Mock chopped liver/gluten-free crackers

One (just one) of the reasons I started this blog was to have a place to share recipes with my kids. They sometimes ask me how to make a particular dish they remember from when they lived at home. This is especially true around holidays, but it can pop up anytime. My son recently sent me an e-mail asking if I had my recipe for mock chopped liver on the blog. He wanted to take it to a potluck, but no, I didn't, and I couldn't remember where it was. I was going to a potluck, too and decided to add this to the things I was already bringing, so I searched the internet for recipes. It sometimes seems that every recipe ever created already exits there. (I swear, even when I go into the kitchen and think I'm making something up, the next thing I know someone posts a similar recipe before I've even posted mine, or I google what I've just made and 10,000 similar things pop up. It's uncanny and unnerving.) I was sure the exact paté I used to make from string beans and walnuts would be there, but I couldn't find just what I was looking for. Instead, I found one that used mushrooms and celery, and decided to use that for my base. I've tweaked the recipe a bit (click here for the original) and the result was the one of the best mock chopped livers I've ever tasted. The weird thing about this recipe is that for people who have grown up vegetarian as my kids have, the original chopped liver is something they've never actually tasted. This should just be called "paté." But it does have a flavor that is so like the original, it's hard to ignore. Call it what you will, it tastes great, and serves a large crowd.

Mock chopped liver (Real mushroom pate)

• 3 large onions, chopped
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1 cup walnuts
• oil or oil spray for cooking
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 scant teaspoon salt
• fresh ground pepper (lots)

1. Sauté the onions in a large wok until they start to brown. Either add a little oil to the wok or spray it with oil, and spray occasionally to keep the veggies from burning.
2. Add the celery and cook until soft.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook another 5 minutes. The onions will be very brown, but not burned.
4. Add the cashews and walnuts and cook 3-4 minutes.
5. Put everything in a food processor. Add the salt and pepper. Process several minutes until the mixture is very creamy.
6. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and process just until mixed.
7. Place in a bowl and refrigerate for several hours. Check the seasonings.
8. Serve with crackers or as a dip.

FYI: The crackers in the photo are Mary's Gone Crackers which are a staple at our house. This line of crackers is gluten free, and although I don't avoid gluten, I'm addicted to all varieties of Mary's Gone Crackers.

p.s. Uh oh. I just discovered I have another version of this recipe on the blog already, but this newer one is better and more like its namesake. (In a good way, of course!)

An evening with friends

My dinner plate.

Yesterday was the most gorgeous day - sunny and warm. I spent a lot of time in the late morning cooking food to take to our friends Claire and Alan's house in the country for a belated Seder. I made potato stuffing, cranberry-apple sauce, mock chopped liver (recipe coming soon), salad, golden macaroons and chocolate-covered matzo (recipe below). Because one of the guests avoids gluten, the stuffing, macaroons, cranberries and salad were all gf. (I made the macaroons with rice flour and coconut flour and the stuffing contained potatoes, onions and buckwheat.)

The hosts and other guests made sweet potato casserole, soup, fruit salad, roasted asparagus, amazing apple crisp and who knows what else. We had a Seder, then a feast of food and friendship.

Although when we left our house at 4:30 it was warm enough to wear only a sweater, by the time we left our hosts' home in the valley, the outdoor thermometer was registering 31˚ F. It's hard to believe how fickle Wisconsin weather can be.


Just look at these gorgeous organic roasted asparagus.


GF macaroons.


Potato stuffing


Chocolate covered matzo
Spread 4 sheets of whole wheat matzo with Earth Balance margarine and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of evaporated cane juice. Place on a cookie sheet and place in a 325˚ F oven for 1 minute. (The margarine and sugar are optional. You really only need the chocolate in the next step.) Remove from the oven and cover the matzo with about 1-1/2 cups dark chocolate chips. Place back into the oven for a minute or until the chocolate chips are soft. (They won't lose their shape so poke one with a knife to see if they're soft.) Remove from the oven and use a knife to spread the softened chips to the edges of the matzo. Carefully place the matzo in the refrigerator until the chocolate hardens. This takes 5 to 10 minutes. Break the matzo into pieces.

Quick post about cupcakes

I've been experimenting a little with my coconut flour, and I made cupcakes using this easy recipe with a slight change. I traded two tablespoons of wheat flour for two tablespoons of coconut flour and I added an extra three tablespoons of water. The recipe usually makes 11 smallish cupcakes but this new version made 12 high-rising cupcakes. In fact, they rose so high I was afraid I wouldn't be able to use the cheater-frosting trick of putting chocolate chips on the warm, just-out-of-the-oven tops and then giving the melted chips a swirl. (My apologies to those who pipe those gorgeous frostings onto their cupcakes. I admire them to death, but I'm too lazy and too sugar phobic to attempt those perfect swirls myself. A nice little topping of melted chocolate works for me.)


They were tasty little cakers even though I over-baked them! Next time I'll do it right.