Thyme & brandy Chicken liver pate

There is no slaving over a hot cooker with this delicious Chicken liver paté that take less than 15 mins to cook, leaving you plenty of chill out time with friends.Whether served as a starter or as canapés, nothing beats the traditional Chicken liver paté served with crusty bread, Melba toasts and assorted pickles.

Thyme and Brandy Chicken liver pate

• 55o grms of Chicken livers, trimmed ,cleaned and soaked in milk
• 120 grms of unsalted butter
• 2 tsp of olive oil
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 2 tsp of fresh thyme 
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 50 ml of brandy / sherry/ Madeira
• 150 ml of cream
• sea salt & blk pepper
• pinch of chilli flakes
• bay leaf & juniper berries to garnish
• clarified butter to finish

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the some of the butter and the oil. Next add the shallots, garlic, chilli flakes and thyme. Cook until soft and aromatic.
Drain the chicken livers and add to the pan. Cook for a further couple of mins. Pour in the brandy and continue to cook until evaporated.
Blitz the mixture with the cream and the remaining butter until smooth. Season to taste and blitz again.
Push the mixture through a sieve and spoon into ramekins. Allow to cool slightly and coat with a thin layer of clarified butter. Garnish with a couple of juniper berries/ pink peppercorns and a small bay leaf . Refrigerate until firm.
Serve with crusty bread and pickles as a starter or turn into small quenelles over toasted bread for canapes.

Tagged:robert jacob- chicken liver pate- starter- canapes


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Carpaccio of Beetroot with soft goat's cheese and walnuts

I don't know about you but I just love beetroot and cannot resist when I see the heirloom variety at the market.I love their sweetness,the jewel colours and they look very stylish on a plate. With a minimum effort, you are sure to impress any guests and they will taste good too.
Beetroot is well known for boosting stamina and make muscles work harder as it contains a variety of goodness among others potassium, magnesium, iron, folic acid and vitamins A, B6, and C.
What's more, just 3 small beetroots equal one of your recommended five portions of fruit & veg a day. Steamed, boiled or baked , they can be eaten cold, diced or sliced into a salad; mixed with horseradish or pickled as a condiment, shredded raw into a salad,cooked with butter and dill or boiled into a rich borscht.
The leafy green portion of the plant is also edible and steamed, it has a similar texture and taste to spinach and the young shoots can be eaten raw into a salad.
Here is one of my favourite way to eat them.

Sea-bass en papillotte with lemongrass & star anise

Cooking fish couldn't be simpler and doesn't get any better than this recipe. There is no call to go tarting up good fresh fish. The best way is to keep it simple and with simple flavours. People are forever saying that it is tricky to cook fish but take it from me that it's dead easy to cook fish. The trick is not to overcook it ,Once it's starts to turn from opaque to white, it's cooked and slightly undercooked is a hell of a lot better than overcooked to cotton wool consistency.
Here I am using some delicate Thai flavours which makes this dish very very tasty.
Cooking " en papillotte " is literally cooking in a sealed parcel made out of parchment paper and if you're in an Al Fresco mood, wrap in tin foil and cook over the BBQ.