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Chicken Liver Pâté
Chicken Liver Pâté
Pâté can be traced back to the 12th century; where a protein is cooked with some type of fat, vegetables, herbs, spices, and an alcohol; being either brandy, cognac, bourbon, or wine. This particular Pâté is made from chicken livers and ground pork, butter, onions and garlic, and brandy. While the French introduced the baguette to Vietnam in the 1860’s, the banh mi was created in the 1950’s; using the French Pâté and mayonnaise as staple ingredients to the sandwich. This chicken liver Pâté is great served as a spread on crackers or toasted baguettes, as well as spread across the inside of a banh mi sandwich.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3/4 cup yellow onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 lb chicken livers
- 8 oz ground pork
- 1 tbsp cognac, bourbon, or brandy
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Place the ground pork in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat up the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté the onions for 3 minutes.
- Add in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
- Melt the butter in the pan.
- Add in the ground pork and chicken livers.
- Cook for 15 minutes. Let cool at room temp.
- Place the liver mixture into the food processor with the rest of the ingredients.
- Purée until smooth. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
Maple Brown Sugar Glazed Bacon Steaks
Maple Brown Sugar Glazed Bacon Steaks
These glazed bacon steaks are a real treat. I recently purchased a chunk of applewood smoked slab bacon from work and wanted to glaze it in the oven. I sliced the bacon a 1/2” thick. The glaze is simply brown sugar and maple syrup that caramelizes in the oven. The most important part of making the glazed bacon steak is to use multiple layers of foil on your baking pan. If you don’t, it will be next to impossible to clean it.
Equipment
- baking sheet
- foil
Ingredients
- 1/2” slices slab bacon
- brown sugar
- maple syrup
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with multiple layers of foil. Place the slab bacon slices on the foil. Cover with a thin layer of brown sugar. Drizzle with real maple syrup. Place in a cold oven. Set the temp to 350°.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Flip the bacon and spoon over the glaze.
- Bake for another 10 minutes.
Chicken Fried Steak
Chicken Fried Steak
Chicken fried steak is one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. I really only eat it maybe twice a year, since it’s about as unhealthy as it gets for you. With that being said, it is sure damn delicious. Some people make their chicken fried steak with country gravy; others use a sausage gravy. I prefer to use country gravy and not add to my future coronary.For choosing the right cut of beef to hammer down, I recommend using either sirloin tip or top round. Normally I’d buy a cube steak, which is a cheap cut of beef put through a tenderizing machine called a cuber, but they’re becoming harder to find these days. They key here is to hammer down the beef to a 1/4” thick or less. You want the beef to cook all the way through when frying it. If it was too thick, the breading would be cooked before the steak is done and the blood from the beef would make the crispy breading soggy.
Equipment
- food mallet
- whisk
Ingredients
- 8 oz sirloin tip or top round
- 1/2 cup flour divided
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- vegetable oil for frying
Country Gravy
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Using a food mallet, hammer down the beef to a 1/4” thick or less. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Season the flour with garlic powder and paprika. Dredge the beef in the flour, shaking off any excess.
- Dip the beef in the beaten egg on both sides.
- Dredge the beef back into the flour, shaking off any excess.
- Heat up an 1/8” of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the beef in the pan.
- Fry the beef for 4-5 minutes a side until golden brown and crispy. Remove from the pan.
- In the same pan over low heat, melt the butter. Whisk in 1 tbsp of flour and cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the milk and whisk. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for no more than a minute until the gravy thickens.
- Ladle the gravy over the chicken fried steak. Serve with fried eggs.
