Mammoth dinner/picnic menu part 1

I have decided to bite the bullet and begin to write about my little project I had last week. Basically my parents were going to glyndebourne last week, which is a rather posh affair where people go to see some opera and take 4 course meals to picnic on in the gardens during the intervals. There is a restaurant there also but my parents prefer to take their own food when the weather is okay, which thankfully it was! They had only just got back from holiday the night before they had to leave for the opera so the task fell on me to cater for them. Of course I was excited at the idea of coming up with a menu and doing my first proper dinner party, even though I wouldn't be dining on the results. However as the week went on and I hit a few bumps in the road I began to regret saying yes! I will come to that though. Today I start with the canapes and one of the most successful dishes from the menu, a chicken liver parfait. For those who don't know, parfait is a smooth and silky version of pate which is absolutely delicious. If you're afraid of trying liver but want to give it a go, eat something like this. You have the lovely flavour of the liver plus a lot of butter and booze which will make anything taste good but you don't have the strange consistency that most offal tends to have. Plus its quite cheap to make and will make a lovely starter or light lunch, perhaps not with the amount of brandy I used but you can always replace that. I got the recipe from one of Jamie Oliver's book and he suggests using rabbit or duck livers as well if you can get them. Plus you can play around with the herbs you use and of course the alcohol. I do like to use recipes which you can change to your own tastes and Jamie's recipes do tend to offer that.

Chicken Liver Parfait:

Serves 4-6

400g Butter
Olive oil
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, minced or chopped
455g Chicken Livers (Rabbit or Duck if you can get them) trimmed (cutting out the tough white stringy bits)
1 Bunch of Thyme, leaves picked and chopped
1 Large Wineglass of Brandy
Salt & Pepper
Sage leaves to decorate

You begin by taking 150g of the butter and clarify. I actually did mine in the oven at a very low heat of 110 degrees so that I didn't have to keep checking on it and worry about it burning. Put some oil in a frying pan and gently fry off the onions and garlic for about 5 mins or until soft but don't let them colour. Then put them on a plate and give the pan a little bit of a wipe. Turn up the heat and add a little more oil and the livers and thyme, fry on one side until the livers begin to brown off, then give the pan a little shake so they flip and add the brandy. If you have a gas hob it will light so watch out for your eyebrows! If not you can light them so you can see when the alcohol has burnt off. You need to make sure the livers don't over cook or your parfait will be grainy. Take them off the heat the flames go and when they are still pink, even if they are a little under cooked they will finish cooking from the heat when you blend them up. Put all the onions, garlic and everything in the pan in a food processor and blend until smooth. Give it a taste and season with the salt and pepper. Then slowly add the leftover butter from your 400g in cubes. Once it is totally blended together, pass through a sieve (I did this twice and gave what was left in the sieve to the dog and cat which made them very happy indeed.) Pour your parfait in to one big bowl or individual ramicans. Next just lightly fry off your sage leaves in oil until they are slightly crispy but be careful not to burn as I did with the first batch! Add the leaves to the top of the parfait and then pour over the clarified butter. Put in the fridge until its set which will take at least 3 hours. It will then keep for up to 2 weeks in the fridge as the butter seals it. Enjoy with some crusty white bread or toast.