Date I made this recipe:
April 21, 2017 – Queen Elizabeth II's 91st birthday!
Harrods Cookery Book
by Marilyn Aslani
Published by Arbor House
ISBN: 0-87795-735-5; © 1985
Recipe: Chicken Breasts with Mango and Almonds – p.
158
Well hip-hip, hooray, it's "HM's" Birth-day! Yes, that's right, Her Majesty ("HM"), the ageless
Queen Elizabeth II, just turned 91.
Amazing but true!
Also "amazing, but true" is that the very famous Harrods department store is 183 years
old this year. Wow – twice as old as "HM." As the Brits would say, that is
"Smashing!"
I'm happy to say that Andy and I have been (or
"bean" as the Brits say) to Harrods
(in October 1994) and it was a fun place although we didn't get to spend a lot
of time there. I do recall us making a
beeline for the famed Food Hall as it is possibly more famous than the store
itself. I can only imagine how the Food
Hall has grown over the years because when we were there, you could pretty much
get your hands on every type of food imaginable from every country imaginable
though sometimes at a hefty price. I do
believe we gasped out loud when we spotted a bag of Kraft Marshmallows priced at $5.00 a bag and folks, that was in
1994! Preposterous!
It should come as no surprise then, that we left the Food
Hall sans food but all was not lost as we bought a couple of boxes of Christmas
Crackers for the holidays. Although the
name certainly suggests this is a food item, it is not. Christmas Crackers are paper
"firecrackers," i.e. cardboard tubes filled with all kinds of goodies
that are wrapped in bright holiday-colored paper and then twisted at each
end. The recipient then pulls on the
ends to crack the package open (it actually makes a cracking noise) to reveal
what is inside typically, little toys, candy and paper crowns. The Brits love these things and so when I saw
them, I knew I had to bring some back with me to share with my family at
Christmas time. The paper crowns were
the best and I have several hilarious pictures of my mom, dad, and brother
wearing them (such troopers) during our Christmas dinner.
This then concludes my memories of Harrods except to say we can now check this off list of
"Things to see and do in London ." (For the record, we were in England on business and toured a good portion of
the country, but had only a few days at our disposal to tour London .
Bummer, that.)
As to this cookbook, well...huh. Let's just say that despite the fact that
Andy and I had some very good meals (mostly pub grub) while in England, British
cooking and recipes underwhelm me still, and sad to say, this cookbook and
recipe was one of them.
The Table of Contents divides food into categories based on
what how the food hall was laid out in 1985 when this cookbook was written:
- The Meat Hall that includes recipes for meat, fish, and poultry and game
- The Provisions Hall that includes recipes for cheese and dairy as well as charcuterie and variety meats
- The Fruit and Vegetable Hall that includes recipes for vegetables and fruit (I don't know why the simplicity of that made me laugh but it did!)
- The Bakery that includes desserts,
biscuits and cakes (please remember that cookies are called biscuits in
- The Confectionery Hall that includes sweets of all kinds
- The Panty – you'll find your preserve recipes here
- Special Occasions that include Christmas, Picnic Hamper, Afternoon Tea, and a Garden Party. The last two occasions – Afternoon Tea and Garden Party – are just so "vedy" British, are they not? Quite!
All right then, from these categories, I came up with a mere
handful of recipes (so disappointing) and here's what I considered:
- "Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli with Sage Butter" – p. 137 (from the Vegetable chapter)
- "Scallop Pilaf" – p. 49 (from the Fish chapter)
- "Chicken Breasts with Mango and Almonds" – p. 158 from the Fruit [and vegetable] chapter)
And the winner/not winner was....Chicken Breasts with Mango and Almonds.
Why was this dish not a "Winner, winner, chicken
dinner?" Well, I can't quite put my
finger on it except to say that the dish was neither good nor bad, it just was
and "was" is not an option. To
put it another way, I just don't think any of the flavors stood out and so what
we had was a dish of chicken + mangos + sauce rather than a blended dish of all
of these ingredients and more. These
days, I am all about the "and more" in a dish.
I have to say that I was particularly amazed that the mango
was not the star ingredient and I don't know why. The dish sure looked good in the photo but
maybe my mango wasn't as ripe as it should be?
Not that I know how to test a mango for readiness but that's another
story.
