Coronation Chicken Tartlets

These little ‘deconstructed’ coronation chicken tartlets make delicious, stylish and ever-so-slightly kitsch canapés for a drinks party.

Admittedly they are a little bit of a faff, but the two main elements of the dish, the tartlet cases and the chicken, can be prepared ahead of time...and believe me, they are worth the effort!

Makes 24 tartlets

Ingredients

For the Pastry Cases

200g Plain Flour

100g Cold Butter

Pinch of Salt

1 tbsp Poppy Seeds

4-5 tbsp Milk

1 Egg, beaten

For the Chicken

2 large or 3 small Skinless Chicken Breasts

1 Garlic Clove, sliced

Fresh Juice from half a Lime

2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

2 tbsp Runny Honey

1 tbsp Sunflower Oil

For the Sauce

4 tbsp Mayonnaise

4 tbsp Natural Greek Yoghurt

1-2 teaspoons Mild Curry Powder

1 tbsp Mango Chutney

A bunch or two of Red Seedless Grapes

Fresh Coriander, chopped

• Thoroughly butter the cups of two bun tins (this makes 24 pastry cases).
• Tip the flour and salt into a bowl and, using a coarse grater, grate in the butter.  Cut through it a few times with a table knife to combine (there is no need to rub the butter in) then add the poppy seeds and stir.  Add the milk, a spoonful at a time while stirring with the knife until it all easily comes together into a ball.  Take it out of the bowl and wrap in cling film, put it in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C (fan).  Sprinkle the work surface with flour and put the ball of pastry dough onto it.  Sprinkle flour over your rolling pin and roll out the pastry, moving it around every couple of rolls so that it doesn’t stick.  Try to roll it out as thinly as you can, it should ideally be about 2mm thick.  
• Take a round pastry cutter (you can use a glass tumbler or plastic cup if you don’t have one) and dip the edges into some flour.  Cut out circles of pastry and place each one directly into the buttered cups of your bun tin, pushing it gently into the edges.  When you have cut as many circles as you can, squash the dough back together and roll it out again, keep going until you have 24 pastry circles in your bun tins.
• These pastry circles now need to be weighed down as they bake.  To do that, cut out squares of baking paper and place one onto each pastry cup, then weigh them down with a small handful of ceramic baking beans or any dried beans (I use dried lentils).
• Blind bake the pastry cases in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.  Take them out and remove the beans and baking paper.  Brush them with beaten egg and put them back in the oven for 5-10 minutes until lightly golden brown.  Leave them in the tins until they have gone cold and crisped up, then carefully remove them.  They can then be stored in an airtight container until you are ready to assemble the tartlets.
• For the chicken, mix the soy sauce, honey, oil, lime juice and garlic in a bowl.  Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthways and put the wide strips into the bowl with the marinade.  Cover and put in the fridge to marinate for 1-2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 200C (fan).  Take the chicken out of the marinade, place it on a baking tray and roast for 20 minutes until cooked through and glossily browned.  Put it aside to cool.
• To make the sauce simply mix together the mayonnaise, yoghurt and mango chutney then add the curry powder to taste.
• To assemble the tartlets, put a generous teaspoon of the sauce at the bottom of each pastry case.  Slice the cold chicken into centimetre thick pieces and put 2-3 small slices in each case.  Top with a few pieces of grape and a sprinkling of fresh coriander.  Serve within an hour or two of assembling the tartlets.