Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Danish and French

My new favorite cookbook, and nutrition philosophy which supports the idea that the old traditional diets were in fact quite healthy before we messed them up. We messed them up with processed foods and making fat the enemy. Fat is not the enemy. Corn syrup on the other hand could very well be!

You asked about the liver pate. It is very easy. you simmer, you puree and you bake in a water bath like custard. This is the Danish part of this post, well all of Europe actually. Pate could be like a battle over the poodle; just who had these wonderful treasures first?

If you click on these they will enlarge and you can read them. I love this little story about the blue bereted gascon eating his foie gras.

OK and now for the KD tweak on the dish. I did not have duck livers. So I used one half chicken liver and one half portebella mushrooms. For the wine I used extra dry vermouth. I also used chicken stock because that is what I had on hand. The thing about liver is preparing it. I really didn't know a whole lot about that. I know more about human anatomy...ewwwww.

I did use a scissors and snip the ligaments away and find the little gall bladder and remove that little bile filled yukky tasting thing. If I had questions about it I tossed it. If the liver looked fatty or unhealthy, tossed it. I was picky about this stuff, it had to be basically free from anything questionable. No, you do not want to see pictures.

Recipes from Grandmas book. You can see there is a lot of flexibility in this. Cooking times, what you put into it. The main thing is of course, butter, cream and wine. I did add some flour to mine because my Grandma always did. I only seasoned with salt and pepper for this first one. One warning about this, it does not smell good while it is cooking. It is however good when it is finished, how weird is that? These recipes actually call for pork fat. Where is Heidi anyway?

Also the good news is, that with the food processor we no longer have to grind and beat and all that other labor intensive activity. A blender will also work.


Now for the French...

This morning I really wanted French toast. Really really really, like I wanted it bad enough to make it. I make mine the way my Dad taught me. We were a family of cooks and bakers, everybody had something to do.


Take some nice bread....*sigh* I'm already drooling, stomach is on the warpath. You can hear it right?

Place the slice into a mixture of beaten eggs with some milk and a little vanilla. Let it soak until it is totally saturated. I even poke it with a fork to let more in. I know a lot of people like the dip and flip; but not me. Soak it till it could fall apart but doesn't.


Then you put it a frying pan and cook it until it is golden brown and it will puff up high, that is how you know the inside is done. You do this on a low fire it takes longer than the quick version but it is so worth it.


When it is golden brown like this, you plate it, you put a pat of real organic butter on it, go ahead use the real thing, and then you top it with this lovely golden sweet maple syrup. Maple syrup made by Rosie Kate and her family, from paint splashes, and shipped to you as a gift.

It doesn't get any better than this. When you read Nourishing Traditions you can eat it guilt free. You can eat a lot of rich delicious food and lose weight, just by eliminating the ones that harm and don't nourish. The body when treated right will reward you. This is my breakfast and I am losing weight. What did you have?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I quickly skim posts before going through and reading them in their entirety. I caught something about snipping ligaments and gagged. Oh. my. Lord. I cannot read this.

Tricia said...

This has nothing to do with your post today, but your comment made me laugh! NO, I don't knowhow to do that, but I will let you know if I figure it out. :)

noble pig said...

I had bacon...this looks much better!!

Michelle said...

I had a banana with peanut butter. This looks a whole lot better.

farmlady said...

This is great Karen! Chicken livers always separate the men from the boys(or I should say the real cooks from the wanna be's). My Mom use to make Kidneys and Polenta...., and then there were always turkey kidneys (and the heart) cut up finely and added to the gravy on Thanksgiving. Both were delicious. For those who have never pulled feathers or gutted anything to eat their food, this is probably turning them a bit green.
I'm going to find a Pate recipe and try making one. I like your changes, especially the mushrooms. Thanks.
Oh! I love French Toast. I soak mine over night in the egg mixture. The bread has to be good french bread so it doesn't fall apart. I will send you the recipe if you like.
Great post!

Chris H said...

KD! Would you STOP making me hungry for stuff I should not have! French Toast... *drooling*.

*sniff*

And as for disecting livers of their little gall bladders and bile filled "thingee's".... well thank you for NOT showing us! IKKKKKK. lol

Twisted Fencepost said...

That looks delicious! Losing weight, huh? Maybe I'll have to start making that, too.

Heidi said...

I am missing you... :) thanks for your email - it lifted me at a very dark time. :)