Chicken liver paté: #SundaySupper is home for the holidays

Every family has its own holiday traditions. For example, my husband and I have had a fake banana on our Christmas tree since we first started living together more than 20 years ago. It's a little cracked now, but it still goes up on the tree every year. Another tradition we have is to buy one new ornament per family member per year. As time has passed, we have collected lots of fun things, which we love to unpack every year and exclaim, "Oh yeah, I remember that one! And this is one of my favorites. And so is this!" The tree gets more and more crowded every year, and that's just how I like it.

Of course, many of those traditions revolve around special foods. As a child, one of the holiday foods I looked forward more to anything else was my mother's chicken liver paté. It is still one of the best things I have ever tasted, even though it's hideous to look at. The first time I saw my mother making the stuff, I said it looked yucky. She told me, "Sometimes the best-tasting food is the ugliest. Try it before you make any judgments." So, with great trepidation, I did. And loved it.

Unfortunately, this post is not about her recipe, which is a secret process and recipe she invented and guards as though it could topple regimes. I have made attempts to duplicate it, trying several recipes that require baking in the oven in a pan of water (which is how my mother's recipe is made), but, although good, they just aren't worth the effort. In the last few years, I have turned instead to this much simpler recipe, which was adapted from a recipe in Allt om Mat, a Swedish food magazine. It's delicious, easily doubled (or even tripled), and easy to freeze. I always make a huge batch of the stuff and freeze about half. It never lasts long enough. It's especially good served with some sweet gherkins, but simply slathered on bread or crackers works just fine. Some of the butter may separate out during cooling, but you can mix it right back in to the paté. (Note that you will need a food processor or blender to make this.)

Ingredients

• 1 lb frozen chicken livers, partially defrosted
• 5 slices smoked bacon, diced
• 1 stick butter (4 oz)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 Tbsp dried parsley
• 1/2 Tbsp dried thyme
• 1-2 Tbsp brandy (optional)

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a deep pan or a large pot over medium-low heat. 
2. Add the diced bacon and onions and let the onions soften in the butter for about 10 minutes. (Keep the heat low to medium. You don't want the onions or the bacon to brown.)
3. Roughly cut the partially defrosted chicken livers into pieces that are about an inch in size. Add the livers to the onions, butter, and bacon in the pan. Add salt, herbs, and brandy (if using). 
4. Bring the mixture to a slow simmer and then let it simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. 
5. Let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes. Then blend it until very smooth in a food processor or blender. (Let the machine run for a good, long time so that the mix is evenly smooth.)
6. Taste the paté for seasoning. Add salt if needed while the mix is still hot and liquid.  
7. Pour the mixture into containers to chill. It will set up on cooling. Spread the paté on bread or crackers and enjoy. 

This week, #SundaySupper is sharing all kinds of special family treats for the holidays. Check out all the goodies and don't forget to participate in the chat on Twitter by following the hashtag #SundaySupper at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, 12/23/12. Also feel free to share your favorite holiday recipe on the #SundaySupper Pinterest board. 

Breakfast

• Eggs Benedict by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Holiday Cream Cheese Tea Ring by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Orange Refrigerator Rolls by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake by Small Wallet Big Appetite

Appetizers & Snacks

• Chicken Liver Paté by Tora’s Real Food
• Bindaetteok {Mung Bean Pancakes} by Kimchi Mom
• Crab and Asparagus Soup by The Urban Mrs.

Sides

• Potato Salad {Schwaebischer Kartoffelsalat} by Galactopdx
• Italian Orange Salad by Shockingly Delicious
• Sweet Potato Casserole by Magnolia Days
• Carrots au gratin by Juanitas Cocina

Main Dishes

• Char Siu Bao – Chinese Roast Pork Buns by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
• Savory Crepe Cake by Vintage Kitchen
• West Indian Curried Goat by The ROXX Box
• Pot Cheese and Potato Cheese Pierogies by Cupcakes and Kale Chips
• Seafood Gumbo and Grilled Oysters: A Louisiana Christmas Tradition by the Catholic Foodie
• Mom’s Paella by What Smells So Good?
• Portuguese-Inspired Chorizo Crown Pork Roast by Family Foodie
• Dorie’s Chicken in a Pot by Gotta Get Baked
• New Year’s Eve Buckwheat Noodles with Mochi by The Ninja Baker
• Mile High Lasagna by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Crab Cakes for Christmas Eve by Daddy Knows Less

