11/24/10

Chicken Liver Paté

Here's something you may not know about me, I have an aversion to raw chicken livers.  Yet,  I have no trouble putting it away in its paté state. There you have it, my filthy little secret.

Dears, this homemade stuff is so good, I urge you to make it, yesterday!
Observe.


Ok, maybe not the best example.  Chicken Liver Paté remains the ugly stepsister of the appetizer world. So,  cover up  its hideousness with lots of fresh herbs, and  trust me on this.
Serve it with toasted Brioche, or  toasted baguette slices. Bliss.

Chicken  Liver  Pâté

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 pound chicken livers, trimmed and halved
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
1½ tablespoons minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
1½ teaspoons minced fresh sage leaves, or ½ teaspoon dried
1 cup tawny port
Additional kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, or  to taste

 Heat 3 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion  and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes.
Transfer to a food processor. Increase  heat to medium-high and add 3 more tablespoons of  butter to the skillet. Add the chicken livers, and cook, stirring, until the exteriors are no longer pink, about 2 minutes.

Add the salt, pepper, thyme and sage. Cook until the livers are lightly browned, but still slightly pink inside, about 1 minute longer. Add the contents of the skillet to the food processor with the onions.


Remove skillet from the heat and pour in the tawny port. Return skillet to the stove and bring to a boil over high heat, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Boil until slightly thickened, and reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Add  to the food processor with the liver and onions.  Add  the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter.  Pour in the lemon juice and process until smooth. Season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Adapted from, Sara Moulton's Cooks at Home.


Pâté can be molded in a plastic wrap lined mold, covered and chilled 3 hours, or overnight.  Can be made 3 days in advance.    

And this Thanksgiving,  let us  put into practice an old Okinawan saying:
Hara Hachi Bu = Eat until you're 80% full. 

      
Thankfully, I have the attention span of a caffeinated Chihuahua, so I'll read it, later.

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!


13 comments:

  1. That is something I adore! Love your presentation. Perfect with a lovely homemade crusty sourdough bread.

    Happy Thanksgiving!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Looks fantastic, Sol, and much, much more elegant than my grandma's chopped liver :) I know I would love your pate!

    have a Happy Turkey to you and your family!

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  3. I have been really missing pate ever since a lovely french lady moved away. When I was in my early 20's, she would invite me over and serve goose liver pate with truffles, and I fell in love with it. I know I will love your pate! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

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  4. It's beautiful..I like w/ the livers.. and w/out ..lately I have been making the mousse w/ chicken breasts..

    But I know..Livers are earthy:)
    Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours dear Sol~

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  5. You don't have to convince me! I love chicken liver pate in all forms. I made something similar recently ;) I love using tawny port is pate - it is the fifth essence of the Christmas Spirit, after all!

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  6. I love chicken livers and pate would be even better.

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  7. you made the most savoury of dishes look so delectable. Would love to eat it ;)

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  8. Rosa, sourdough bread sounds so good with this!

    Carol, next time you talk like that about grandma's chopped liver, I'll have to wash your mouth out with cheap Vodka!:Þ


    Debbie, your friend's paté sounds wonderful. Makes me wish I had a French neighbor [G]

    Monique, you know I'll be looking up your recipe using chicken breast.

    Susan, no wonder you and I get along so great!

    Zurin, I'd happily hire someone to trim the chicken livers. I'd probably make this appetizer more often if I had a volunteer to do the dirty work.

    NC, I'm sorry to say it's all gone now. But I'll gladly make it again, for you, et al.

    I trust my foodie brigade had a delicious Thanksgiving!

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  9. I love this pâté and made it before, without using Port; I will try it next time using Port I am sure it will taste amazing using your recipe!

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  10. Oh, I love pâté , dear Marysol ... fat calories and all ... and this fresh herb version sounds fantastic. My go to chicken liver love (with Calvados and currents) is Pate Maison from the Silver Palate but your recipe tempts me BIG TIME. Do hope your Thanksgiving was grand!

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  11. Hope you'll try this recipe, at least before Christmas is over. Then, we can all start thinking about healthy eating again. Yay.


    Joey, I have the SP book! And didn't think to look there. It's a typical case of too many cookbooks, so little time.

    Now, I'm on a quest for Calvados, and currants. Sweet friend, you're the ultimate enabler!

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  12. I'm scared of raw chicken livers so I always ask Mom to make pate for me - I'll ask if she has some Tawny Port next time, hehe :) sounds like a very chic pate - with all these herbs and port!

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  13. Alina, we share the same fears.
    I'd rather have someone else prep the slippery devils for me. And, sometimes, I'm successful recruiting a volunteer.
    If my Mom lived closer, I'd ask her :)

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