Creamy Duck Liver Mousse

The perfect make-ahead appetizer for your holiday feast, this creamy duck liver mousse is flavorful and rich. Serve with sliced baguette and let guests dig in! 

I was practically skipping up to the cashier when I unexpectedly found duck liver in my local grocery store. Turns out they have it in the refrigerated section quite often so I don’t how I had missed it up till then. But I knew exactly what I wanted to make! 

One of my favorite party dishes from years past was a chicken liver pâté that was always popular and I was just imagining how much richer and more lovely one made with duck liver would be. 

I was not wrong! We really loved this. Processing the just-cooked liver with chilled duck fat made such a smooth and creamy mixture that I decided it deserved to be called mousse rather than plain old pâté! 

Creamy Duck Liver Mousse

If you can’t find duck liver, chicken liver can certainly be substituted. 

This makes two dishes of about 5 1/3 oz or 150g each. This recipe was adapted from one on the BBC Good Food website. bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/velvety-duck-liver-parfait 

Ingredients

For the mousse:

10 1/2 oz or 300g duck liver

1 cup or 240ml milk

2 tablespoons butter

1 shallot, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 1/2 teaspoons brandy

1 1/2 teaspoons port

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 1/2 oz or 100g duck fat, chilled

For the sealing the top:

1 3/4 oz or 50g duck fat or butter

For decoration:

1/2 teaspoon whole black or mixed peppercorns

Small sprigs fresh thyme

Method

In a small mixing bowl, soak the duck liver in the milk for an hour, refrigerated.

Drain and discard the milk. Cut away and discard any large sinews from the liver. It’s messy to do this but the only really successful way to make sure you remove all of the sinews is to grab the end of one with one hand and then press along the sinew with your other hand to separate it from the liver. Repeat till the sinews are all removed. 

Wash your hands with hot water and lots of soap and reward yourself with a tot from that bottle of brandy you have out for later in the recipe. You've earned it! Cut the liver up into big chunks. 

Heat the butter in a large frying pan, then gently fry the shallot and garlic for 3-4 mins until soft. 

Remove the shallot and garlic to a small bowl, leaving behind as much butter as possible. (I prop up one side of the pan so the butter will collect on the other side, then remove the shallot and garlic.)

Turn up the heat then fry the liver until just browned on all sides. It spits and spatters a lot so I recommend using a spatter guard. DO NOT cover the pan with a lid! We don’t want the liver to steam or cook through, just brown. 

Add the brandy and port then boil those off as quickly as possible. 

Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the liver to a plate. Season the liver generously with the salt and freshly ground black pepper and leave it to cool completely.

Tip the cooled liver into a food processor with the shallot, garlic and the cold duck fat, and blitz until smooth and creamy. 

Push the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. 

Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper, if necessary. Spoon into serving dishes or ramekins. Place in the refrigerator to set.

Once the mixture has set, make the topping. Gently melt the duck fat in a small pan or in a bowl in the microwave. 

Put the peppercorns and thyme on top the mousse to decorate and gently pour in the melted duck fat to cover. Leave to set in the fridge. 

Serve with slices of baguette for spreading. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing appetizers for your Thanksgiving feast. Many thanks to our host Amy from Amy’s Cooking Adventures. Check out all the links below. 

• Baby Corn Rumaki by Palatable Pastime
• Baked Brie with Dried Cranberries, Apples and Walnuts by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Charcuterie Bites Pumpkin Centerpiece by Our Good Life
• Cranberry-Chevre Twice Baked Potato Skins by Culinary Cam
• Creamy Duck Liver Mousse by Food Lust People Love
• Date and Walnut Bites by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Membrillo - Quince Paste with Manchego Cheese by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Mini Bread Cornucopia by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Mini Pumpkin Cheese Balls by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Mixed Vegetable Sliders by Sneha's Recipe

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Welsh Rarebit Potatoes with Cavolo Nero

These Welsh Rarebit Potatoes with Cavolo Nero feature a strong cheese sauce made with hard cider, two mature cheeses, English mustard powder and Worcestershire sauce.

There’s a little café in town where we like to go for breakfast. It’s right next to the central market and close to the fish market so we park, enjoy a delightful breakfast and then get our shopping done. My perfect outing. 

One of my favorite dishes at Rosie's Café is their Welsh rarebit, a lovely slice of toast heaped with a bitey cheese sauce then popped under the broiler/grill until it bubbles and turns golden. It is most delightful, rich and filling. 

I make a similar sauce for cauliflower cheese but never thought to top potatoes with it until I saw a recipe in delicious. magazine. This is my rendition of that recipe, with the addition of the greens.

