A Change From Food……. ©
Autumn
I have been busy climbing mountains during the beautiful autumn days, but today winter has arrived, rain, rain, rain, the gulf is grey and the water is gushing out of the spring, being soaked up fast after a long hot summer.
As a change, I thought I would share with you the autumn countryside.
Homemade Chicken Liver Pâté ©
There is nothing like sitting out in the garden at the weekend, soaking up the last rays of warm sun, watching the leaves gently float down off the trees and dipping into a delicious “Homemade Pâté!”
******
People ask me where to begin with cooking? Just pick a simple recipe you would really like to eat and get cracking.
Choose your recipe first, check you have the necessary utensils and ingredients and always shop the day before! Cook for your self or a good friend the first time you are trying a recipe, when cooking for numbers or in unfamiliar kitchens, it is always best to stick to recipes you know well. This may sound obvious, but you would be surprised.
For my children who love this!
Easy
Serves 6 people
Special Equipment : A Pâté Terrine
Ingredients
225 g fresh chicken livers ( Order from Butcher in advance )
1 small onion
75 g butter
1-2 tbs brandy or sherry
1 clove garlic
salt and freshly ground pepper
A few grates of Nutmeg
A sprig of fresh or dried thyme
4 fresh bay leaves for decoration ( 1 for cooking 3 for decoration )
25 g extra butter for topping
Method : Preferably prepare the day before.
1. Pre-order your chicken livers from your butcher and keep in fridge.
2. When you are ready to start cooking, wash the livers well and cut away any green bile stain and sinew. Chop finely with a sharp knife.
3. Peel and very finely chop onion and garlic, or press garlic through garlic press. Wash bay leaf and thyme. If you don’t have fresh use dried.
4. Melt butter in frying pan over a low to medium heat. Add onions, garlic and herbs. Sauté until onion is transparent and soft, about five minutes. (Don’t let garlic burn, turn down if necessary.)
5. Add chicken livers and lightly sauté for two minutes until just cooked. Add brandy and sauté for another two minutes for the alcohol to evaporate completely. Five minutes in all is plenty, you don’t want to over cook your livers. If they are a little pink it does not matter. This is how the French eat them.
6. Place liver mixture into a blender and blend, after which take the trouble to pass through a very fine sieve. This makes it beautifully smooth and is an essential procedure.
7. Spoon out into your Terrine dish, or other suitable bowl. While still hot melt 25 g of butter in a saucepan and pour over the top to seal the Pâté . Place in refrigerator for two hours to thoroughly chill.
Serve with Melba toast ( Triangular cut thinly sliced toast) or small biscuits of your choice.
Cook’s Tip : When using alcohol in cooking you want to cook it for at least two minutes for the alcohol to evaporate and it should no longer smell of alcohol.
Sinew : Is any tough fibrous tissue found in centre of livers.
I serve mine with a little extra butter! The perfect canapé !
Order your fresh livers from the butcher in advance and prepare the day before. Wash thoroughly, cut away any green bile stain and sinew.
Peel and wash onion and garlic.
Cut onion in half and slice long ways as shown below.
Now cut across so that your onion is cut into small squares.
Crush or finely chop garlic.
Press completely through garlic press.
Add finely grated nutmeg.
Gently sauté onion and garlic over a low to medium heat together with sprig of thyme and bay leaf.
Add chopped livers and sauté for two minutes.
Now add brandy and sauté until livers are just cooked and alcohol has evaporated. Five minutes cooking in all over medium heat. You don’t want to over cook livers, even if they are a little pink it doesn’t matter.
Place Pâté mixture in blender. Blend until smooth.
Now pass through sieve pushing down with a wooden spoon. This is a must as it makes the Pâté really smooth, even if a little time consuming!
Place in Terrine, smooth out on top. Decorate with fresh bay leaves or dried if you cannot find fresh.
Melt butter in small saucepan and pour over to seal Pâté.
Place in refrigerator to chill thoroughly.
Final result!
Serve with hot toast or Melba toast or on buttered biscuits. For a special occasion like Christmas you could use a piping bag to make rosettes on small rounds of toasted brown or white bread.
