Liver pâté ( turkey )

It is Advent, the Christmas season is upon us and with that all the wonderful culinary treasures this season has to offer us.
Last year I shared with you my recipes for the Turkey, the Goose and the Baked Ham. Now it is time that I let you into the secret of my home made Pâté .
It has been  part of our tradional Christmas Eve Dinner for as long as I can think back and it has become a firm favourite not only with the family but also with friends. I always ask the butcher, where I buy the free range turkey, to make sure that I get the liver, as some do not include the giblets. This request has sometimes been to my benefit as I would find more than one liver in the giblets bag. This of course gives me the chance to make enough Pâté  to give as presents to the nearest and dearest.
When you get the liver make sure that it has not been contaminated by the green gall bladder juice which would make the liver bitter. Should you detect even a little green discoloration, just cut it off and discard it. Make sure to get rid of any veins and sinuses as well. Some recipes call for putting the liver into milk the night before, I do not do that. I prefer to gently sauté the liver in butter, until it is just coked.

If you buy a frozen goose, it usually has all the giblets inside. One goose liver should give you enough to make a small pot of Pâté . Just half the ingredients below. You can of course use chicken liver as well.  The consistency and taste will be a little different. 

Our family prefers a Pâté which does not taste too "livery"! That is the reason for using half liver and half pork meat. I think Pâtés are like stews, casseroles etc. you will find the ratio of the mixture that will suit your taste buds.

I use a normal household food processor to mix all the ingredients, which will take a little time and patience!

Preparation Time: approx. 40 min

Ingredients

250 to 300 g turkey liver (goose or chicken can be used as well)

125 g smoked streaky bacon

250 g minced pork or pork pieces

1/2 medium finely cut onion

2 cloves garlic

250 g butter

1 tsp majoram

Salt and pepper to taste

I measure of good brandy ( cognac)

Method

1. Gently fry the bacon and onions in some of the butter, put aside.

2. Add more butter to the pan and add the liver, gently sauté it until it is just cooked
3. Fry the pork gently in a separate pan

4. Put liver, bacon, onion, pork mince  into a food processor, add the remainder of the butter
5. Add garlic, majoram, brandy, pepper and whisk the ingredients into a smooth Pâté .

Depending on your processor it might take 10 to 15 min before the Pâté  is smooth.

6. Adjust the seasoning .
7. Put Pâté into a small dishes with a lid.
8. Melt some butter and pour it over the Pâté , add some sprigs of fresh Thyme and put it into the
Fridge to set. Once set the Pâté  will stay fresh for a week. At this stage you could freeze it, if you   want to keep some for later.
 

Note: Best eaten with water crackers or really fresh crusty bread. As it is Christmas our usual tipple with the Pâté  is a glass of bubbly!

      

                                               

Happy Christmas , Frohe Weihnachten, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale, Feliz Natal, God Jul

                          

                                                   Happy Holidays

Annegret's Casserole

Well, the traveling is truly over for this year (well nearly!) and the stormy and wet season is upon us. So it is time that I share some more recipes with you

I have tried a few new dishes, but I feel I need to test them a little more, before I share them with you. The summer is over ( at last!) and Autumn is truly upon us and with that time to cook tasty comfort food, slowly cooked casseroles (the French certainly know how to do them) are one of the more delightful  dishes to serve during the cold dark months.

Casseroles are the perfect dish to prepare in advance and lend themselves to share with friends, as you are going to end up with enough to feed 6 to 8. It also freezes well, so any leftovers can be enjoyed at a later date.
This casserole is for true  meat lovers, as  it is based on three different kind of meats: beef, pork and smoked ham/bacon. ( I will post some mixed and totally vegetarian ones later).
The secret lies in the slow cooking. So it is not something you think of now and can eat within the next hour. A proper casserole needs planning, at least a day in advance . As usual the quality of the ingredients will determine the excellence of the casserole.
I do not have many photos for this recipe as I only decided at the last minute, when I had the Casserole in the oven, to write about it and then I forgot to take more photos!  Easy known I have been away from my blog for awhile!

I have added a comment re doing the recipe in a slow cooker at the end.

Ingredients  ( serves 6 to 8)

500 g (approx*) beef , preferably, sirloin or chump or rump steak  ( round steak is possible , if well hang, but the texture will be different)

500 g (approx*) pork steak

500 g (approx*)smoked ham or bacon 

2 large onions

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 leek

1 or two stalks of celery

1 or 2 medium size carrots

2 dried bay leaves ( or 3-4 fresh ones)

1 tsp dried herbs ( mixture of oregano,majoram, thyme - herbs de Provence)

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 

Some black pepper

Salt to taste
Rapeseed oil for frying

1/2 l to 3/4 l water or stock 

1/2 l red wine

*approx. means that if you see a really nice piece of meat and it is slightly bigger, take it 

Note:  be careful with the salt as the ham/bacon will be adding salt already, I would advise to wait until after the first few hours of cooking before adding salt

I did not use any garlic, no special reason, if you like garlic you can add 1 or two cloves

Note 2:
You will have to replenish some liquid during the slow cooking process.

