If it's worth eating...

...then it's worth cooking.

I'm not a lover of fast food / pre-packed / processed / mass-prepared food and as such the kids have grown up being the same. I can't remember the last time we had a KFC & the kids REFUSE to eat McDonalds (I'm not normally that polite with their name - think McDogfood!!!) Even as a little one, I remember Jacob asking if he HAD to go to a friend's birthday party, as it was at McD's and their food is yuck!!! Good lad!!!

Anyways..... I always make my own pate and cranberry sauce for Christmas day. The first batch of pate (made Christmas eve) has all gone now :-( so it was a trip to Sainsbury's this afternoon to get the essentials. If you want to have a go, then I'll list the know how below - 5 ingredients - how simple can that be? As I can't eat pork (intollerance) I always use chicken livers which have a much stronger, richer taste anyway. So, here goes: (oh, by the way, I NEVER said it was calorie free!!!!)

1 pack (400g) Fresh chicken livers (if you can't get fresh, then defrost some frozen ones.
1 medium onion, choppped.
1 (generous) tsp mixed herbs.
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pack butter

Melt 1/4 pack of butter in a large frying pan, add the liver, onion, herbs and garlic.
Fry gently until the liver is cooked and the onion is transparent.
Transfer to a food processor and add 1/2 pack of butter.
Blitz until the required consistency (I like mine smooth).
Put into a serving dish.
Gently melt 1/4 pack of butter and pour over the top of the pate. (melted butter is also known as clarified butter in case you see the term and wonder what it means).
Leave to cool before placing in the fridge.

Voila! Home made pate! I told you it was simple, didn't I?

You can substitute the chicken liver for pork if you fancy. Most commercially bought, pre-prepared (crappy) pates are made with pork liver (think cheaper ingredient!!) You can also add a schleush of sherry/marsala wine while it's cooking, the alcohol will evaporate leaving just the flavour behind.

Serve chilled generously spread onto crackers/toasts and a blob of caramelised red onion chutney!

I'll post my recipe for home made meatballs in a bit. Kids fave meal!