Desserts

• Pizzelles {Italian Wafer Cookies} by Chocolate Moosey
• Fudge by Dinner Dishes and Desserts
• Crescent Cookies by Cookistry
• Christmas Stollen by Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
• Pfeffernussen by The Foodie Army Wife
• Creme De Menthe Cake by I Run for Wine
• Panettone Bread Pudding by the Country Girl in the Village
• Spiced Gingerbread Gooey Butter Cake | A twist on a St. Louis Favorite by Daily Dish Recipes
• Chocolate Gingerbread Cake with Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting by Crispy Bits and Burnt Ends
• Jamaican Christmas Pudding by Lovely Pantry
• White Chocolate Cranberry Santa Cookies by Mooshu Jenne
• Christmas Tree Cookies by Damn Delicious
• Old Fashioned Lady Fingers {Creamhorns} by The Meltaways
• Rose Milk Almond Falooda {Indian Dessert Drink} by Sue’s Nutrition Buzz

Drinks

• Wine Pairings by ENOFYLZ Wine Blog
• Cinnamon Infused Hot Chocolate with Southern Comfort Whipped Cream by Mama Mommy Mom

The posts are more than recipes. They are also wonderful stories of holidays and traditions. Please take the time to visit and read each heartwarming one.

Pancake mix with apple cider syrup and candied walnuts: A gift from the kitchen for #SundaySupper

A friend mentioned that Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away (at least here in the United States). I was shocked. And perturbed. Really perturbed. Not panicked. No, not yet, but I won't deny that I am a little annoyed that the holidays crept up on me like that. Again. Every year, I think, "Next year will be different. I will be organized, on top of things, efficient, effective, and stress-free." Ha! Yeah right.

Oh well. Time to start thinking and planning and making it all happen. But I've grown sick and heartweary of stuff. I've hit the mall a few times recently and found myself overwhelmed (and a little depressed) by the choices, the glitter, the tack, the endless push for a more wonderful holiday than anyone else or ever before. Every year, I find myself in a spiral of anxiety in which I seek the perfect holidays, beautifully and completely decorated, with an abundance of perfect gifts. And every year, I wind myself up more and more and spend more, far more, than we should, ending up with a lot of stuff and a lot of regret. I am ready to get off that ride. It's making me a little sick.

One way to make the holidays more meaningful is to make gifts. Homemade gifts may not be as pristine and glittering and cool as storebought gifts, they may be a bit clunky and lumpy, but they feel good to make. Of all the gifts we can make and give, gifts from the kitchen are often most appreciated. The receiver can enjoy them immediately, and they leave little to no clutter. (Speaking of clutter, here's a lovely poem on that topic from Saideh Pakravan, a member of my freelance networking group.)

One of my favorite gifts to give is a special breakfast, in this case homemade pancake mix with apple cider syrup and candied walnuts. None of the components is hard to make (although the apple cider syrup does take a lot of time); the most difficult task will be figuring out a nice way to present them. Here are the ingredients you will need, the instructions, and the instructions you will write down so the recipient can make the pancakes.

Ingredients

FOR THE PANCAKE MIX*

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour (you can substitute with all-purpose flour if you like)
• 1 cup oat flour
• 1 cup corn meal
• 2 Tbsps granulated sugar
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1 tsp coarse salt

FOR THE APPLE CIDER SYRUP

• 1 gallon fresh apple cider (preferably from the farmers market; I am a big fan of Beechwood Orchards' cider because they use a blend of apples, which means the cider isn't too sweet)

FOR THE CANDIED WALNUTS

• 2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

FOR THE PANCAKE MIX

Part 1: Combine the ingredients in a lidded box. Close the lid and shake the box vigorously. (By the way, you can double, triple, or quadruple this recipe and keep it stashed in your freezer for your own pancake breakfasts.)

Part 2: Write these preparation instructions down for the recipient of your gift:

1. For 3-4 servings, combine 1 cup pancake mix with 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 egg. 
2. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter on a hot, buttered griddle and cook each side until golden brown. 
3. Serve with apple cider syrup and candied walnuts. 