Marinated Pork Chops ©
Freshly picked tarragon from the garden, thick Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard and a sprinkling of whole red pepper corns! It’s always fun to make up a recipe from the ingredients available and this is definitely one I shall be doing again.
Reminiscing over the summer’s activities long ago, we talked of our four day trip to the Epirus Mountains in northern Greece and the wonderful introduction our friends gave us to a place full of history and tradition. While lunching in the beautiful mountain village of Metsovo, we tried and then bought, the well known Metsovo smoked cheese. Here below is how they traditionally cook it.
For S and C and E and F. Thank you so much!
Easy
Two Persons
Special Equipment : Barbecue
Ingredients : Greek Metsovo Smoked Cheese
2 Slices of Greek Metsovo Smoked Cheese, 1 cm thick each slice
1 thinly sliced chilli pepper (optional)
Half a lemon juice per person
1 tbs Olive oil for frying
Method : Greek Metsovo Smoked Cheese
1. Cut string and peel away outer covering of cheese, just for the amount of cheese you want to use.
2. Cut two slices of cheese 1 cm thick, per person.
3. Place cheese in oiled frying pan and sprinkle with thinly sliced chilli, if liked.
4. When your barbecue is ready and good and hot, place frying pan on to cook. The cheese will soon melt and become bubbly.
5. Remove from heat, serve straight away and squeeze over lemon juice.
* This is a perfect starter, while you are waiting for your Pork Chops to cook!
** This cheese is available in any good Greek Cheese shop, or Good Greek Food shop out side Greece.
Greek Metsovo Cheese : Peel away outer casing and cut away string, just for the amount of cheese you are going to be using.
Place in oiled frying pan, sprinkle with chilli, if liked and fry on hot grill.
The cheese soon melts…
Once it is all melted, transfer to your serving plate, with the help of a knife and spatula and sprinkle with fresh lemon juice!
Marinated Pork Chops in Fresh Tarragon, Dijon Mustard, Greek Yogurt And Whole Red Pepper Corns.
Ingredients
*** Marinade chops two hours before cooking!
1 large pork chop per person
2 tbs finely chopped fresh tarragon, or if not available, dried
2 heaped tbs thick Greek Yogurt ( Fage )
2 heaped tabs Dijon Mustard ( only Dijon! )
2 tbs whole red pepper corns
2 tsp salt, sprinkled over meat, 1/2 tsp more for the marinade
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbs spoon olive oil
Method
1. Rinse Pork Chops to remove any bone splinters which might be stuck to the meat from the butchers cleaver.
2. Pat dry with kitchen paper and arrange in suitable dish which will hold your chops. salt and pepper on both sides and sprinkle with your red pepper corns.
3. Soak freshly gathered tarragon in salted water for three minutes. Drain, pat dry with kitchen paper and pull leaves of stalks. Chop up finely.
3. Mix together marinade, yogurt, dijon mustard and chopped tarragon.
4. Using a spoon spread marinade over both sides of your chops. Marinade for two hours in refrigerator.
5. **Important : remove chops from refrigerator half an hour before grilling to come to room temperature.
* Cleaver is the large chopping knife a butcher uses.
Serve with a salad of your choice: See Salads: https://whatscookinginjaneskitchen.wordpress.com/category/salads/
Wash and pat dry your chops with kitchen paper. Place in suitable ceramic or glass serving dish.
Salt and pepper and add red pepper corns on both sides.
Pick your fresh garden tarragon, (or use dried.) Soak your fresh tarragon in salted water to remove bugs for three minutes and drain.
Remove leaves from stalks.
Chop finely.
Mix together your marinade, Greek thick yogurt, Dijon (only) mustard and chopped tarragon.
Using a spoon, spread marinade all over both sides of your chops.
Marinade for two hours in refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator, 1/2 hour before grilling to come to room temperature.
Place on the grill and grill for 8-10 minutes on each side, or until nicely browning. Don’t over cook, or they may become
dry.
Here served with my Guacamole Salad: https://whatscookinginjaneskitchen.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/my-guacamole/
What's Cooking In Jane's Kitchen 