Chicken liver paté a la Mo/M&S

My mum (Maureen) makes this chicken liver paté recipe every Christmas, and every Christmas we search through all her cookery books and find at least 2 other paté recipes before we find the right one.

It’s from one of her M&S cookery books from the 70s. These books were brilliant – sadly M&S don’t make cookery books any more.

The amount below is the quantity given in the book, but since it freezes so well we normally make double.

Chicken liver paté ingredients

• 75g butter
• 1 medium onion
• 225g chicken livers
• 1 clove garlic
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons brandy
• Salt and pepper

How to make chicken liver paté

I have reduced this recipe to the bare minimum as it is so easy to make.

1. Fry the onions and garlic in the butter
2. Add the chicken livers
3. Add everything else
4. Cook
5. Process
6. Add brandy
7. Job done!

There's no photo to accompany this recipe at the moment as I haven't actually made it yet this year, but have posted the recipe early at Kerry's request. Maybe you could send in a photo Kerry when you've made it? 

Lentil and pumpkin soup

The delicious dahl and pumpkin soup

It's winter and work is busy so I want a good selection of soups in the freezer for easy (and free) lunches. If you make just one type of soup you'll soon get bored and and be put off eating soup for months. Having a variety of soups in the freezer (frozen, of course, in individual tupperware-shaped portions) will stop your heart from sinking when you contemplate a homemade lunch.

Last Sunday I made three different types of soup, giving me about 10 portions in total. I used instant vegetable stock as the base for all of them. I use reduced salt Swiss bouiIllon stock and add my own salt, as I find the normal stuff too salty.
I adapted this dahl-type soup from one in the New Covent Garden Soup and Beyond book.  

There's a long list of ingredients, but they're pretty standard spice rack staples. You can of course use fresh chillies - the recipe suggests 1 red and 1 green one, but I hate getting chilli juice on my fingers, or worse, in my eye, so use Lazy Chilli or  chilli paste from a jar.

Dahl and pumpkin soup ingredients

• 1 small pumpkin
• 1 medium onion
• About 125g red lentils
• About 1 litre vegetable stock
• 1 thumb root ginger, grated
• 2 teaspoons lazy chilli
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground tumeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
• lime juice, to finish, to taste 

Method for making dahl and pumpkin soup

1. Heat about 1 desert spoon of vegetable oil in a pan.
2. Add the onions and fry over a medium heat till a little browned at the edges.
3. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli, tumeric, coriander and cumin; fry for about 1 minute.
4. Add the vegetable stock, lentils and pumpkin and bring to the boil.
5. Simmer till the pumpkin is tender and the lentils are cooked. 
6. Mash to your liking with a potato masher. You can liquidise if you prefer, but I like a little texture in my soup. It makes it seem more like a meal and lesslike baby food.
7. Add the coconut milk and tamarind and warm for a minute or two.
8. Add the lime juice after you have removed from the heat and are just about to serve.

I actually wish I had made more of this soup as it is so tasty, and it feels like a real treat having 'curry' for lunch at work. For free.