FOR THE APPLE CIDER SYRUP**

1. Pour 2 and 1/2 cups apple cider into a large stockpot. Measure the depth of the liquid with a spoon or something similar. 
2. Add the rest of the apple cider to the pot. Bring it to a boil and then reduce the temperature to a slow simmer. Let it simmer and reduce for 5-7 hours. 
3. In the last hour, start checking on it more frequently, because it's quicker to overreduce when it gets closer to the end. When you've reached the depth you measured, the syrup is done. Let it cool and pour it into jars. It will keep indefinitely in the refrigerator. 

FOR THE CANDIED WALNUTS

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat (I could use some of those for Christmas, hint, hint).
2. Lightly chop the walnuts, if they aren't chopped already. 
3. Combine the maple syrup, salt, and cinnamon in a thick-bottomed pot and bring to a boil. Stir frequently so that the syrup doesn't burn. Let it thicken a bit (about 5-10 minutes). 
4. Add the chopped walnuts to the syrup mixture. Stir until the nuts are completely coated and heated through. 
5. Spread the nuts out on the baking sheet and break them apart if needed. Let them cool. Don't worry if they don't harden completely, or are a little sticky; they will still make a terrific pancake topping. (These would be a great topping for almost any dessert, actually.)

This week's Sunday Supper is all about gifts from the kitchen. Almost 50 gift ideas are on offer from breads to sweets to soups, so please go ahead and check these out for more ideas for homemade holiday gifts. Also, don't forget to join in the Sunday Supper Twitter chat by following the hashtag #SundaySupper at 7 p.m. EST.

Breads and Breakfast

• Pumpkin Biscoff Bread – Dinners, Dishes, and Dessert
• All-in-One Beer Bread Kit – girlichef
• Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls with Pineapple Cream Cheese Frosting – La Cocina de Leslie
• Banana Coconut Coffee Cake with Macadamia Nut Streusel – The Lovely Pantry
• Pancake Mix With Apple Cider Syrup and Candied Walnuts – Tora’s Real Food
• Cranberry Hootycreeks – Baker Street 

Condiments and Ingredients

• Apple Butter – Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
• Cranberry Strawberry Jam – The Meltaways
• Herb Vinegars – Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Harissa – The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Homemade Vanilla Extract – Flour on my Face
• Homemade Cherry Extract – Cravings of a Lunatic
• Nutella Powder – I Run For Wine
• Orange BBQ Sauce – Midlife Road Trip
• Apricot Pineapple Sauce – Vintage Kitchen Notes
• Spiced Cranberry Apricot Almond Chutney – Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
• Pumpkin Butter – Family Foodie

Soup and Snacks

• A Soup For You – Momma’s Meals
• Maple Nut Granola - Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
• Spicy Dill Pickles – Sustainable Dad
• Sweet and Spicy Curried Nuts – Soni’s Food for Thought
• Roasted Spiced Nuts – Mrs Mama Hen 
• Sweet and Spicy Pecans – Supper For a Steal
• Maple Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars – Cupcakes and Kale Chips
• Orange Spiced Chickpeas – Home Cooking Memories
• Turtle Pretzels – The Messy Baker

Sweets

• Rocky Road Candy – Magnolia Days
• Dairyfree Vegan Caramels – Galactosemia in PDX
• Peanut Butter Cookies in a Jar – Mama’s Blissful Bites
• Cookies in a Jar – Damn Delicious
• Monster Cookie Mix in a Jar – What Smells So Good?
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Biscotti – Meal Planning Magic
• Snickerdoodle Snack Mix – Pippi’s in the Kitchen Again
• Butter and Jam Thumbprint Cookies – Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends
• Peppermint Stick Cookie Truffles - The Weekend Gourmet
• Nutella Truffles – Small Wallet Big Appetite
• Peanut Cajetas (Peanut Fudge) – Basic and Delicious
• Cookie Cutter Fudge – Chocolate Moosey
• Pumpkin Roll – Shockingly Delicious
• Homemade Chocolates – My Trials in the Kitchen
• Hot Chocolate on a Stick – Juanita’s Cocina
• Chocolate Toffee “Crack” – Ruffles and Truffles
• Holiday Tree Cake – Noshing with the Nolands
• Salted Caramel Cookies – Mama Mommy Mom
• Fruit and Nut Cookies – In the Kitchen with Audrey

Drinks

• Applepie Moonshine - My Catholic Kitchen
• Holiday Spiced Mocha - Daily Dish Recipes
• Holiday “Spirits” and Some Bottles to Boot - Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Homemade Peppermint Mocha Mix - In the Kitchen with KP
• Homemade Kahlua - That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• StoliDolskis - The Cookie-A-Day Challenge

Don't forget to share your own recipes for Gifts from the Kitchen on our #SundaySupper Pinterest board.


