on offaly good yarn

Offal is not something a lot of people are really into. I'm almost one of them. Kidneys are a bit squishy. There's something that just won't let me eat brains, and tongue makes me think of boys I knew in high school.

Liver, however, I like. It's nice on pasta, or curried. But it's so rich I can only eat small portions before it all makes me a bit swoony in the stomach area.

But pate is another story.

Tonight I'm cooking up a storm, because tomorrow is Wednesday. And every Wednesday someone in my work place brings morning tea. I've been telling everyone since I started how much I love my time in the kitchen, so now it's time to put my money where my mouth is.

I'm making my famous rhubarb-ripple-raspberry-yogurt-ricotta-crumble cake, and a chestnut tart that I made up over the weekend, some cheese savories and my all time famous Italian style pate.

The following photos are a little on the less than glamorous side, but the results are outstanding

Ingredients
500g chicken livers, cleaned
125g mince (I prefer turkey)
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 eggs
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 tablespoon cream
a splash of brandy
bacon
herbs

Firstly brown the liver and the mince in a pan until they're sealed.

Put the onion and the garlic in a food process and finely chop. Add the liver and mince and blend until smooth. Add the brandy, flour and cream and mix, adding the eggs as the processor is turning, so that they don't cook to scrambled eggs. Season and add a pinch of dried herbs. I use Greek rigani, but you can use what ever you have.

Line a loaf tin with bacon rashers. I like to add a couple of bay down first, just for food bling, but I didn't have any this time. The pour the pate mix into the pan.

Cover tightly with foil and bake in a bain marie in a moderately hot oven for 75mins. Remove the foil and cook another 15mins. Then cool the pate completely and allow to set before turning out.

Of course the top when you cook it will be the bottom when you turn it out. Just so that it sat nicely I cut the bacon off with a pair of kitchen scissors. It had nothing to do with it being crispy and delicious. Really.

And this is what it looks like. Actually it's more impressive in the flesh, the light in my kitchen is dreadful during winter, and on the weekend when I made this the outside wasn't much better.

People have sold their souls for this recipe. And I'm giving it to you for nothing. Because I'm just that kind of Boring History Girl.