Saturday 21 December 2019

Paté

Many years ago when I was more a part of the english community here an english woman would make paté and sausage rolls for all of her close friends at Christmas, including me. When she left there was a big gap in our xmas menu.  Sausage rolls are easy enough, if you have the sausage meat or the right sort of sausages.  Greek sausages just don't cut it.  She brought english sausages and sausage meat and real butter from England.

  So I looked up the pate recipe and decided to give it a go.  Very easy I thought and just kept on making it for ourselves and an english friend every year.   

For a country which adores its offal chicken livers are very hard to come by.Now and again, and usually a this time of the year we can find trays of frozen chicken livers and hearts, together.  Thats what I bought this year.   The hearts go into an omelette.

Our supermarket has pate over this period too.  The pate with cranberries has already sold out.  I tried some last year.  Far too sweet.  Then there was mushroom pate.  At 18.60 euros a kilo just not worth it.  

Paté with chicken livers

1/2 kilo chicken livers chopped
200 grams bacon chopped
1/2 cup butter (about 100 grams)
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
salt and pepper
one bay leaf
thyme to taste
wine glass of brandy or whisky
bread crumbs if the mix is too wet
good squirt of mustard

Fry the chopped bacon and put aside

Put livers, onions, garlic and butter in a pot and simmer for 15 minutes or until the livers are soft.  Add salt and pepper, brandy, mustard and bacon.  

Puree with a hand mixer.  If the mix is very wet then add a handful of breadcrumbs.

Eat with crackers and red wine and some blue cheese.  I was going to buy some genuine roquefort but decided that danish blue cheese was good enough for us and half the price.  We have genuine stilton instead.



Word of the Day

deipnosophist  - a person who is an adept conversationalist at a meal

This is one of those words that I can more or less guess at because of my knowledge of greek.  Deipno is the greek word for meal.



14 comments:

  1. Oh I love paté!!!

    Please save some for me!!!

    Happy Eve of Yule...
    Happy Eve of Winter Solstice...
    🌲🌞🌲

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    1. You'll have to be quick!! I put some in the freezer and had to take it out the next day. This year's batch is great.

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  2. Another favourite of mine that I have had to cross off my low cholesterol list 😓

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    1. Ooh, aren't chicken livers low fat? We'll use healthy olive oil instead of butter, which I have done in years gone by. And no whisky!

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  3. We prepare it in a different way, yours seems a lot tastier to me. I'm adopting your recipe from today.

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    1. Nice with the whisky too and the mustard was the spicy one, even better!

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  4. The pate recipe sounds delicious and so easy to make. I am very tempted to give it a go next time I come across chicken livers.

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    Replies
    1. It is very easy. Sounds exotically difficult but it's not. Worth trying

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  5. I've never thought of making pate but it doesn't sound too hard.

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    1. You probably have a wonderful selection in your supermarket fridge. So much easier lol

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  6. You should write a cook book L A. I would buy it.

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    Replies
    1. AHH,Dave, you've said that before. I'm right chuffed to have a fan. What I need is peace and quiet to concentrate and write. Around here there's always a someone demanding something. Maybe 2020 will bring a bit of peace and quiet

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  7. Its good to find an excellent recipe! You had best file it away

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  8. I make my own Paté, but it's Pork with a Foie Gras middle. I haven't bothered this year, as I still have plenty from last year. I made too much.

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