Pate has always been a favorite for my family. We often had it in our fridge when I was growing up whether it was store bought from my mum’s days of working behind the supermarket deli counter or homemade by my Dad for special occasions. So it is no surprise that one of the things I get asked to make most often is my very own Chicken Liver Pate. It’s a relatively easy dish to make and easily adaptable to your own taste. This is a garlic mushroom version but you can simply take out one garlic clove and the mushrooms to make your standard chicken liver pate. Here’s what you need…
1 Medium onion, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon of butter
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
125g mushrooms, roughly chopped
230g chicken livers (trimmed)
1 tsp fresh thyme, leaves only
A splash of Brandy
2.5 tbsp single cream
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
Salt and Pepper
150g Butter to seal.
Melt the butter in a frying pan on a low heat and cook the onion and garlic until softened. Add the mushrooms and sweat for a few minutes. While all this is going on you can prepare the chicken livers. First, wash them well in cold water and pat with some kitchen paper to dry off. To trim them, you need to cut off the sinew and any unpleasant looking parts. These will make the pate taste bitter. I prefer to use kitchen scissors for this bit. Once this is done you can add the chicken livers to the pan along with the fresh thyme and cook for 4 – 5 minutes. You can check this by cutting the liver in half , the inside should still be slightly pink but not raw in the middle. Now add the brandy and turn up the heat to cook off the alcohol. As soon as this is done, take the pan off the heat and add the cream, ketchup and plenty of seasoning. You’ll need to leave it all to cool for a while now but once that is done, just throw it all in the blender before spooning the whole lot into a serving dish, or, individual dishes (I like to use espresso cups!). Take the remaining butter and melt on a medium-low heat, as soon as it has melted, transfer to a jug and leave until all the sediment has sunk to the bottom. Pour over the pate, leaving the sediment in the jug before transferring to the fridge to set for 1 – 2 hours. If you are serving in this dish, you can decorate the butter before it sets by adding pink and green pepper corns or fresh herbs.
Sip Chomp Chew 