3 ways with ... Paté

Chargrilled scotch fillet with cognac and black pepper chicken liver paté. Photo / Fotopress/Dean Purcell

Ploughman's lunch
Don't just relegate paté to canapes, build it into an easy spring lunch. Serve with good crusty french bread, bowls of cornichons (or pickled onions for a French-English hybrid) and wedges of good cheddar. Add a hearty cider, some fruit and bon appetit.

Wellington boost
Substitute paté for the classic mushroom duxelles in a Beef Wellington or make a lighter chicken version, stuffing paté under the breast skin. Simmer a dash of white wine into the pan juices to make a light jus.

Super-posh
Go all retro-Delia Smith and pipe paté (thinned with a little cream) into fancy shapes on tiny crackers, baby mushrooms or even celery sticks. Serve next to the toothpick cheese cubes on a grapefruit "porcupine", of course.