Baked chicken liver pate

I recently had a lovely dinner at the Savoy Cabbage in Cape Town - the starter being particularly extraordinary - Chicken Liver Parfait with Port Soaked Figs and Currant Toast.  The parfait was creamy, but light and the combination with the toast and figs really worked well.  So, I had to try my hand at making chicken liver pate at home and found an old recipe from notes from my course years ago at Elsa van der Nest's Culinary academy.  I served it with the Grape Schiacciata, and the combination worked very well. (Note - you will need a food processor and the pate must be made one day in advance)

5 shallots, finely chopped

240g fresh chicken livers

1 sprig of thyme

150ml dry Madeira, Port or brandy or a mixture of all

240g butter + 1 teaspoon

3 eggs

Start by washing the chicken livers, drain and then pat dry.  Sweat the shallots in the teaspoon of butter without colouring.  Add the alcohol and thyme, bring to the boil and reduce by four-fifths.  Set aside.  Melt the butter slowly.

Puree the livers in a food processor for 1 minute, then add the cooked shallot and alcohol mixture and pulse.  Add the eggs, and a pinch of salt and pepper and lastly the melted butter.  Blend for a few seconds until the mixture is thoroughly amalgamated.  Now strain the mixture through a sieve.

Pour the mixture into a greased loaf tin, then cover with a piece of greased greaseproof paper.  Place the loaf tin into a baking tray and fill the baking tray with boiling water to come two thirds up the sides of the loaf tin.  Bake at 150 degrees for 40 minutes.  Test with a knife, it should come out clean.  Cool and then refrigerate over night.

If you are not going to eat it all in one go, rather seal the top by pouring over some melted butter to preserve it.

Perfect Roast Chicken and Haricot Bean salad

Although I am usually the one to cook in our household, there is one thing that I always entrust to my husband - Weber roast peri-peri chicken.  The whole family agrees that he does the best roast chicken and even put in their requests, as soon as they are planning a visit. 

I do not know the exact quantities for the basting sauce, but from watching I reckon the following will do: start with about 1/3 a cup of olive oil, to which you add 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon per-peri (or more to taste) and season with salt and pepper.  Brush one large free range chicken liberally with the basting sauce and set aside.

Build an indirect fire in a Weber and allow it to burn down for approximately 20 minutes until there is a layer of grey ash on the coal.  Place a drip tray under the grill and place the chicken on the grill.  Close the lid and cook for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes.  Remove and cover with foil (shiny side inside) and rest the chicken for 10 minutes before carving. 

Haricot Bean salad.

I wanted a "deli look" in my kitchen and bought quite a lot of beautiful tins of Haricot Beans to display on one of the shelves.  Seeing that I also love all kinds of beans I started experimenting with the beans, and at the moment this salad is one of my favorites.  My cider vinegar salad dressing is an essential ingredient - so make sure you have some stock in the fridge!

1 tin white haricot beans

1 large red onion - finely diced

1 yellow pepper - finely diced

a handful of Calamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped

250g Baby Rosa tomatoes

lots of freshly chopped Italian Parsley

Combine the beans, onion, peppers and olives in a bowl and drizzle liberally with salad dressing.  Leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours, or even overnight.  Just before serving, half the tomatoes and add with the parsley to the beans.  Season with lots of black pepper.

Sticky honey and soy chicken

I friend of mine keeps asking for more savoury recipes, seeing that he does not have sweet tooth.  So here is my current favourite barbeque recipe.  Next time you have a barbecue, you have to try this 6 ingredient marinade recipe.  The original recipe is from Cook with Ina Paarman, the first cookbook she published.  The first time I made it was years ago when I catered for a matric farewell, it is an easy recipe if you are cooking for a crowd.  Since then I have simplified it slightly.  I normally use the marinade on chicken wings, but this weekend I tried it on deboned chicken thighs, the result was truly outstanding!  Don't be lazy and buy deboned chicken.  It is really expensive and normally without the delicious skin.  It is actually quite easy to debone chicken thighs.  Don't worry if you end up with a few bits and pieces, you can always skewer it all together and make lovely kebabs!  And remember to keep the bones.  You can use it to make stock or chicken soup.  Also try the recipe on spare ribs or grilled pork chops.

The quantity below will be enough for 24 chicken wings or deboned thighs.

125ml honey

62.5 ml light soy sauce

1 mild fresh chilli, sliced

a chunk of fresh ginger, around the size of your thumb, grated

10ml NoMU chicken fond (or else 10ml good quality powdered stock)

30ml sunflower oil

Heat all the ingredients, until the honey is melted.  Add to the chicken and refrigerate overnight.  See hints below. Bake at 200 degrees for 30 minutes, turning once or twice or alternatively, cook on the bbq over hot coals for 20 - 30 minutes.

HINTS

Place the chicken and marinade in a zip lock bag and shake until all the chicken are well covered.  Refrigerate overnight, shaking once or twice.  It is much easier to use a plastic bag instead of a container!  

If you skewer a few pieces of chicken together, it is much easier to turn on the grid. 

Aroz de Galinha

There was a time when I was so hooked on this one dish Portuguese chicken recipe, that we ate it each week.  It is dead easy and very quick, but still very hearty.  I'm sure you can add mushrooms or green peas, but I like it as is, with only a green salad on the side.

8 chicken thighs or 10 drumsticks

salt, black pepper and smoked paprika

1 large onion, sliced
1 cup rice

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

juice and zest of 1 lemon

handful of olives, pitted and halved and Italian parsley, to serve

Season the chicken generously with salt, pepper and smoked paprika.  Heat some oil in a deep frying pan or shallow casserole and saute the onions until soft.  Add the chicken, skin side down, and fry until nicely browned; turn.  Add the rice and stir to coat in the fragrant oil.  Add the stock, juice and zest.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Switch of the heat and let it stand, covered, for 10 minutes.  Garnish with olives and chopped parsley.  Serve with lemon wedges on the side.

My new best chicken salad

We have roast chicken at least once a week. One thigh for me, a drumstick for my three year old and the other thigh, drumstick and wings for my husband. The breasts are always saved for tomorrows salad.

I love a healthy lunch. I only have 30 minutes lunch - so I take 10 minutes to prep a salad, 15 minutes to sit and enjoy (never stand and eat!) and 5 minutes for a cappuccino.

Never overdo a salad - six ingredients will do the trick. When I'm really starving, I might add a slice of rye or ciabatta toast.

My new best winter salad, is a avo and pineapple chicken salad - call it a tropical chicken salad if you wish - here goes:

Toss together:
1 avocado pear - cubed
1/3 of a pineapple - sliced
half a red onion - thinly sliced
1/4 of a cucumber - halved and sliced
1 roast chicken breast shredded
1/2 a red pepper - sliced

Add some mixed leaves if you wish, but no need. Drizzle with my best dressing. I got this recipe from a colleague and friend years ago and since then I always have it in my fridge. Do make the full quantity - you will love it:

Salad dressing:
250ml light olive oil or pure sunflower oil
125ml apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons grated onion
1 teaspoon whole grain mustard
Blend together. It will seperate on standing - just give it a shake before use.