Easy Pâté

Not long to go now and I will have been blogging for 3 Years.

This is my 150th Post!

The Polish for pâté is pasztet.

Pasztet recipes tend to be for large cooked pâtés which are served as slices – I will be looking at recipes for these later.

Here I am looking at 2 easy recipes using chicken livers which are very simple to make.

These are more spready pâtés – which you can put into a large dish or into individual pots.

I could not find any fresh chicken livers in my local shops but did find tubs of frozen chicken liver – they contain around 225g per tub and the cost was very reasonable.

Soaking the livers

All my recipe books say to soak the livers for at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours in milk – to help remove any bitterness.

I do not remember doing this in the past but decided to try this out – they tasted lovely – not sure how much was due to the soaking.

Chicken liver pâté version 1

Ingredients

• 450g chicken livers
• 50g butter
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of dried Italian herbs (or chopped fresh herbs such as oregano and thyme if you have them)
• 6 tablespoons of sherry or marsala or brandy.
• Salt & Pepper

Method

• Soak the livers for at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours in milk.
• Drain the milk off and pat dry the livers.
• Chop the onion into small pieces.
• Peel and chop the garlic.
• In a frying pan melt the butter and add the onion and garlic.
• Fry gently to soften the onion.
• Add the herbs.
• Add the chicken livers, mix and fry gently for 10 – 12 minutes, you can use a spatula to help break up the livers as they cook.
• Sprinkle with salt and ground pepper, mix and then leave to go cold. (I often do this at night and then the rest the next day).
• Place the cold cooked livers into a large bowl and use a stick blender start blending it all together.
• Add the sherry and continue blending until you have a smooth paste.
• Place the mixture into a large dish or into individual ramekin pots – mine made 4 pots.
• Cover the pots with clingfilm and refrigerate them for around 3 hours.

Served here with toasted rye bread and gherkins.

Served on La prune by Jet for Ter Steege of the Netherlands.

Chicken liver pâté version 2

This is more creamy and spreadble than version 1

Ingredients

450g chicken livers

50g butter

1 small onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon of dried Italian herbs (or chopped fresh herbs such as oregano and thyme if you have them).

2 – 3 tablespoons of creme fraishe or soured cream

1-2 tablespoons  of sherry or marsala or brandy.

Salt & Pepper

Method

Soak the livers for at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours in milk.

Drain the milk off and pat dry the livers.

Chop the onion into small pieces.

Peel and chop the garlic.

In a frying pan melt the butter and add the onion and garlic.

Fry gently to soften the onion.

Add the herbs.

Add the chicken livers, mix and fry gently for 10 – 12 minutes, you can use a spatula to help break up the livers as they cook.

Sprinkle with salt and ground pepper, mix and then leave to go cold. (I often do this at night and then the rest the next day).

Place the cold cooked livers into a large bowl and use a stick blender start blending it all together.

Add crème fraiche and the sherry and continue blending until you have a smooth paste.

Place the mixture into a large dish or into individual ramekin pots – mine made 6 pots.

Cover the pots with clingfilm and refrigerate them for around 3 hours.

Served here with toasted rye bread.