Chicken Liver Pate by Nick W

A smooth pate which should be heavy on the garlic

(2 FAT cloves really is the absolute minimum!)

Serves: Plenty as part of a buffet
Preparation time: 30 – 40 minutes
Cooking time: 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours

Ingredients:

½ lb chicken livers, cleaned
3 rashers green, streaky bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, (more if you like), chopped
Unsalted butter or ghee
½ tsp English mustard powder
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp dried thyme
1 – 2 tbs Crème Fraiche
glug of Armagnac
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bay leaves

Preparation:

Heat the butter in a large frying pan, add the chopped onion, garlic and bacon, fry until the onion is softened.

Add the livers, dried thyme, mustard powder and grated nutmeg, cook, stirring until the livers are coloured.

Remove from the heat, add a tablespoon or two of Crème Fraiche and a good glug of Armagnac, add ½ tsp salt and pepper, stir to mix.

Blend to taste with a food processor, (don’t over-process if you like a bit of texture), and pour into and ovenproof terrine dish, garnish
with a couple of bay leaves and, optionally, cover with more rashers of streaky bacon.

Pre-heat the oven to 80C, place the pate in a bain-marie and cook for 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours.

Allow to cool for 30 – 45 minutes before weighting overnight.

Refrigerate as soon as cool.

Ingredients

Carcass of a 20lb Turkey, chopped up if possible and any leftover skin
Leftover gravy
Assorted vegetables (onions, carrots, leeks, swede, parsnip, potatoes etc.)
A couple of bay leaves
Half a dozen black peppercorns

Procedure

Place the bones in a large pot (I use a 10 litre one).

Add any remaining roasting juices and gravy, and top up with cold water to cover the bones.

Bring to the boil, skimming, then add the bay leaves and peppercorns

Turn down to the lowest possible temperature and simmer for two to three hours, the surface should barely shimmer, bubbles breaking the surface gently.

Strain the stock off the bones, wipe any bits out of the pot, and return the stock to the pot.

Peel and chop the vegetables, (large chunks), and add to the stock, potatoes last.

Bring back to a simmer and turn off, the heat of the stock will cook the vegetables.

When the vegetables are just tender, dice the turkey meat and turn the heat on to bring the whole lot up to temperature and adjust the seasoning.

Ingredients

4 med. red potatoes, peeled & diced
500ml. water
2 tbsp. butter or vegetable oil
Dash cayenne pepper (opt.)
2 tbsp. freshly minced parsley
4 lg. leeks, sliced, including some green tops
1 lg. onion, chopped
750ml. milk
Salt & pepper to taste
250ml. cream

Preparation

Cook potatoes in water about 10 minutes. Saute leeks and onions in butter (or oil) until golden. Add to potatoes and stir in milk and seasonings. Simmer until the flavors are blended (about 15 minutes). Add parsley and heat almost to boiling, stirring frequently. Enrich soup with cream and serve hot.

A very easy and filling soup.

Serves: 6 people
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time:  1 hour

Ingredients

5 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
5 C / 1.2 litres of chicken stock
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
10oz / 280g of  your preferred cheese, grated
2oz butter

Preparation

Cook the chopped onions and carrots over a low heat in the melted butter for 25 minutes in a covered pan.

Stir in the potato and chicken stock. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft.

Blend the soup, either in a blender or I just used a handheld blender in the pan (these are really handy).

Gradually add the cheese into the blended soup over a low heat. Make sure to keep stirring so that the cheese melts and doesn’t go lumpy.

Serve with crusty bread and butter.