Super Smooth Chicken Liver Pate

Although I’m not in anyway a fussy eater, I’m not a huge fan of offal, but chicken liver pate is different.  My sister and I grew up eating it and Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a pot of pate.  I think it was just referred to as “pate” the chicken liver part not so much!

Livers are exceptionally high in iron so consider this to be a health food,  just turn a blind eye to the staggering amount of butter involved.  Now don’t be tempted to skip the sieving as it only takes a few minutes and makes a huge difference to the texture of the finished pate.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 250gm butter, softened
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 500gm chicken livers, trimmed
• a few sprigs of thyme, leaves picked and chopped
• 1/4 cup of brandy
• sea salt and fresh pepper

Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a frypan over a low heat.  Add the onion and garlic, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and cook slowly until soft and tender, about 5 -7 minutes.  Remove the onion to a plate and wipe out the frypan.

Turn up the heat to medium/high and add a tablespoon of oil.  When hot add in the chicken livers and thyme leaves.

Cook the liver until lightly golden but still pink in the inside.  Make a little slit in the middle of one to check if you want.  You don’t want to over cook them.

Pour in the brandy and simmer for a minute.   You can light the brandy with a match or use the gas flame on your cooker to make sure all the alcohol is cooked off,  just be careful to stand back.  Tip into a food processor with the reserved onion and garlic mixture.

Blitz until you have a smooth puree.

Add the butter and continue to blitz, then season the mixture well with salt and pepper remembering that the seasoning will be slightly dulled when the pate is chilled.

Push through a sieve into a bowl and remember don’t be lazy and decide to skip this step as it really does make a difference.

Divide into serving dishes, ramekins or little pots and refrigerate until needed.  They will last up to 5 days in the fridge or can be frozen.

So tell me, do you like chicken liver pate?  And how do you feel about offal in general.  If you try out this recipe let me know what you think.  Enjoy.

Sheryl x