Chicken Liver Pate

 

Let me start off by saying that even though I will eat pretty much everything I will not eat liver. I love trying pretty much anything but I would have to be on Survivor and have to eat some to have immunity and even then I would choke it down. Why then did I make chicken liver pate? Because the husband requested it. So without any further ado, here is my no recipe version of chicken liver pate loosely based off of a version from Gordon Ramsey.

After trimming the chicken livers I left them soaking milk overnight. Why do this? I have no clue, but since I don’t know anything about cooking liver I followed instructions.

Before cooking them I let them drain thoroughly for a few minutes. I think that it would take a whole passel of photographers to make damp chicken livers look good.

When in doubt, start off with bacon.

I crisped it in the pan and saved the fat.

For a change and for the flavour I decided to use French shallots instead of plain onions.

As Martha would say, “frying onions in bacon fat; it’s a good thing”. Hmmm I think I just unleashed my inner Paul Deen with that sentence.

Once the onions were browned I chucked in the chicken livers.

I also added in salt, pepper and thyme.

Once all the liquid had evaporated and the chicken livers were cooked thoroughly I pureed them in the food processor until the mixture was smooth. This is completely random but in French a food processor is called “un robot culinaire”. “Culinary robot” sounds much more interesting than “food processor” don’t you think?

All done.

The Husband enjoyed his pate although it made a lot more than I was expecting. Poor guy, he’ll have to finish it off on his own because this time, since it involves liver, I’m not taking one for the team!

del.icio.us Tags: Pate

Fried Mozzarella Sticks

While I love the finer things in life I am also an ardent fan of pub food. One of the things The Husband and I love are fried mozzarella sticks and I can confidently say that if you haven’t had one, you haven’t lived. They’re ridiculously easy to make and are an integral part of any sports related junk food menu.

 

First of all, obviously, a block mozzarella cut in finger width pieces. You could use cheddar but mozzarella is the standard for this recipe.

Next you set up your breading line: flour, eggs and bread crumbs.

For this recipe I actually used corn flake crumbs. Usually I am not the biggest fan because they have the faintest sweet flavour but they’re perfect for this since when fried they turn extra crispy. I also added dried parsley, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika.

After breading the sticks I put them in the freezer for half an hour. You cannot skip this step or else you will end up with a puddle of melted cheese when you try to fry them. If you leave them in a little longer and they start to freeze you will still be ok.

I put in half an inch of oil in a pan and quickly fried my mozzarella sticks. They really do not take very long, 30 second tops per side. You have to watch them carefully so they neither melt nor burn.

Usually I make marinara sauce with this but this time we just ate them with chili sauce. These are rich, they are of course, solid cheese and even I can’t eat more than a couple at a time. The Husband, happily inhaled quite a few of these while watching the Superbowl. They are so good, crispy on the outside and gooey and melty on the inside. Best eaten hot soon after they come out of the pan.

del.icio.us Tags: Cheese,mozzarella sticks,superbowl

Superbowl Cheese Dip

This isn’t calorie or waist friendly and isn’t very pretty but boy is it tasty. I’ve always thought that the reason that non-football loving people like to watch the Superbowl is that it makes an excellent excuse to spend an entire afternoon eating greasy food. At The Husband’s request I made this dip for Superbowl Sunday and we both happily gobbled it up while watching the game.

The ingredients: Cheddar cheese

Mayo. Not the travesty that is Miracle Whip.

Softened cream cheese. Notice how I used light cream cheese and light mayo? Every little bit helps, people!

The cheese, mayo and cream cheese (I used more or less the same amount of each) went into an ovenproof pan along with chopped green onions, English mustard, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Hot dips are pretty forgiving in terms of the proportions between the cheeses and the mayo. You really can just eyeball everything and not screw up.

After mixing everything together I smoothed it out and put it into the oven at 350 Celsius.

I checked on it after 15 minutes but decided to put it back so it would be more bubbly.

After 25 minutes it was perfect. This picture is courtesy of the husband since I was cooking something else at the time so he was the one who actually took it out of the oven. He has a thing with overhead shots for some reason but is a sweetheart for getting dragged over often to take pictures of food.

 

Tortilla chips are pretty much a prerequisite for eating this. This is cheesy, hot and savoury and is perfect party food. I really need to find an excuse to make this again soon!

del.icio.us Tags: Dips

Homemade Parmesan and Thyme Crackers

In Quebec New Year’s day is a family holiday, I’m not really used to this since in the rest of North America it is pretty much just a day to sleep off your hangover from the 31st but I go with the flow. Traditionally Christmas was a religious holiday and New Year’s was the day on which you got your presents and there was a big party. This year we decided to invite some of the husband’s relatives over and have a small reception. Usually for appetizers I make some sort of soup or dips and crudités if it is a more casual occasion but this time I decided to serve a plate of nibbles in the living room along with Prosecco. This recipe comes from Ina Garten’s last book: “The Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics” but you can find the recipe here.

First step was beating the butter.

Once that was done I added in some fresh thyme, a lot of parmesan and some ground pepper.

Mixing all of that together.

An action shot after I had dumped the flour in.

The dough was extremely crumbly at this point so I ended up adding a tablespoon or so of water to help it stick together.

This was attempt at making a nice log. It ended up looking more like a slightly rounded square than a circle but I tried my best. This is what it looked like after I had left it in the fridge for 45 minutes to harden.

 

I cut my crackers perhaps a little more thickly than I should have had since I ended up with a lot less than the recipe said it would make.

I was really happy with the way these turned out. To accompany them I bought a Rosette de Lyon sausage (cured French sausage) and an English cucumber and cut them in slices and arranged everything on a platter. The Husband poured Prosecco while everyone sat down. The in-laws were suitably impressed with the presentation and loved the crackers. They are really tasty and so easy to make (the crackers, not the in-laws). The texture is a lot like shortbread, albeit a savoury kind. This is a great recipe to use for a party as you can easily make multiple batches and the dough can sit in the fridge for a while and when you need it you just take it out, slice it and bake it. I will most definitively make this again.

del.icio.us Tags: Appetizers,crackers,cheese,sausage