Someone else can arrange this

4 September Wednesday

On the morning of 3 January 1960, Constance Spry, co-operator of the Cordon Bleu school at Wakefield Place in Berkshire, England slipped on the stairs going in, breaking God knows what and dying about an hour later. She died after having become the most famous florist in the world by decorating Westminster Abbey and the entire Coronation parade route. She also opened the Cordon Bleu school mentioned above with her friend Rosemary Hume. There they were commissioned to create a special dish for a luncheon given for foreign dignitaries at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth on 2 June 1953. So the teachers and the students got their heads together, toiled morning, noon, and night to come up with something new and special. The dish was Coronation Chicken. It is an amazing concoction, an eye-wateringly piquant, almost revolting sauce, which, when cooled, is blended with yogurt or mayonnaise and whipped cream and apricot preserves. The sauce is a mixture of wine, curry powder, onion, and tomato puree. It is heavenly delicious.

I have a new favorite way to make chicken for salads. Very slow grilling. I have gently poached a number of times, but don’t always like the texture. So, oiling, seasoning, and grilling on medium low heat, it will only have faint brown grill lines on it, but beautiful. Cool completely before cutting it into pieces for the chicken salad. It stays extremely moist and soft in the center. I made a batch of Coronation Chicken. And, I had a lovely couple of cups of leftover mashed potatoes which I baked into these:

Sesame, buttermilk, mashed potato rolls. Chewy, spongy, tangy. They made a sturdy delivery system for the Coronation Chicken. And there were many leftover.

I imagine Constance Spry at the base of the icy stairs, head resting in the lap of one her cooking disciples, a torn bag of groceries on the sidewalk, delirious and in the gasping throes of death, looking into the eyes of the students and uttering her final utterance: “Someone else can arrange this”. Then, well, she died.

I went on a walk. Pictured above is one of the things I saw when I was walking. After the walk, I tucked into a local tavern. Sully’s Marina Lounge, where its wonderful proprietor, Sully alerted me to the local butcher shop. Right down the block. Now, Sully’s is great. A real bar for real people. Wooden stools and chairs. A pool table in the back. After a beer and nice chat, I am in that meat market, in the market for meat. Lamb and beef. Home. Onion, carrot, celery, meat, salt and pepper. Simmer in the pan. Several potato rolls, ground in the food processor with a healthy handful of cheddar cheese, hand mixed with the remaining mashed potatoes from the day before, pressed like a crust on top of the meat mixture, baked in the oven and Voila, Shepherd’s Pie. Delicious and rich. Salty sweet meaty juices brown crispy topped tender crust of love.

Well, today is Wednesday, and you know what THAT means!