I love dining at bistros not just for the comforting French dishes, but also the appealing appetizers. Many times I've shared an appetizer of liver pâté with a friend over a bottle of wine and lots of bread. It's a very filling and not to mention budget-friendly meal. Different forms of pâté can be found throughout Europe, mainly in France, Scandinavia, and eastern Europe. In markets, pâté can be found sold in sausage-like tubes, which is commonly known as liverwurst here in the States. I grew up eating many different types of kenőmájas, as it is known in Hungarian. I couldn't imagine not eating it, especially around the holiday time. It makes a very nice appetizer with pickled vegetables and bread, crostini, or crackers.
Pâté is one of those things that most people will only enjoy at a restaurant or buy in a meat market, but never actually attempt making at home. I've enjoyed many good chicken liver pâtés, but the ones I make myself are always just as good, if not better, than the ones I purchase.
Holiday Goodies
Holiday Goodies
Tortiere Pie
There was a long line at the meat case this Saturday at the grocery store and I was standing with the crowd. I enjoyed asking everyone in line how they make ‘their’ Tortiere pie. I was in the company of experts - it’s a serious subject in Maine.
Tortiere is a meat and potato pie seasoned with sweet spices, similar in flavor and texture to a coarse country pate but made with potatoes as the binding agent instead of fatback and Tortiere is enrobed in a double crust.
One cute older couple told me they were making 20 pies. She told me, “we have the time to make tortiere pies for our family - they are too busy to make it for themselves.” It is the season to make Tortiere pie. It’s a French Canadian treasured recipe and tradition and everyone makes it differently.
Some will only make it with a lard crust - I save my saturated fat calories for something more spectacular. Some sweet little old gray haired ladies insist that the only way to properly make the filling is with finely minced meats, hand done. My family, meaning my mother’s side of the family always made it with ground pork and beef, equal weights. I make my pie with a butter crust - I am a ‘no lard or Crisco’ chick.
Andes Crème de Menthe Chocolate Brownie Cookies
According to their site, Andes Crème de Menthe candies rank as the “number one after-dinner mint” delivering a “smooth blend of mint and chocolate flavors– the perfect post-meal treat”.
They are particularly popular during the holidays and easy to find at your local grocery store. They help bring these easy chocolate “brownie” cookies to a new level of decadence.
After removing the cookies from the oven, each one is topped with an Andes mint while still warm. The residual heat melts the candy, turning it into a spreadable “frosting” to swirl over each cookie.
They’ll be the hit of any holiday gathering cookie swap.
Rugelach
My husband has been begging me to make rugelach for years now. They are the favorite cookie of his youth and he has always raved about his mother's rendition of them. I've just never gotten around to making rugelach happen.
About five years ago, my husband attempted to make his own batch of rugelach. Oh my goodness, they were these horrible little petrified pieces of doodoo. They were so hard and burnt they exploded when you took a bite. Of course I laughed and didn't think about making them for a long time.
About a year ago, this recipe was published in my local paper and I held on to it until now. It belongs to Margaret Hasson from Portland, Oregon whose rugelach is sought out by friends whenever she is baking. I truly believe it, because these little bites are pretty much heaven on a plate.
Old Resolutions for the New Year
January
is the traditional month for new diets. I get kind of amused reading
this week's Time magazine which chose 3 of the new diet books to
review. The first one disallows wine, salt, sugar and artificial
sweetener. The second forbids carbonated drinks, coffee, gassy foods
including cabbage. The third forbids dairy, white rice, and processed
foods. And the last one forbids volume. Eat anything you want but just
choose small portions.
Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Why does every new diet start
off by telling you what you cannot eat?
People
have had problems with excess weight ever since mankind began to grow
food. The hunters and gatherers weren't fat. They spent a lot of time
just searching for food and were grateful for what they could find. And
the game and berries they found also spent time searching for
nourishment and water and didn't store fat either.
But that was then. This is now. We are besotted with food, drink,
choices, and chance. What on earth can we do?