After 4 hrs cooking, with the vegetables on top

Method 

Day one

1 cut the meat into cubes and cut off any fat.

Fry the meat in batches until brown and put into the casserole dish, loosen the juices from the pan with some water and add to casserole

2. Peel and cut the onions and fry until brown, add to the meat.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes, and the spices, add the liquids.

4. Clean and wash the leek, celery and carrots , place whole on top of the meat.

5. Put the lid on the. Casserole and put into the oven at 150 C after 3 hrs reduce heat to 100 C for a further hour. Check the level of the liquid regularly and adjust the level. 

6. Let the casserole cool down and refrigerate until the next day.

Day two

1. Approx 3 to 4 hrs before you want to eat, reheat the casserole first at 150 C and after an hour or two reduce the heat to 100 C.

2. An hour( approx.) before serving take the casserole out of t he oven and discard the vegetables.

3. Mix approx 50 to 100 ml of water or wine with 1 Tbsp plain flour, mix well, and add to the casserole stirring well, to avoid lumps.

4. Return to the oven for a further   30 min. minimum at  100C

*Serve with mashed potatoes, or any Pasta you like, or rice. It depends on your likes and preferences.

  Each one works perfectly.
**My personal favourite is: creamed potatoes 

    I serve also a green salad  with the dill cream dressing.

***You can of course do it the peasant way and simply eat it with a crunchy baguette! 

Despite the length of cooking time, once you have all the ingredients in the casserole dish and the dish in the oven, it requires very little attention and even if you forget it in the oven,for a few hours, the wonderful smell will remind you that there is something delicious in the oven waiting for you. The secret lies in the low  temperature and time.

PS

Thanks to a question from overseas I want to add that the casserole could be done in a Slow Cooker as well, but as I haven't tried it yet, it will be a trial for you. In case you wish to try it in a slow cooker, make sure you brown the meat properly, otherwise the dish will be more like a version of an Irish stew. 

You will have to adjust the liquid too, in this case less, as the evaporation will be less. Good luck trying

Baked Ham

It has been a while since I have put up a new recipe and now I can't wait much longer, as I would like you to have it before Easter. I originally had intended to publish it before Christmas, but somehow I did not manage to do so.
The recipe for the Baked Ham I earned fair and square many years ago. We were on holidays in Kerry and  I got it from a friend after I had cooked an 8, yes 8, course meal for him and his wife. You say a lot of work for one recipe, but I say, it was worth it.
Since then the Baked Ham is our family favourite for Christmas and all other occasions!
As with all meats, do get your ham from a source, you can rely that it has been properly cured.
For best results in making the sauce use mustard powder, if you can't get it then adjust the amount of mustard accordingly.
Best cabbage throughout the year is the York cabbage for this dinner, but you might have your own preferences.

Baked Ham and Cabbage with a Mustard Honey Sauce for 4-6 people

Ingredients

For boiling the ham

2-3lb ham (or piece of bacon)

2 carrots chopped roughly

1 medium/large onion chopped roughly

1 leek chopped roughly

Leaves of celery or lovage (optional)

Dozen black peppercorns

Bay leaf

For the sauce

1/3 cup (30g) of mustard powder

1 cup (180g) of unbleached, unrefined granulated sugar (preferably organic)

1/2 cup (100ml) of peach syrup (drain from can of peaches and serve peaches as accompaniment to meal)

Head of York or Spring cabbage

Remaining peach syrup

Butter for cooking

Potatoes

Method:

1. Put ham in large saucepan with enough cold water to cover ham

1. Bring to the boil and boil for 15 minutes

1. Discard water and replace with cold water again. This is to remove the saltiness of the ham. If cooking a large ham (e.g. for Christmas) you should steep the ham in water overnight if possible

1. Add all ingredients above for ‘boiling the ham’ into water

1. Bring to the boil and simmer at low heat for 1.5hrs

1. About hour and half into cooking the ham, scrub potatoes and put on the boil to cook (should take about 30 minutes)

1. Wash and chop cabbage and blanch in saucepan boiling water for 2-3 minutes.

1. Put knobs of butter in ovenproof dish and transfer drained cabbage into dish and cover with tinfoil

1. Bake for 25-30 mins at 175˚C depending on amount of cabbage and size of dish

1. Once cabbage is in oven, prepare sauce by mixing all ingredients together. 

1. Put ham in oven dish and cover with sauce and bake for 20-25mins at 175˚C

1. Baste ham with sauce half way through. If sauce is too thick add extra peach syrup

1. Take ham and cabbage out of oven. Drain sauce into gravy boat and serve as accompaniment

1. Serve ham, baked cabbage and potatoes with peaches

1. Serve with a Chardonnay (Macon-Village is best), Frascati or Pinot Grigio, or an Alsace Riesling

Crème Fraîche and other cream dishes

Turkey or Veal or chicken escalopes in a white wine cream sauce

It was on our recent visit to the Normandy that I remembered when I cooked this dish first. It was on one of our camping holidays quite a few years ago, which we spent in the Loire/Atlantique region in a small market town.

