Beef Liver Pate

Check out my pretty liver pate, made with the other half portion of grass fed beef liver:

The recipe was really simple, and quite tasty - I have unintentionally been on an Emeril kick lately...somehow all his recipes keep popping up whatever I search for. His calls for chicken livers, which I think would be smoother, sweeter and lighter-tasting. Nonetheless, D gave a thumbs up for this version. I made him eat it on crackers with lunch which he (politely acted as if he) enjoyed.


The recipe made enough for three small ramekins, so I froze two of them. Apparently they freeze really well, but who knows when I will want to dig these out from the ice box again.

Gatsby seemed to be curious about the liver, and was making it a challenge for D to eat his lunch. That, or he was still mad at us for going on vacation without him, and in need of some cuddles at the most inconvenient times...

In Which I am Determined to like Liver

I knew someone once who was determined to like sea urchin roe, even though it disgusted him every time he tried it. When I asked him why, he seemed puzzled and said he hadn't really thought about it, finally concluding that it seemed like he should be able to like it, that as an amateur foodie he ought to overcome this food phobia, and that the challenge of it made the whole thing more exciting. I thought he was weird.

I have found my sea urchin roe nemesis. It is called Beef liver. It is one of those things I think I can and will enjoy, and in my mind has a particular appeal to it - in fact, I can actually imagine how it tastes, and it tastes good. Crispy fried, tender on the inside, with onions, bacon and gravy, I am drooling thinking about it. It has been a few years since I had the desire to try liver (last time was around 2005, I think, not a particularly successful attempt), but earlier this summer, I read a passage in Julie and Julia that reinstated the bizarre urge. In the book, she describes a delicious-sounding calf liver dish that is pan-fried, then baked with breadcrumbs in a delectable sauce that is creamy, rich and wonderful. Ooh. How could that possibly not be enjoyable? Second time's a charm?

Enthusiastically, I bought a pound of grass-fed, organic beef liver but continually chickened out of making it. What if I hated it? What if I could never like liver? It stared at me every time I opened the freezer door. I had returned the copy of Julie and Julia, so I couldn't turn back to it for inspiration. Then last week, after several discussions about cooking liver with D's mum and uncle, I finally got the nerve to cook this thing.

A pound is a lot for two people, so I would use half for our dinner, and half for a pate. I forgot to get D's mum's recipe before we left Deep River, so I used an Emeril recipe I found online - Calf's Liver with Bacon, Caramelized Onions and Sherry. Title sounded good.

Here is a tiny tiny photo stolen from Food Network.
Sorry I don't have a picture, but I was too hot and grease-covered to think about pulling out the camera.

I soaked the liver in milk...caramelized onions...crisped bacon....breaded with seasoned flour...pan-fried to a beautiful golden brown...deglazed the pan with sherry...made a delicious gravy with some beef stock and mustard...it smelled sooo good. D kept hovering about the kitchen, unable to resist the enticing smells of frying onions, bacon, butter and booze. We plated it up with some mashed potatoes and dug in. The verdict? Tasty! Yummy! ...at first. I actually really enjoyed the first 5 or 6 bites I had. It was perfectly cooked, still tender inside. The sauce was great. But then suddenly it tasted too grainy, iron-y, livery and the texture and flavour started grossing me out. Plus, the thinner part of the liver cutlet tasted more liver-y than the thicker part, which I didn't like. Maybe I overcooked those bits.

To be fair though, the recipe itself was a success, if you were a capable, normal-eater of beef liver. D seemed to thoroughly enjoy his plate and polished off practically the whole thing. He informed me that if I didn't like this dish, than I would probably never like liver. My conclusion is that my liver enjoyment limit, served as a dinner entree, is a maximum of 3-4 ounces and must be disguised in breading and smothered with lots of sauce and bacon.

That still left me with the other half pound of liver to contend with. I couldn't face cooking more liver (even for a pate), so I left it until this morning to sort out. I made the pate this morning and it is now sitting in three cute little ramekins in the fridge, mellowing and developing its flavours. I am so sick of tasting beef liver pate. I still have a lingering liver taste in my mouth and throat even after brushing my teeth twice. I think the pate is good, but I'll have to ask D. I'll report back on that.

I haven't given up on hope on chicken and duck livers. I'm thinking that it's the beefiness I am averse to, and I've read that chicken is milder, sweeter and silkier in texture. I hope all this perseverance is rewarded.

Meet Mr. Snapper!

Mr. Snapper used to live at the North Market fish stand until the Knitticrafty household decided to explore the world of grilled fish. Stuffed with lemon, thyme, garlic and butter, he was a very good fish indeed! Neither D or I had ever grilled a fish whole before, but with a well-oiled grill and minimal fussing (i.e. resist the urge to check and turn the fish) it is possible!

Look at those big fish lips!

A lot of people are squeamish about seeing their dinner in its original state, with heads, necks, tails and all. I've never really understood what the big deal is - although being Asian, you get exposed to this sort of thing early on. Get to know your food! It's OK. Let this be your first exposure session. Stare at the picture until you feel your anxiety subside, which might take several minutes. Practice makes perfect and soon you will be able to face your own whole fishie. It's more delicious this way.

