chicken liver pâté

Simple, cheap as chips (cheaper than chips actually!), and one of tastiest things you'll ever cook! That's just how I'd describe this recipe for my chicken liver pâté. No more to be said really, just get cracking, grab some crusty bread, and see if you can stop eating it once you start!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 150g bacon lardons
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs thyme, leaves only
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 500g chicken livers
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 shot glass brandy (optional but also very necessary!) 
• 120g softened butter, cubed

For the topping:

• 110g clarified butter
• 6 small sprigs of thyme

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the bacon, onion, thyme and garlic until the onions have softened and the bacon is cooked (don't colour it).
2. Add the chicken livers and bay leaves. Turn the heat up a little & cook for about 4 minutes, until the liver is browned on the outside but still soft/pink in the middle.
3. Pour in the brandy, light it & let it burn off (stand back), then simmer for around 3 minutes.
4. Take off the heat, take the bay leaves out and leave to stand for a couple of minutes.
5. Spoon into a food processor and pulse a few times to get a rough pâté look. Add the butter a little at a time and blitz in each time, until it's all well mixed & the pâté is smooth-ish (or to whatever consistency you prefer). Season with salt & pepper if needed (probably won't be, especially if the bacon was smoked).
6. Divide the mixture between six ramekins/pots/cups/whatever. Allow to cool for a few minutes and stick in the fridge for a couple of hours.
7. Clarify the butter but placing in a small saucepan over a medium heat until the solids separate (the white stuff). Sieve off through a fine sieve and keep the golden (clarified) liquid butter.
8. Take the pâté out of the fridge, sit a little sprig of fresh thyme on top of each and cover the pate with a layer of clarified butter. Stick back in the fridge for another 3 or 4 hours.
9. Eat. Get fat. Don't really worry about that. Eat a bit more.

 

crab salad with fresh herbs & cucumber

This salad makes a good sized starter or a lovely light lunch, and is packed with flavour thanks to the combination of freshly chopped herbs. Use fresh crab meat if you can (although tinned will do just fine too!).

Ingredients (for 2 people)

• 300g white crab meat
• Handful of fresh chives, chopped
• Handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
• Handful of fresh basil, finely chopped
• Handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• Zest & juice of 1 lime
• Pinch of ground white pepper
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• Olive oil
• ¼ cucumber, very thinly sliced

Method

1. Place all the ingredients (except the cucumber) into a bowl and mix gently with a fork.
2. To serve, layer the crab mixture between 2 layers of the cucumber - use a cooking ring/mould if you want to go for a bit of swanky presentation.
3. Finish with a chive or two on top of each stack and scatter chopped chives around for an even more impressive looking plate!
4. Enjoy with a nice glass of chilled dry white wine. Or maybe two. Or...

squid with lemon & chilli

This is a recipe I picked up when I was living in Spain and ticks all the boxes: It's fresh, it's cheap, it's healthy, and above all, it's tasty! And it smells fantastic when you're cooking it! Squid is low in calories and is high in nutrients such as Vitamin A, potassium and calcium. And at around only €8/kilo, it makes for an incredibly economical ingredient. So don't be scared by fresh squid, and give this a go. It's a much nicer alternative to deep fried, battered (rubbery) squid rings!

Ingredients

• 4 fresh squid, cleaned & prepared*
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 2 red chillis, de-seeded & sliced very thinly
• 500g new potatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Juice of 2 lemons
• Large handful of fresh mint, chopped
• Large handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• Olive oil
• 4 knobs of butter
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

*To prepare my squid, I usually put slices though it, but be careful not to go all the way across. To do this safely, just lay a large knife inside the squid, and slice across with a second knife, then repeat on the other side. The knife inside the squid will act as a barrier to stop you cutting all the way through and ending up with squid rings! This technique is great for getting all the other flavours into the squid, and looks professional too!

Method

1. Place the potatoes in boiling salted water & cook for around 8 minutes, until starting to get soft. Drain and leave to dry in their own steam in the colander.
2. When the potatoes have cooled slightly, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 knobs of butter over a medium high heat in a large heavy frying pan, and add the potatoes, crushing down slightly with a wooden spoon or a masher.
3. When the potatoes are starting to colour nicely, make space in the pan and add a drop more olive oil, along with the red onion.
4. Cook until soft, then remove the potato & onion mixture and keep to one side in a warm dish.
5. Add a little glug of olive oil to the pan. Season the squid lightly on both sides and fry for around 2 minutes on each side; you should see the squid starting to lose it's opaque look.
6. Add another couple of knobs of butter to the pan along with another glug of olive oil and add the chilli, garlic and parsley. Toss around so all the flavours get into the squid. Pour over half the lemon juice, a little more seasoning to taste, and toss again to make sure everything gets a good coating.
7. Put the potatoes & onion back in the pan and again, toss around to make sure everything picks up the flavours of everything else.
8. To serve, place the potatoes on a large platter and lay the squid on top.
9. Finally, squeeze over the rest of the lemon juice and sprinkle with the fresh mint.

Serves 4.

lamb with mediterranean vegetables

Spring has finally sprung, or is at least starting to have a bit more of a boing about it, and what better food to get stuck into than lovely lamb?

The temperature out there still isn't up to our normal tropical Irish summer levels just yet though, so this dish offers a great combination of in-season meat with some warming, and ever-hopeful summer type vegetables from the Med, all cooked together in the oven to warm the belly and keep the comfort food cravings well in check.

If you don't have all of the vegetables listed, no problem! Just use whatever you have in. In the past I've done this using asparagus, green beans, carrots, red onions, butternut squash...

Ingredients

• 4 lamb chops or cutlets
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves
• 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves
• 1 aubergine, sliced into 1cm thick slices
• 2 courgettes, sliced into 1cm thick slices
• 1 red pepper, cut into large pieces
• 1 yellow pepper, cut into large pieces
• 1 red onion, peeled & cut into large pieces
• 200g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 50g feta cheese
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C (fan 160C) / 350F / gas mark 4
2. Place the rosemary, mint & garlic into a pestle & mortar and pound until they're all mixed up to a fairly smooth consistency (not too smooth though - we like chunks!). Add the olive oil and mix together. Smear the mixture over the main 'eye' of the lamb chops & set to one side.
3. Lightly oil a large baking dish and add in the aubergine, courgette, peppers and red onion.
4. Drizzle a little olive oil over the vegetables, season with salt & pepper, and mix everything together to coat. Lay the lamb on top of the vegetables and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
5. Crumble the feta cheese and dot that around the lamb, scatter the cherry tomatoes around the dish and place back in the oven for a further 10 minutes (the cheese should start to brown very slightly).
6. Serve with fresh sliced ciabatta and a mixed leaf salad.
7. Finish off with a glass of your favourite wine too! Being lamb, this dish will go with most red, rose or dry white wines. Easy!

Serves 4.

baked greek vegetable omelette

Talk about versatile! You can stick anything you like into this - within reason! This is a really tasty omelette, baked in the oven instead of the traditional in-a-pan job.