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I finished the school year May 26 and attended my son’s wedding rehearsal dinner May 29 (see below) and his mountain wedding on the 30th. The following week I had some major surgery. To prepare my body for quick healing, I wanted to make sure I ate a particularly nutrient dense diet.
First, I picked up a couple gallons of raw milk. We don’t digest cows’ milk very well, but do use the cream in our coffee. This time of year there is a lot of cream in our raw, grass-fed milk which Jon drains off and captures. That left lots of lowfat milk for dog supplements and to make fresh curds and whey . Next, I made a trip to our local goatherd to stock up on raw goats milk . This freezes well, so I got 6 half-gallons. Then I made some sprouted spelt crackers and two pounds of chicken liver pate from grass pastured chickens. (Shout out to Shoreline Chef in Connecticutt for sending me the world’s best recipe!) Finally, I made some rich beef oxtail beef bone broth . We already had a couple dozen rich orange-yolk eggs from Nature’s Harmony’s pastured hens. To build up probiotics in my system before going on antibiotics, I got some kombucha , goat milk kefir , and yogurt. I made a nice roast with some of our grass fed beef and CSA vegetables slow-cooked in our crockpot.
I had a couple days to eat nutritious, solid food, followed by a day of blended food and a day of clear liquids to prepare for my surgery. Then when I came home I had enough leftover to nibble on so Jon did not have to worry much about meal preparation. With all these healthy foods, healing is proceeding rapidly. My skin looks great and I’m gaining energy. I’m so glad that I’ve stayed so well nourished before and after this shock to my system. I know I will do very well.
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Would you be willing to share the chicken liver pate recipe from the Shoreline Chef in Connecticut?
Mary Ann – Thanks for the request. We had it posted in the comments but when our ISP had a server crash we lost all the comment history. Cathy will repost it again in a couple of days so check back soon. It will be in the form of a comment to this article.
Best Regards
//Jon
Hi, Mary Ann. We get a lot of requests for this but like Jon said, the previous comments were lost.
Hope you enjoy it!
Shoreline Chef Chicken Livers
Ingredients:
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch dice (any tart apple will work)
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 pound chicken livers, trimmed
1/4 cup Calvados, applejack, brandy, or bourbon (I’ve used apple juice in a pinch, although it is best with Cal
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
Preparation:
Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the apple and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the shallots and cook until the shallots and apple are tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and wipe out the skillet.
Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the chicken livers and cook, stirring occasionally, just until they are firm and slightly pink in the center when cut with a sharp knife, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with another tablespoon of butter and the remaining livers. Let cool completely.
Heat the Calvados in a small saucepan over medium heat until warm. Carefully ignite the Calvados with a long match, averting your face. Let flame for about 20 seconds, then extinguish the flame by covering the pan tightly. Remove from the heat.
Combine the chicken livers, apple and shallots, thyme, salt, and pepper in a food processor; pulse to blend. With the processor running, add the remaining 5 tablespoons butter and the heavy cream. Transfer to a serving bowl or crock, cover, and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours, or overnight.
Serve chilled, with a small knife for spreading. The spread can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. It’s terrific served on crackers, matzo crackers, flatbread crisps, bagel crisps, rye crackers and other crispy snackers, but try it on tart apple slices, too.
Yield: about 2-1/2 cups
Jon and Cathy – thanks so much for the recipe. I plan on making it this weekend when the kids are home. Looks like a wonderful nutritious appetizer to share with the family.
I love your blog. Thanks for making it happen!
Mary Ann
You’re welcome, Mary Ann. The blog and podcasts are a labor of love. We learn so much from our guests. My new favorite recipe is healthy cold cereal by Sarah Pope of the Healthy Home Economist. She has a two part video to demonstrate how to do it. I made it this week and we had some this morning. Yum!
Thank you so much for your kind words.
Cathy