We finally finished butchering the Creepy Meats last week and I had twelve chicken livers sitting in the fridge. Normally I bread and fry those suckers right up for a post-butchering lunch, but this time I wanted to try something different.
I believe it was Ohio Farm Girl who did a post on chicken liver pate` and since I love nothing more than a gout-inducing and artery-clogging snack, I figured I'd try my hand at it. I looked up several recipes and here's my mish-mosh version of several of them:
1/2 lb. chicken livers
1/2 cup water
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
4 Tbsp. butter @ room temperature
Salt & Pepper to taste
Put all (except butter) into a small pot and simmer, covered, for about seven minutes. Remove from heat, keep cover on & let sit another five minutes. Drain liquid, remove bay leaf & put all into blender or food processor. Chop it up until sort'a fine, then add the butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time while the blender is on. Add a crank or two of pepper and a pinch more of salt. Keep blending until it's nice and smooth.
Scoop all that liver/butter goodness out of the blender/food processor and transfer it into a pate` terrine or ramekin. Neither of which I have. So I used an old glass leftover container. I almost used some hillbilly tupperware (i.e.old sour cream tub), but I figured I'd try to be a little bit fancy.
Anyhow, once you have the pate` in your chosen vessel, stick it in the fridge for at least four hours so it thoroughly chills. The serve it over little fancy crackers. Or in my case, plain ol' saltines.
The above recipe only has 4 tablespoons of butter in it. I've seen recipes that call for as much as a stick & a half of butter for a half-pound of livers. But since I'm trying to watch my weight (HA! And you wonder why I asked for help.), I thought I'd try with the least amount of butter.
The pate` was very good, but quite strong on the taste buds. If I made it for company, I think I'd up the butter content to a half-stick (8 Tbsp.) and use only one clove of garlic in order to make it a bit milder on the palate. I'm not sure how it measures up to "real" pate` as I haven't had any for probably close to ten years.
It was very easy recipe and I'll be making this again. Maybe as a side dish with fried chicken livers. But I'll have to wait until all the Thanksgiving leftovers have been eaten. Which may be several weeks given the way the fridge is packed to not being able to close the door. My little pate` dish wouldn't even fit in there now.
Paul's Take
Tastes like liver sausage.
I have that same covered butter dish! I adore it and wish I had the whole stinkin' set!!!!
ReplyDeleteWe usually do the liver and onion thing, which I love, but pate is something I never even considered! Oh, and don't go light on the garlic on my account.
ReplyDeletePaul's comment made me think of the Potage d'Cannard (please excuse the butchering of the French) that took me three days to make. My ex said, "hey, duck soup!"
ReplyDeleteIt looks good but I think I would tend to agree with Paul! LOL!!
ReplyDeleteLove your little covered dish! :)