This post is from an article we wrote for Club Marine magazine in 1997.
The food shots date from that period too.
We think this recipe has as much appeal today – 2018 – as it did when it was first created.
(Use the Print button at the top of this page for a hard copy or pdf of the recipe in this post.)
If you are after a formal dish to serve, this chicken recipe should suffice. It is in the modern Australian style, with grilled chicken served on a mango vinaigrette and topped with coriander butter. It gives a fresh, sophisticated result that could take its place in the best of restaurants.
There are, in effect, three different recipes here. Together they make a brilliant combination of flavours. However, the butter and the salsa could be married with many other ingredients, for example, with prawns or fish.
Chicken With Coriander Butter And Mango Vinaigrette
This recipe was published as part of a Summer Entertaining supplement in The Age Good Weekend some years ago. It is an easy dish for a dinner party as the chicken is set aside to marinate, then cooked quickly at the last minute. While it is not essential, ask the poultry supplier to prepare the chicken with the breastbone attached. The coriander butter and mango vinaigrette can be prepared well beforehand. Both the coriander butter and the mango vinaigrette could be used in other recipes. The vinaigrette is particularly delicious.
Serve the dish by itself or with barbecued vegetables and steamed jasmine rice.
Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts, including breastbone and skin
- salt and black pepper
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 ½ tbsps chopped coriander leaves
Salt and pepper chicken pieces. In a bowl, add the lime juice, oil and coriander. Combine well, then add chicken pieces and coat well. Cover and marinate for two hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator if longer, including overnight. Stir from time to time.
Coriander-lime butter
- 6 tbsps butter at room temperature
- grated zest and juice of 1 lime
- 1 small shallot, or equivalent, finely chopped
- 3 tbsps chopped coriander leaves
- salt and black pepper
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Place the butter in a bowl, and work in the other ingredients. Roll into a sausage shape in aluminium foil. Refrigerate until needed, but remove just before required to allow it to come to room temperature for slicing.
Mango Vinaigrette
- 1 spring onion, finely chopped
- 1 small mango chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
- 2 tbsps rice vinegar (or light white wine vinegar)
- 5 tbsps peanut oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
In a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil and salt and pepper. Add the spring onion, mango and mint and combine well. Set aside.
Before cooking, make sure the chicken, butter and the vinaigrette are at room temperature. Heat the serving plates.
Grill the chicken on a barbecue or fry on a griddle for several minutes each side until cooked but still moist and juicy. On each plate, place a quarter of the mango vinaigrette, place a chicken breast on top or to the side, and place a 1 cm thick slice of coriander butter on top of the warm chicken or to the side.
Serve with your chosen accompaniment, and garnish with mint or coriander. Serves 4 as a main course.
Degree of difficulty: 3/5 (moderately difficult).