Welsh Rarebit Potatoes with Cavolo Nero

I use the very handy real bacon crumbles I buy in Costco for this dish but it’s never crispy enough, hence the extra frying step. If your bacon is already cooked extra crispy, you can skip that. Cavolo Nero is also known as Tuscan kale. You can use regular kale if it’s not available. 

Ingredients

7 oz or 200g cavolo nero/Tuscan kale

2 green onions, green part only

1/3 cup or 40g cooked bacon, crumbled

1 lb or 450g Jersey royals or other new potatoes, halved if large

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups or 295-359ml dry cider (I use Strongbow Original)

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons plain flour

Splash Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon English mustard powder (I use Colman's)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

3 1/2 oz or 100g mature cheddar, coarsely grated

3 1/2 oz or 100g Gruyere or Comté, coarsely grated

Method

Wash the cavolo nero well then remove the hard stalks.  (You can discard/compost these or save them for making vegetable stock later.) 

Cut the leaves roughly. 

 I forgot to wash first so I soaked, rinsed and spinned three times after chopping. It is easier to wash the whole leaves so do as I say, not as I did! 

Chop the green onions finely and set aside a small amount for garnish. 

Use a pot that will fit your potatoes nicely in a single layer, then pour in enough cider to just cover them and the 1/4 teaspoon salt. 

Bring to the boil, covered with a lid, then simmer for 15-18 minutes until tender to the point of a knife. 

Drain off the cider into a heatproof vessel. You should have about 1 cup or 240ml (if not, make up the difference with water or extra cider.)

While the potatoes are simmering, fry your bacon bits in a skillet till they are extra crispy. Add in the cavolo nero leaves and cook until they are wilted and any liquid they produce has evaporated. These are sturdy greens that take a while to cook. I put a lid on at the beginning, then remove the lid so the liquid can evaporate.

Remove the bacon and cavolo nero to a bowl, leaving behind any bacon fat. 

Add the butter to the bacon pan over a medium heat, then add the flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring to create a light roux. 

Gradually stir or whisk in the reserved cider to make a smooth sauce.

Mix in the Worcestershire sauce, mustard and cayenne pepper, then simmer for a few minutes. 

Add the cheeses and mix until fully melted. 

Sprinkle in the bigger pile of chopped green onions. 

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. 

Put the potatoes in a baking dish or casserole then add in the cavolo nero with bacon. Use a spoon to tuck the greens around the potatoes to create a single layer. 

Spoon the cheese sauce over the potatoes and cavolo nero and sprinkle on the reserved chopped green onions.

Bake in the preheated oven until hot and bubbling, about 20 minutes, finishing it off with about five minutes under the broiler/grill to brown. 

Serve bubbling hot! This delicious dish is rich enough to be served as a main. 

Enjoy! 

Welcome to the 23th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter W. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the W recipes below:

• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Chocolate Mint Whoopie Pies 
• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Cranberry Wild Rice 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Creamy Butternut Squash Soup with Whiskey
• A Messy Kitchen: French Onion Sausage and White Bean Bake
• Culinary Cam: Frisky Whiskey Chocolate Cake 
• Blogghetti: Homemade White Gravy Mix
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Sausage and Wild Rice Stuffed Acorn Squash 
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Waldorf Salad 
• Food Lust People Love: Welsh Rarebit Potatoes with Cavolo Nero 
• Palatable Pastime: Warm Potato Salad with Kielbasa
• Sneha’s Recipe: White Chicken 
  
  
  

Here are my posts for the 2025 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Roasted Asparagus Soup

B: Blistered Sugar Snap Peas

C. Jersey Royal Chicken Chorizo Traybake 

D. Small Batch Dried Apricot Jam 

E. Whipped Espresso Cream 

F. Fish Sauce Roasted Chicken 

G. Extra Herby Gremolata 

H. Smoked Herring Spread 

I.  Fresh Cherry Ice Cream 

J. Small Batch Strawberry Jam 

K. Kiwi Tomato Feta Salad 

L. Lobster Butter 

M. Milk-Roasted Chicken 

N. Nocciolata Swirl Meringues 

O. Jersey Octopus Ceviche 

P. Easy Pastina Soup 

Q. Shrimp and Quail Egg Garden Salad 

R. Celeriac Mash with Scallop Roe Butter 

S. Fresh Scallop Sashimi 

T. Roasted Chicken Thighs with Stuffing 

U. Umeboshi Calamansi Lime Juice

V. Mirabelle Plum Vodka 

W. Welsh Rarebit Potatoes with Cavolo Nero – this post! 

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Miso Honey Roasted Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

Salty and sweet, these Miso Honey Roasted Hasselback Sweet Potatoes are easy to make with loads of flavor. Serve them as a main with salad or as a side dish.