Grilled Whole Red Snapper:

1 whole fish, about 1.5 pounds
2 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 lemon, sliced
2 sprigs of thyme
salt and pepper

Have your fish person scale and trim the fish, and empty the body cavity. Salt and pepper the outside and inside of the fish. Mix the butter, herbs and garlic together, and stuff this mixture into the cavity, along with the lemon slices too. On medium-high heat on your grill (let it preheat), brush the grill generously with oil. Now lay the fish diagonally on the grill to get pretty grill marks. Cook 10 minutes on each side, and resist the urge to move it around - you will get a botched up fish with bits falling off if you fuss with it! When the thickest part of the fish flakes with a fork, you're done. Yum!

Since Mr. Snapper was nice enough to give us his fish life, it would only be right to use every last bit of him we could. So, we used his bones for fish stock and made seafood chowda with the rest of the fillet, adding clams and shrimp, which ended up giving us 3 dinners altogether. How's that for no waste?

New England Clam Chowder:
From Epicurious.com, modified a bit

24 ounces fish stock (or bottled clam juice)
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 slices bacon or salt pork, finely chopped
2 cups chopped onions
1 1/4 cups chopped celery with leaves (about 2 large stalks)
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3 lbs of littleneck clams, or whatever clams you can get (or 6 6 1/2-ounce cans chopped clams, drained, juices reserved)
1 1/4 cups half and half cream

Soak the clams in water for a couple hours with some salt to release any sand. Then, put the fish stock in a pot, bring to a boil, and throw in the clams to steam. Put the lid on and leave for 7-8 minutes until the shells fully open. Discard any unopen clams. Remove clams to a bowl, shell half of them, keeping some in the shell for garnish. Now you have a potful of yummy fish stock enhanced by clam juice! You can strain it at this point in case any sand got in there. Add the potatoes, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until bacon begins to brown, about 8 minutes. Add onions, celery, garlic and bay leaf and sauté until vegetables soften, about 6 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes (do not allow flour to brown). Gradually whisk in reserved juices from clams. Add potato mixture, shelled clams, half and half and any other ingrediants you want (like shrimp, or leftover fish). Simmer chowderto blend flavors, stirring frequently. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before serving.)

I threw a handful of chopped chived and thyme on mine to make it pretty.

I've been knitting...

I know it's been a while since yarn appeared here, but I have been knitting! With this past weekend being Comfest (our first one, and yes, it lived up to the hype), I fit in a little bit of knitting time in the park.

This is my third pair of Pomatomus socks, in Fleece Artist Nova sock yarn, which you have seen before (I have been ultra indecisive about what pattern to knit and kept ripping it out - it's been a few inches of Monkeys, Jaywalkers...) Finally, it was Pomatomus again..I just love this pattern! It's so fun to and interesting to knit. It looks complicated, but it's actually fairly easy to memorize big chunks of the pattern so you can keep knitting without referring back to the chart all the time. Hmm. Now that I think of it, I probably chose this pattern unconsciously to prove to myself that I wasn't really chart-dumb.

Let me tell you about Elspeth. She is a pretty little shrug by Rowan, and would have looked lovely worn with summer dresses, and so...a perfect vacation project. Little did I know what a beast of a knit this was. Turns out, I couldn't even get past the third row, and row 1 & 2 were just stockinette! I was always a stitch short, no matter how many times I cast on and carefully counted. I had to abandon it, glaring at it a few times a week, knowing that it was just sitting there in my suitcase. When I returned, a google search revealed that zillions of other knitters have also had major problems with Elspeth. Hah! Not so dumb after all. But, most people seem to have gotten at least past row 3. So, until I feel motivated enough to conquer this little monster, it's going to go back to the stash.

Aside from Comfesting this past weekend, I went craft shopping with Z.Knits and picked up some cute quilting fabric for a secret project, and some keychain rings for doodads I'm making in jewelry class. We did a little shopping at Trader Joe's and bought these pretty pink peonies. Then, just for fun, we re-arranged the whole living room. I like it better than the old set up, and have been spending more time sitting by the window. Gatsby is now fighting me for the best spot in the room.

Today I spent most of the afternoon standing by the stove, poaching these little gnocchi guys. I've been cooking quite a bit this week - roast chicken, stock-making, gnocchi-making. Originally, I borrowed the Thomas Keller Bouchon cookbook from the library just to admire the pretty pictures, but decided I felt brave enough to try cooking a few things from it. The simple roast chicken (very, very good) was made with just salt, pepper, and oil. Then today I made the herbed gnocchi recipe, which resulted in a shocking 320 pieces (that's 180 pieces more than the recipe stated - something clearly went wrong) of fluffy gnocchi that will probably be feeding us into the winter. They were very tasty, especially after you brown them in butter and serve them with fresh herbs and sauteed veggies.

What's in store this week: Watching more Michael Palin. Making keychains. Doing pottery. Helping with my first wedding cake. Cooking out of the Bouchon cookbook. And celebrating my first fourth of July.

Fish Pie

Well, today was a completely unproductive craft day. But productive on the work front, which is a good thing. I left the house this morning with D and walked to Cup O' Joe to start my 'work day' - doing a little prepping for my interview. Admittedly it was quite a lot of fun and I realized that I am really looking forward to working again (seriously). The prepping was only supposed to take a couple hours at most, but ended up consuming my entire day because I had to research all these things that are different in Ohio than in Toronto, legislation and licensure-wise. I've got it mostly figure out, I think. I guess I'll find out tomorrow!

On that note, since there is no new progress to show, I am posting my fish pie. I made it a while ago and it was so cute (I realize this might sound quite awful, describing food that is shaped to look like the food inside as cute, but really, it is) I had to photograph it. The recipe is from the Foodnetwork. And I only made the fish part, not the sauce and potatoes. They look tasty though.