Just in Time for the New Year, an Easy Pate Recipe

Dear SOS: Please help. Last year you printed a recipe for Pate Diana. I’ve lost the recipe for this wonderful pate. How can I have it again?

--CARMEN

Dear Carmen: Ask and you shall receive. Here’s a last-minute quickie for New Year’s Eve if you have the time. If not, there’s always next year, no?

PATE DIANA

1 cup butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

1/4 cup chopped peeled apple

1 pound chicken livers, cut in halves

1/4 cup apple wine or brandy

2 to 3 tablespoons whipping cream

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup clarified butter

Lightly toasted sliced bread

Soften 10 tablespoons butter and set aside. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in skillet. Add onion and shallots. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add apple and cook until tender, about 3 minutes. Place apple mixture in blender container.

Melt another 3 tablespoons butter in skillet. Add chicken livers and stir 3 to 4 minutes until livers are browned outside and pink inside. Add wine and stir 2 minutes longer. Add liver mixture to blender container. Add 2 tablespoons cream and blend at high speed until smooth. Add more cream, if necessary, to keep mixture smooth. Press through medium-fine strainer into mixing bowl. Cool thoroughly, stirring once or twice. Pate will become oily if not completely cooled.

Cream-softened 10 tablespoons butter in mixer with liver mixture, small amount at time, beating well after each addition. Stir in lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pour pate into crock or ramekins, smoothing top with spatula. Pour enough clarified butter over top to form seal. Serve chilled and garnished with apple slices, if desired. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week or freeze, if desired. Serve with bread. Makes 12 appetizer servings.

Note: To clarify butter, heat over low heat until milky residue that gathers on surface evaporates, leaving syrupy golden butter product. Recipe for pate may be doubled, if desired.

Dear SOS: We were given a lug of dates and would like to make candy treats that are soft and rolled in coconut. Can you help?

--BARBARA

Dear Barbara: These are easy to do for last minute gifts or for the New Year’s Eve candy dish.

PARISIAN SWEETS

1 pound dried pitted dates or figs

Powdered sugar

1 cup chopped flaked coconut

Maraschino or candied cherries, optional

Put dates or figs through food chopper, using fine blade. Place ground fruit on board dusted heavily with powdered sugar and knead until well blended and mixture clings together. Dust hands with powdered sugar and shape candy into 3 1/2x1/2-inch fingers. Roll in coconut and press 1 cherry half into each roll. Makes about 2 pounds.

Dear SOS: Last year you printed a recipe for Chicken Wings Pacifica, which made excellent appetizers for the holidays. Can we get the recipe?

--SHARON

Dear Sharon: Just under the wire, but hope it will help. This was originally a 1964 My Best Recipe from D. J. McClary of Placentia.

CHICKEN WINGS PACIFICA

12 to 15 chicken wings

1 cup soy sauce

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 teaspoon dry mustard

3/4 cup water

Disjoint chicken wings, discarding bony tips. Arrange meatier wing parts in shallow baking pan. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, butter, mustard and water and heat until sugar and butter dissolve.

Cool and pour over wings. Marinate in refrigerator 2 hours, turning occasionally. Bake in marinade at 350 degrees 45 minutes, turning once and spooning marinade over chicken occasionally. Drain on paper towels and serve hot or cold. Makes 24 to 30 wings.

Dear SOS: A few years ago a friend gave me a fruitcake which was, by far, the best fruitcake I have ever eaten. It seemed to have been pressed together rather than baked. Can you help?

--MILDRED

Dear Mildred: These fabulous fruitcakes require absolutely no baking, which means they’re easier than pie to put together at the last minute.

NO-BAKE FRUITCAKE

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1/3 cup apple juice

6 cups miniature marshmallows

4 3/4 cups crushed vanilla wafers

2 1/2 cups crushed gingersnaps

2 cups broken nuts

1 cup raisins

1 cup diced candied fruit

1 cup halved candied cherries

Pour milk and apple juice over marshmallows and let stand 3 hours. Stir occasionally. Combine crushed vanilla wafers, gingersnaps, nuts, raisins, fruit and cherries in large bowl. Add marshmallow mixture. Mix well. Pack into foil-lined 9x5-inch pan. Cover with foil. Refrigerate several days before slicing. Makes 1 loaf.