Chicken Liver Pâté

This recipe is rather overdue, having attempted it about a month ago. I had always wanted to learn how to make this dish that I had always thought was gourmet, posh, high-classy. It was, to my mind after all, French. And France is home of all foods posh and delightful. So when my French friend offered to reveal the glorious secrets of the pâté, there was no way I was going to say no!

I turned up at her apartment at 1830, and straight into the kitchen we went. The ingredients were already laid out on the table and were as follows:

600g of chicken liver
1/2 the liver's weight in butter
Salt
Plenty of pepper
McCormick's Mixed Herbs
Whiskey

A word of warning to those not used to the home cooking style of 'more or less', or as we say in Malaysian kitchens, 'agak-agak', everything is an approximate - no fixed formula. The key for the perfect 'agak-agak' dish is always repetition and variation until you find one you like.

The liver is quickly sautéed in a large pan, till it has turned a shade of grey. Chuck that into a blender together with the butter, salt, pepper, herbs and whiskey. Hit that big red button, then quickly pour out the finely blended purée into a container, and then into the fridge it goes to set. Don't take too long to pour the mixture out from the blender, otherwise the butter will separate from the liver. The pâté should be ready the moment the butter sets, but I left mine overnight.

There are several variations to this dish, and apparently you can add onions and other herbs into the mix, or use other kinds of alcohol, like brandy, cognac, or Madeira Wine. I will leave that to you to figure out.

Now having seen what goes into pâté and effort actually put in, the glamour of pâté has somewhat dimmed a little for me, but nonetheless, I still am quite impressed that such a simple dish can taste so good! Trust the French to enjoy the simple things in life to the fullness of its capacity!

Rosemary Filone (Panmarino)

Shaped and proofing

The biga goes in with 300g water, 5g instant yeast, 500g flour, 65g extra virgin olive oil, 10g freshly chopped rosemary, 15g sea salt. Knead it until you can stretch a nice opaque windowpane from a golfball sized lump of dough. The dough should stretch, but not tear.

Leave the dough to ferment in a well oiled container for about 1.5-2 hours. It should double in volume by then. Dust the counter top and your baking sheet as well, then unload the dough onto the counter-top. Divide into two equal pieces, and shape into a baguette. Start heating your oven at 205°c and chuck your baking stone in if you have one. Leave the shaped dough to proof for 45-60mins, then in it goes into the oven for 30-40mins until dark caramel in colour.

There you have it, rosemary filone.

Brought to you by Local Breads

That being said, I decided to tweak the recipe a little because, being the scatterbrain I am, I forgot to buy fresh rosemary sprigs. Instead, I used whatever dried rosemary I could find in my fridge. It didn't come up to 10g, so I added thyme and basil as well. Perhaps I should have remembered that dried herbs are more potent than fresh ones. The two loaves turned out a little bitter due to the over load of herbs. I also threw in a good measure of bacon, but I think the herbs overpowered it's porky goodness.

Country Farm Organics, milled by Karahan Flour Mills (Turkey)

Another diversion from the norm is the change in flour brand. I had this bag of flour sitting in my freezer, so I decided to put it to use before it went bad. This, I have to say, is the best flour I have ever used, boasting a 13% protein content per 100g. The resulting loaves were wonderfully soft, yet with a crispy crust. I give this Country Farm Organics flour a 9/10!!

Ciabatta

Right. What you see here is the biga, a starter dough, which is now sitting in the fridge and will stay there for 16 hours. It's basically 100g flour, 1/3cup water, 1/2tsp instant yeast, kneaded for 1-2mins, left to sit for an hour at room temperature before going into the fridge to slow the yeast down.

The biga is then softened with 7/4 cups tepid water before adding 500g flour, 10g yeast, 10g salt until a dough forms. The dough is kneaded by machine at high power for 15 mins rather than by hand due to the stickiness of the dough. That's chucked into a well-oiled bowl to ferment to at least 3 times its size. Some authors recommend 3-4 hours fermentation, though I've heard of people who've left it in the fridge for 48 hours. The longer you leave it, the more bubbles you will have in the crumb.

Once fermented, scrape the dough out onto a well dusted surface and roughly shape into a 10'x12' rectangle. Shape into either mini loaves or into two large loaves. Mini loaves can go onto the baking paper straight away, whilst the full loaves need to have a pleat to keep the two loaves from joining while they proof for 30-40 mins. Don't forget to dimple the dough with you fingertips before proofing!

The loaves go into a pre-heated oven at 250°c or 475°f for 20-35mins until light and golden-crusted. If you have an baking stone at your disposal, that goes into the oven an hour before the bread does. Put a baking tray or iron skillet into the oven's lower rack together with your baking stone. This will be used to create steam by throwing a 1/2 cup of ice cubes onto the tray as your loaves go in. The steam helps the crust expand nicely without cracking.

Voila! There you have it. Nice soft ciabatta loaves. All you need now is some ham, cheese and lettuce.

Chicken Stock

A very important base for most soups. Several things to take note when preparing stock:
1. Stock ingredients are simmered starting from cold water as this will allow the collagen from the connective tissue to be released. Hot water will only seal it in.
2. The stock is to be simmered gently to avoid clouding.
3. Meat is always added before the vegetables so that the scum can be filtered before other ingredients are added.
Ingredients                                       Quantity
Chicken carcass                                      1
Chicken wings                                      400g
Peppercorns                                            4
Water                                                   5 litres
Bay leaf                                                  half
Thyme                                                  a pinch
Spring onions                                           6
Carrots, large                                          4
Celery stalks with leaves                      2
Onion                                                       1
Cloves                                                      3
_______________________________
Place chicken, peppercorns, water in stock pot. Bring to boil over medium heat, removing scum. Cover and reduce heat, leave to simmer for an hour; skimming scum frequently. Add remaining ingredients; cover and simmer for another 2hrs 3omins. Skim off fat, remove chicken and vegetables from stock. Strain and purify stock.
This should give you at least 2 litres or stock.

Grand Opening, Ok, Maybe Not So.

I've decided to share my collection of recipes which I have accumulated over the years (all over my table too). This will help me clear the clutter on my desk, while allowing you to share my joy of food.

Bon Appetit!