Growing up, the only sweet potatoes I ever ate were the candied ones with loads of Karo syrup and butter, baked till sticky for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I honestly don’t remember ever having them any other time of the year. 

As I got older and my sweet tooth diminished, I still baked those sweet potatoes for the holiday but with just a tiny sprinkling of brown sugar for color instead of all the syrup. The sweet potatoes were sweet enough on their own.

In fact, when it’s just my husband and I at home, one of our favorite meals is roasted whole sweet potatoes, served split open from end to end with a generous pat or three of butter inside, no sugar at all! 

I knew that if I wanted to add a sweet element to these roast sweet potatoes, I’d have to balance it with a savory element. The miso works beautifully here. 

Miso Honey Roasted Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

I give the ingredient amounts below for each sweet potato because you may want to roast one or seven or 15, depending on how many people you are feeding. 

Ingredients per person

1 sweet potato

Olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon miso

For topping:

1 tablespoon roasted peanuts, chopped

Sprinkling chopped parsley

Method

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Set your sweet potato between two large chopsticks (or the handles of two wooden spoons) and use a sharp knife to cut slices into the sweet potatoes without going all the way through. The chopsticks (or spoon handles) help make sure that you can’t cut all the way through! 

Put the sweet potatoes in your prepared baking pan and drizzle with olive oil. 

Roast in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, basting occasionally to encourage the sweet potatoes to open up as they cook. 

Meanwhile, add the butter, honey and miso to a microwaveable bowl and heat them briefly to melt the butter. Mix well. 

After the roasting time is up, remove from the oven and spoon over the butter mixture so it goes in between the slices. I also used a pastry brush to brush some on the skin. 

Return to the oven and roast for another 10 minutes or until a knife goes in easily, basting halfway through.

Sprinkle on the chopped peanuts and parsley to serve. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are celebrating National Sweet Potato Awareness Month. Many thanks to our host, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the sweet potato recipe links below 

• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Beef and Sweet Potato Stir Fry 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili 
• Food Lust People Love: Miso Honey Roasted Hasselback Sweet Potatoes 
• Mayuri's Jikoni: Shakkariya Nu Shaak
• Culinary Cam: Spiced Sweet Potato-Red Lentil Stew 
• Sneha's Recipe: Sweet Potato Patties 
• Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking: Sweet Potato Sushi

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Hasselback Sweet Potatoes! 

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Sourdough Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Oh, so tender and sweet, these jumbo sourdough peanut butter banana muffins are made with very ripe bananas, sourdough discard and smooth peanut butter. 

My poor neglected sourdough starter has been sitting in the refrigerator for almost six months, just hanging out and hanging on. It had very little hooch on top so I took that as a good sign.

I fed it up without discarding a couple of times and it responded well until finally, I took some out to make these muffins. While the discard doesn’t help with the rise, it surely adds moisture, giving the muffins a lovely texture. 

Sourdough Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

You can use fed or unfed sourdough starter for these muffins though unfed will give them more sourdough flavor. This recipe makes nine jumbo muffins.

Ingredients

2 cups or 250g flour

½ cup, firmly packed, or 100g brown sugar 

½ cup or 100g sugar 

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

⅔ cup or 150g very ripe banana (peels were brown and speckled)

2 large eggs

½ cup or 113g melted, cooled butter

½ cup or 125g sourdough discard 

¼ cup or 60ml milk

¼ cup, rounded, or 80g smooth peanut butter (with sugar)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and line a large muffin pan with jumbo paper liners. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. 

In another bowl, mash the bananas with a fork and add the eggs and mix.

Add in the butter, sourdough discard, milk, peanut butter and vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. 

Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to fold together until just combined.

Divide the batter between your muffin cups. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven or until a toothpick comes out clean and the muffins are golden brown. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes on a wire rack. Transfer the muffins to the wire rack. 

These can be eaten warm or cold. Either way, they go great with a cup of coffee in the morning or a cup of tea in the afternoon. 

Enjoy! 

It’s the last Monday of the month so that means it’s time for Muffin Monday. Check out the lovely muffins my baker friends are sharing below.

• Cinnamon Stuffed Streusel Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Lemon Pomegranate Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Oatmeal Zucchini Muffins with Dried Cranberries from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Peanut Ripple Banana Muffins from A Messy Kitchen
• Simple Banana Muffins (2 Bananas = 6 Muffins) from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Sourdough Peanut Butter Banana Muffins from Food Lust People Love

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page. 

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