FFwD - Chicken Liver Gâteaux with Pickled Onions

Chicken Liver Gâteaux with Pickled Onions

When I went to Napa last September I had dinner at Bouchon.  I had the best paté I've ever tasted.  It was so creamy, rich and delicate.  They served it in a terrine with a thin layer of delicious (duck?) fat over the top.  I've fantasized about that paté...yes, it was that good!

Since then I've looked for the recipe but can't find it on line and I've vowed to not buy a new cookbook until I use more of what I own but it just now occurs to me to check the library and YES they have it.  I've added my name to the reserve list.

This paté is good.  More of a slicing paté than a spreading paté but quite delicious.

 I'll admit to being squeamish about the liver when I thought about it but once I started working with them I was okay.  My liver was fatty which caused me to wonder about my chicken's diet and the fat surrounding my own liver but that's another topic!  Raw liver in the food processor had me reliving Rosemary's Baby and I wondered what my sleep/nightmare's might be.

My mother was a farm girl so I grew up watching and helping mom handle all kinds of meat and various innards.  She even MADE mince meat when that involved cooking a hog's head!...and she loved to pull me into her food projects:)

Anyhow, I've been wanting to make paté but was intimidated and I thank Dorie Greenspan and this group for pushing my comfort zone!    Oh yes, the pickled onions are quite good too and I'm looking for other ways to use them.

Check out the rest of the group at French Fridays with Dorie.  We're cooking from her book Around My French Table.

FFwD - Long and Slow Apples + Herb Speckled Spaetzle

I was in Memphis for last week's French Fridays Herb Speckled Spaetzle (say that 3 times quickly) and just didn't think my in-laws would enjoy it.  Well, that's kind of true but its also true to say I was afraid...yes, I feared the spaetzle.  I just couldn't visualize how this was going to work.  I finally got my courage up and made it when I got home.  I used my mom's old ricer and a lot of things I visualized happening happened!  The herbs didn't go through the little holes.  Some of the dough/batter stuck together and fell into the water in globs creating what I was sure would be gelatinous masses of goo.  After boiling the spaetzle goo I almost tossed it figuring I could boil pasta and combine with the butter, onions, mushrooms for a delicious dish.  But I pushed on and somehow the gelatinous goo globs became delicious spaetzle!  And it was Gary approved!

Herb Speckled Spaetzle does not photograph well:(

This week's recipe, Long and Slow Apples was as good and as easy as I expected.  The mandoline makes short work of the slicing.  I can't wait to read everyone else's post and see if the plastic wrap melted for them.  I checked the P&Q section and Mardi said hers melted.  Since mine was in the oven I quickly replaced my Glad wrap with parchment.  The apples turned out great!

Long and Slow Apples

I served mine with vanilla ice cream topped with a sprinkling of orange zest and toasted walnuts with a splash of Harlequin Orange Liquer.  Delicious, elegant and oh so easy!

All of the French Friday cooks can be found here!  Read about our adventures as we cook through Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table. Happy 2013 to one and all!