Chicken Liver Pâté

Ingredients

225 g chicken livers
175 g butter (at room temperature)
50 g butter, for melting
30 ml brandy
10 ml mustard powder
¼ tsp mace powder
¼ tsp dried thyme
(or 1 tsp if fresh)
2 cloves garlic, crushed

225g 8oz Chicken livers

175g 6oz Butter at room temperature

50g 2 oz Butter for melting

30ml 2 tbsp Brandy

10ml 2 tsp Mustard Powder

¼ tsp ¼ tsp Mace powder

¼ tsp ¼ tsp Thyme (or 1tsp if fresh)

2 Cloves of crushed garlic

Method

  1. Melt 25 g of the butter in a heavy frying pan and fry the chicken livers for about 5 mins until cooked through.
    Keep stirring and turning.
  2. Remove from the pan and transfer to a blender or sieve, and process to smooth.
  3. Melt 150 g of the butter and add to the blender.
  4. Rinse out the pan with the brandy, then add that to the blender too.
  5. Add the mustard, mace, thyme and garlic, season with salt and pepper and blend until smooth.
  6. Tip into a pot and melt the remaining butter to pour over and seal the top of the pot.
  7. Leave to get cold until serving with hot toast.

Sticky Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

4 × 150g chicken breasts, with skin
1 large lemon
2 tsp fresh thyme (or a similar amount of dried)
1½ tsp clear honey

Method

  1. Preheat grill to high and lightly oil a shallow heatproof dish.
  2. Put the chicken in the dish, skin side down, and season with salt & pepper. Grill for 5 mins.
  3. While the chicken is grilling, cut 4 thin slices from the lemon.
  4. Turn the chicken fillets over and put a slice of lemon on top of each one.
  5. Sprinkle over the thyme and a little more seasoning. Drizzle the honey over the top and squeeze over the remaining lemon and spoon around 2 tbsp water.
  6. Return to the grill for 10 mins more until the chicken is golden and cooked all the way through.
Serve the chicken and the sticky juices with rice or potatoes and a green veg.

Hot Chicken Sandwich

You will need

1 large sheet greaseproof paper
chicken breasts
baguette or other fresh bread
oil, for cooking
optional
ingredients		 spices and herbs
(e.g. smoked paprika, or chilli, or grated lemon peel with fresh thyme, etc.)
guacamole
mayonnaise
salad

Method

  1. Get out a large sheet of greaseproof paper.  Put the breasts in the middle.
  2. Season them and sprinkle with the spices or herbs.
  3. Cover the top of the breasts with the rest of the greaseproof and bash with a rolling pin.  This makes the breasts thinner, so they cook more evenly and quickly.  Tenderised meat also releases more flavour when cooked.  Move the meat around to make sure it picks up all the flavouring.
  4. Add a teaspoon or two of oil to a non-stick pan (more if it isn’t non-stick) and fry on a medium high heat until golden on each side (about 5 mins each side).
  5. To make sure it is cooked, take it out of the pan, and cut through the middle with a sharp knife.  If it is white all the way through it is ready.  If it isn’t, put it back and turn down the heat slightly.
  6. Slice it and put in a baguette with some guacamole or mayonnaise, and some salad.

Red Onion Marmelade

Ingredients

2 kg red onions (or regular), halved and thinly sliced.
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
140 g butter
4 tbsp olive oil
140 g golden caster sugar
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
pinch chilli flakes (optional)
70 cl red wine
350 ml sherry (or red wine) vinegar
200 ml port

Method

  1. Melt the butter with the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a high heat.
  2. Add the onions and garlic and give them a good stir so they are glossed with butter.
  3. Sprinkle over the sugar, thyme leaves, chilli flakes and some salt and pepper.
  4. Give everything another really good stir and reduce the heat slightly.
  5. Cook uncovered for 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally. The onions are ready when all their juices have evaporated, they're really soft and sticky and smell of sugar caramelising. They should be so soft that they break when pressed against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Slow cooking is the secret of really soft and sticky onions, so don't rush this part.
  6. Pour in the wine, vinegar and port and simmer everything, still uncovered, over a high heat for 25-30 minutes, stirring every so often until the onions are a deep mahogany colour and the liquid has reduced by about two-thirds. It's done when drawing a spoon across the bottom of the pan clears a path that fills rapidly with syrupy juice.
  7. Leave the onions to cool in the pan, then scoop into sterilised jars and seal.

Pissaladiere

Ingredients

1 bulb garlic already roasted  (A whole bulb not just one small clove.)
500 g onions finely sliced
sprigs thyme
1 pack puff pastry
1 can anchovies
handful black olives
olive oil for cooking

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large, wide pan.  Fry the onions for 20 – 30 mins until softened and lightly golden, stirring occasionally.
  2. Stir in the thyme, salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes more.  Leave to cool a little.
  3. Heat oven to 200°C.
  4. Unroll the pastry into a neat 40 x 25cm rectangle.  Put on a large, lightly oiled baking sheet.  Score a border and pop in the fridge.
  5. Spread the mashed garlic and then the onion mixture over the pastry.  Arrange the anchovies in a criss-cross pattern, and stud each with as olive.
  6. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden.

Serve hot or cold.