn Williams on the cooking series "Great British Menu" for the queen's 80th birthday party in 2006.
Who knows? Another royal recipe may enter the rolls this year. The queen's daughter-in-law, Camilla, the duchess of Cornwall, just kicked off a Cook for the Queen competition among U.K. schoolchildren as her jubilee tribute. Students are being asked to create dishes with local ingredients that symbolize the "best of British" food. Winners earn a trip to Buckingham Palace to see their recipes turned into canapes.
DROP SCONES
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Makes: 16 pancakes
This letter of Jan. 24, 1960, to President Dwight D. Eisenhower contained a scone recipe from Queen Elizabeth II and references an earlier visit by Eisenhower to Balmoral, her Scottish retreat. The letter reads:
"Dear Mr. President, Seeing a picture of you in today's newspaper standing in front of a barbecue grilling quail, reminded me that I had never sent you the recipe of the drop scones which I promised you at Balmoral. I now hasten to do so, and I do hope you find them successful. Though the quantities are for 16 people, when there are fewer, I generally put in less flour and milk, but use the other ingredients as stated. I have also tried using golden syrup or Treacle instead of only sugar and that can be very good, too. I think the mixture needs a great deal of beating while making, and shouldn't stand about too long before cooking. ..."
Although they are called drop scones, they are really more like pancakes. Her recipe is reproduced in a new book, "Eating With Uncle Sam: Recipes and Historical Bites From the National Archives" (Giles, $34.95).
2 eggs
1/4 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar, see note)
2 teacups milk (11/2 cups)
4 teacups flour (3 cups)
3 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
2 tablespoons melted butter
Beat the eggs, sugar and about half the milk together; add flour. Mix well, adding remainder of milk as required, along with the cream of tartar and baking soda. Fold in melted butter.
Ladle batter in batches by large spoonfuls (about 1/4 cup) into a greased, large skillet or griddle over medium-low heat. Cook until bubbles begin to form, 2-3 minutes. Flip; cook until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
Note: If you don't have superfine sugar, process granulated white sugar in a food processor until very fine.
CORONATION CHICKEN
Prep: 2 hours
Cook: 1 hour
Servings: 8
Note: Created by Constance Spry, a society florist and author, and chef Rosemary Hume for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation lunch in 1953, coronation chicken was the chicken Marbella of its day — an instant, era-defining classic that has spawned a multitude of variations around the world over the decades. This cold chicken recipe with its international touch of curry — rather daring then — comes from the website Retro Food Recipes, and is adapted from "The Constance Spry Cookery Book" of 1956.
1 chicken (5 pounds), poached
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon each: curry paste, tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1 bay leaf
Juice from 1/2 lemon
4 canned apricot halves
11/4 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
Watercress
Remove the skin from the chicken. Cut meat into small pieces. Broil until golden brown. Allow to cool.
Heat oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Add onion; cook until soft and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add curry and tomato pastes, wine, bay leaf and lemon juice.
Lower the heat; simmer uncovered until reduced, about 10 minutes. Strain; let sauce cool.
Puree apricots through a sieve or with a blender. Place in a bowl; mix in mayonnaise. Add cooled sauce; mix well. Whip cream to stiff peaks; fold into the mixture. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add more lemon juice if needed.
Fold in the broiled chicken pieces, coating them well with the mixture.
Garnish with watercress.
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