Chicken liver pate

Love this. Chicken liver pate with cream and butter, delicious

Makes 4 little pots

400g Chicken livers

One onion, diced

Clove of garlic, chopped

200g unsalted butter

Sprig of thyme

Pinch nutmeg

2 bay leaves

50ml brandy

3/4 tablespoons of double cream

(Butter tops – 100g and some cranberry sauce)

Melt approx 50g of butter in a pan and soften the onion, add bay leaves, garlic, nutmeg and thyme and cook for a few minutes.

Add the liver and cook until cooked through, then add the brandy and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated – should be 1-2 minutes.

Take off the heat. Now remove thyme and bay leaves and put everything else in a blender, blitz until smooth.

Place the remaining butter in a pan and melt, then add this to the blender and blitz. Now add some salt and pepper and the cream and blitz again. Once everything is smooth and combined pour/spoon into ramekins.

Now to make the butter topping – melt butter in a pan and then leave to settle. Once the butter has settled remove the clear liquid and put on the top of the pate. Then spoon a little cranberry sauce in the middle and top with a little more of the melted butter – until everything is covered.

This will keep in a fridge for 3/4 days.

Broccoli and Stilton Soup

Low carb version and really quick and easy to make

You need

Head of broccoli

Knob of butter

Celery x2 chopped

Onions x2 chopped

Stilton – approx 140g

1 litre of chicken or veg stock

Dash of double cream

Diced onions and celery. Now remove the stalk from the broccoli, set aside florets and chop up the stalk.

Put a knob of butter in a pan and add celery, onion. Sweat for 5 minutes then add the chopped broccoli stalk, cover with lid and leave to cook for a couple of minutes. Now add your stock, florets, and a little salt and pepper, cover and leave for 15/20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove from the heat and place in a blender or blitz with a handheld blender until smooth.

Now stir in cream, top with crumbled Stilton and serve.

Friday Night Munchies

Buffalo Chicken Wings with a blue cheese dip, massive hit in our house and great for a Friday night dinner. Feels like a cheat but not- win!

1kg Box of fresh chicken wings

1/4 cup of sugar free ketchup

1/3 cup of red wine vinegar

1/4 cup of red hot buffalo sauce

Tablespoon mustard

Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Teaspoon onion salt

Teaspoon garlic powered

Pinch of salt

Knob of butter

Chicken:

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and warm together until butter has melted. Set aside to cool.

Put chicken wings on a baking tray, cover with cooled sauce until all the chicken has been covered and stick in a hot oven and cook for 30/40 minutes – basting a couple of times during cooking to make sure the chicken is well coated.

Blue cheese dip:

Blue cheese crumbled – approx 150g. I used Stilton, but you can use any that you like, use less if you like it lighter, more if you like it really strong.

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup full fat natural yogurt

Tablespoon red wine vinegar

Tablespoon lemon juice

Teaspoon garlic powder

Put everything in a bowl and combine until everything is evenly distributed.

Serve with crudities of your choice – enjoy.

Cauliflower soup topped with bacon croutons

This was so quick to make I still can’t really believe it !! Literally fridge to table in 30 minutes and absolutely delicious !

You will need:

One cauliflower – stork removed and head cut into little bite sized florets

One onion – diced

Stick of celery – diced

One large carrot – diced

Clove of garlic – crushed

Pinch of thyme

Salt & Pepper

Approx 200 ml of vegetable stock

Approx 200 ml of milk

Couple of rashers of streaky bacon

First of all fry the bacon until crispy, then remove bacon from saucepan and set aside. In the bacon fat now cook off the diced onion, carrot, celery for a few moments after 5 mins add the garlic and then the cauliflower florets.

Give everything a good stir around and add some salt and pepper and pinch of thyme. Now add the stock and milk – I used 200 ml of both but you basically need enough to cover the cauliflower. Now leave to simmer for 15mins – want the cauliflower to still have a little bite, not mushy. Serve the soup with the cooked bacon sprinkled over the top – absolutely delicious 🙂