* The pancake mix recipe is slightly adapted from The Harvest Eating Cookbook by Keith Snow. Do not forget to check out his Harvest Eating website for lots of seasonal eating ideas and recipes. 
** For more ideas for what to use apple cider syrup with and a recipe for boiled cider baked beans, check out the Washington Post recipe. 

My mother's gingerbread cookies

Like many moms and daughters, my mother and I sometimes have a strained relationship. Although it's far better now than when I was a teen and screaming matches were the norm, the distance between us (about 4,144 miles; she lives just outside Stockholm, Sweden) helps to keep the peace.

And yet, I miss her at times. And I miss the Christmas traditions I grew up with, which I try to re-create but don't always attain. (Of course some of those traditions I don't mind failing to re-create: I can't stand pickled herring, and I dislike lutefisk--I must be a bad Scandinavian.)

One of the traditions I do like is making gingerbread cookies. For years, I tried different recipes, but none of them were "right," and then a couple of years ago, my mother sent me a handwritten note with a recipe and some old cookie cutters.

This most valuable of all gifts held the recipe to my mother's gingerbread cookies, which was also my Finnish grandmother's favorite recipe and came from a 1940's cookbook called Hemhushållningens Grunder (which means the foundations of household care) by Rima Melander. And now I am going to share it with you.

Before you get started, you should be prepared for a few things. First, you will start the dough at least one day before you get to baking so that the flavors have time to mellow and blend and so that the dough has plenty of time to relax. Second, this recipe requires a bit of muscle in the stirring and mixing phase. Third, this recipe makes an enormous batch of cookies as a photo from a few years ago shows. It will take several hours to bake them all. If you don't want to make them all at once, you can cut the dough in half and refrigerate the unused portion for up to a week.

OK, now that caveats are out of the way, let's get to work. You will need:

• 1 Tbsp orange zest (no white part), very finely chopped
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground dried ginger
• 2 tsp cloves
• 200 grams syrup (I use Lyle's Golden Syrup, which is made from cane sugar, but you can use corn syrup; for extra flavor, feel free to replace some of the syrup with molasses)
• 400 grams white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 300 grams butter
• 3 large eggs
• 800 grams all purpose flour

And here's how to put it all together. Mix sugar, syrup, and spices in a pot with a thick bottom:

Over medium heat, bring the sugar and spice (and everything nice) mixture to a gentle simmer:

Here's where it gets exciting. Take the pot off the heat, add the baking soda to the mix, and stir intensely until the mix cools off a bit. It will froth up quite a lot.

When the mix has cooled a bit, stir in the butter (this may take a little while) and then stir in the eggs. Finally, add the flour to the mix in the pot, a few tablespoons at a time. When the mix in the pot gets too stiff to continue stirring, make a mount of the remaining flour on a bread board; make a hole in the middle of the mound of flour; pour in the sugar, spice, and butter mixture; and start mixing it all together. It will make a big mess, but eventually you will be able to combine the flour with the sugar and spices. When you have a nice smooth dough, sprinkle flour in a bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and then sprinkle some flour over the top of the dough. Put it in the refrigerator to rest at least 24 hours.

On the day when you plan to bake the cookies, get the dough out of the refrigerator and let it warm up for at least an hour (or rolling out the dough will just be too difficult). Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

On a floured board, cut the dough into manageable pieces. Watch out for small thieving hands!

Roll out the dough to about a quarter inch thickness and cut shapes with cookie cutters. (Or you can go freehand if you like.) The moose, the squirrel, and the hedgehog are new additions to my cookie cutter collection. I found them at IKEA.

 

Bake them for 5-6 minutes and let them cool on a baking rack (they will be pliable when they first come out of the oven, but will crisp up as they cool). Enjoy!