I love eating al fresco, whether it be a picnic or at a restaurant. You just can't beat sitting with family or friends having good conversation, nice food and wine, fresh air, and the sun shining on your face. Recently, I was invited to a traditional English Garden Fête at the home of the
Sarasota British Club's new President, Sue Ford.
It was such a lovely day and brought back so many happy memories of our favorite English summer pastime: Summer Proms. Each summer, at venues across the country, they have a series of out door classical concerts. The themes range from
Music from the Movies to the classics that feature on the
Last Night of the Proms. The tradition goes that you bring your own table, chairs, plonk, and a meal fit for royalty. I could go on and on about menus from Proms past, but the most memorable for me was one June when we were celebrating James's birthday. We had been out picking raspberries earlier in the day and I made a two layered chocolate cake with chocolate icing. I had covered the top of the bottom layer in raspberries, then once the top layer was iced, dotted fresh raspberries for color. After the 20 minute downpour that usually makes a brief appearance, we had a lovely time.
For Sue's Garden Fête, I wanted to create a menu that was fit for the Proms. As Indian food is so popular in the UK, we ended up with
Tandoori Chicken, Curried Couscous, and Salad with a
Red Pepper Curry Vinaigrette. It was sublime and took me back to an English summer.
The last time I used the Tikka, I didn't mix the packet with anything, and spread it directly onto two chicken breasts. The results were a little too strong and salty, and the paste was a little thick. My friend Jane had suggested using yogurt to mix with and marinate. Well, I didn't have any yogurt, so relied on my favorite Duke's Mayonnaise, mixing equal parts of each. I had two extremely large chicken breasts that I cut into smaller portions, coated with the mixture and marinated for 2 hours, turning occasionally.
The chicken was cooked at 325F for 20-25 minutes, and the results were lovely. The mayonnaise made a world of difference as it kept the chicken nice and moist, and the flavor was superb.
