Chicken Liver Pate
Easy, delicious and actually nutritious. Buy some chicken livers from a local farmer, like my friend Frank from Terra Twelve in Libau, Manitoba, and you will have a homemade delicacy you can keep in the freezer.
Serve on toasted baguette and a glass of white wine. Delicious.
Chicken Liver Pate
1 pound chicken livers, trimmed
1 small onion, sliced very thin
1 crushed garlic clove
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
Sea salt
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons whisky, scotch, or cognac
Freshly ground pepper
melted butter, for freezer storage
In a medium saucepan, combine the chicken livers, onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the livers are barely pink inside, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, lid on, for about 5 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf. Using a slotted spoon, add the livers, onion and garlic to a food processor; process until coarsely pureed. With the machine on, add the butter, 2 tablespoons at a time, until well incorporated. Add the booze of your choice, season with salt and pepper and process until completely smooth. Scrape the pate into ramekins or freezer containers of your choice. Press a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper directly onto the surface of the pate and refrigerate until firm. Serve chilled.
The pâté can be covered with a thin layer of melted butter, then wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 2 months.
This recipe is easily doubled with great success.