I had bought what I thought were veal escalopes ( it looked exactly like veal) but it turned out later, when I consulted the dictionary that it was actually turkey breast escalopes ("dinde"), well it did not stop us from enjoying it.
The following recipe will taste equally as good either with turkey or veal escalopes or even with chicken breast. If you do use chicken breast though, you do have to flatten it.

As the cows in the Normandy are as lucky as the cows in Ireland, being able to eat fresh green grass,   the quality of their cream and crème fraîche is exceptional, not to mention their array of different types of cheeses, with Camembert being the frontrunner. If you love the aforementioned then the North of France is your kind of paradise ( it is mine!)
When you combine cream or crème fraîche  with a good white wine, preferably a Muscadet  Sèvre et Maine, you get a very delicious tasting meal without having to do a lot. The combination of the wine and the crėme fraîche tenderizes the meat and gives it a beautiful tender  flavour.

Ingredients

1-2 escalopes of turkey breast/or chicken per person

The finished dish (for 4 persons)

200-300 ml crème fraîche

200-300 ml white wine 

salt and pepper

1 chicken stock cube

butter and rapeseed/sunflower oil for frying
Depending of the size of the escalopes you might need to use a little more wine or cream. 

Method

1. Prepare the meat, cutting of any bits you don't like, lightly salt and pepper the escalopes

2. Melt enough  butter and add the oil, so that the bottom of the pan is covered and fry the escalopes at medium heat until they are golden brown.

3. Add the wine and dissolve the chicken stock in the wine.

4. Simmer the scalopes in the wine sauce for approx 30 min.

5. Add the crème fraîche and bring to the boil. Simmer for approx 5 min or until the sauce has thickened.

Serve with creamed potatoes or Pasta if you wish. A simple green salad goes best with it, or Petit Pois if fresh salad is not at hand.

Note: This is a perfect dish for preparing in advance. Once it is done you can just leave it until you want it and simply reheat it gently. If you want to leave it overnight, then you need to refrigerate it.

Note 2 For an extra little kick you can add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard (handy if the wine does not have the right "bite")

Another family favourite and so so simple!!!

Spaghetti à la Carbonara (our family style)

This recipe has really nothing to do with what you might get in an Italian Restaurant or find in a cookery book. My recipe has been tried and tested, it works every time and is a definite runner with children ( and adults too!!!) 

No need for that much parsley!!!!

Ingredients  (for 4 persons)

250 - 300gr smoked bacon/rashers

1/2 l fresh cream 

some oil for frying

A little water

spaghetti for 4 

Method

1. Cut he bacon into small pieces and fry them in the oil

2. Add a little water to loosen all the flavours from the pan

3. Add half the cream and simmer gently

4.When the sauce has thickened turn the heat off and let the sauce stand for 1/2 hr, this is important so that the flavour of the bacon mixes with the cream.

5. Cook the Pasta and while the Pasta is cooking heat the sauce again and add the rest of the cream, simmer gently until you have a nice creamy consistency

Note: Serve with freshly grated Parmesan and freshly grounded black pepper

Note 2: Taste best with a fresh green salad

Sweet and spicy pork

Sweet and Spicy Pork

Cooking time 20 minutes for 4 people

Ingredients

1 pork steak
Some olive oil/Rapeseed oil
Jerk seasoning/black seasoning/ or a mixture of sweet paprika, black pepper and some chili pepper
Butter/rapeseed oil
1/4l chicken stock
1 shot glass brandy
3 slices of pineapple
4 fresh or  canned figs
1/2juice of a lemon

✱ You will notice that I use Rapeseed oil in preference to Olive oil in most of my recipes. The simple reason is that it is even healthier than Olive oil!

Cooking Instructions

1. Cut the pork steak into thinnish medallions
2. Season the medallions with the spices.
3. Dribble olive oil over the medallions and leave to marinate for min 30 min
4. Quick fry  medallions for 2 to 3 minutes each side
5. Take out, keep warm
6. Fry pineapple and figs add brandy
7. Add chicken stock, boil up , add meat, reheat, serve

Note: perfect accompaniment for the above is a freshly made Rataouille.