Alas though reader, the mango problem wasn't the only issue
as the "seasoning profile" also missed the mark. Both the marinade
and the wok sauce contained soy sauce, rice wine and cornstarch and that is not
exactly exciting. The wok sauce
contained 1 teaspoon of sugar but that wasn't enough to elevate it, either.
For the longest time after making this dish, I was stumped
as to what could have made it work, and I've concluded that Chinese Five-Spice
powder might have done the trick. This
flavor marries really well with the mango and also would have punched the dish
up a notch as it contains cinnamon, cloves, fennel and star anise. Sometimes it contains also ginger but this
recipe used fresh ginger in the marinade and unfortunately, it was also
strained out of the sauce.
I might have also added a half to full teaspoon of sesame
oil to the marinade, not that it was called for, but because sesame oil adds
flavor. Sesame oil cannot be used in the
wok to cook the chicken (the recipe calls for peanut oil) as it will burn, but
a small amount in the chicken marinade shouldn't cause a problem. Of course, I don't know that for sure, I'm
just thinking of ways to make this dish more enjoyable to eat.
Finally, I erred on the side of cooking the chicken a bit
longer than directed. "As directed" was about 1 minute, 30 seconds,
and I, being my mother's daughter when it comes to chicken, wanted to make sure
my chicken was done and not raw and so left it in a bit longer.
After making some rice to go with this stir-fry, I told Andy
that dinner was ready. He often waits
until he's done to comment but this time around, he didn't say a word and I
think that is indicative of what we collectively thought about the dish. In summary:
"Huh." Sadly, the
leftovers I had the net day did nothing for me either.
As an aside, I tried hard to find a recipe to make in this
cookbook that might please "HM," but I just don't like most of the standard
fare that Brits enjoy. I honestly can't
see "HM" sitting down to this dinner but then again, maybe she
would. She's traveled all over the world
so who's to say she's not a fan of stir-fry?
I'm just sayin' she probably wouldn't have been a fan of this stir-fry.
As to the cookbook though, you might want to take a gander
at it for the sheer novelty of it all. Harrods
is still a must-see when in London
and hip, hip hooray for them for standing the test of time! As to "HM," long may she reign!
Chicken Breasts with
Mango and Almonds – Serves 4 – Ann's Note:
allow ½ hour to marinate the chicken
For the marinade
1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
1 egg white, beaten
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar or medium-dry sherry
Ann's Note: consider adding ½ to 1 teaspoon sesame oil to
the marinade. Consider also adding some
Chinese Five-Spice Powder either to the marinade or the wok sauce.
3 boneless chicken breasts, skinned and cut into 1-inch
squares
For the sauce
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine or medium-dry sherry
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted
Ann's Note: Consider substituting brown sugar for table
sugar. It may not work but I just have a
feeling it might have helped the flavors come out.
Other wok ingredients
1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
2 large scallions, white part finely chopped and green part
cut into pieces
1 large mango, peeled and cut lengthwise into strips
Scallion tassels, to garnish
Mix together the ingredients for the marinade and pour over
the chicken. Cover and marinate in the
refrigerator for 30 minutes. Ann's Note:
You would be wise to bring the chicken and marinade to room temperature
before adding them to the wok. See
below.
Heat a woke over high heat, then add the peanut oil. Ann's Note:
Before you add the chicken and marinade to the hot wok, bring them up to
room temperature first. The recipe
doesn't call for you to do that, but I found the cornstarch in the marinade
started clumping when added to the hot oil and that was not a very attractive
look. Plus, I don't think the flavor came out as it should have. When the oil
is hot enough for a piece of ginger to float to the surface, add the chicken
and marinade, and stir-fry for 30 seconds.
Place a sieve over a bowl, and pour the chicken and all of
the oil into it. Leave to drain
thoroughly, then return 2 tablespoons of the oil to the wok. Stir-fry the ginger, garlic and white
scallion parts for 30 seconds. Return
the chicken to the wok and stir-fry for 1 minute. Transfer the chicken to a serving dish.
Pour 1 tablespoon of the oil into the wok, heat and add the
mango. Stir-fry for 30 seconds, then add
all the sauce ingredients except the almonds.
Cook for a further 30 seconds until the sauce thickens.
Stir in the green scallion parts and the toasted almonds.
Pour over the chicken. Garnish with the
scallion tassels.
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