I must share with you this homemade chicken liver pate recipe as I make it for my family all the time. And, as I avoid, as much as possible to buy processed food from the supermarket, I rather make an effort and cook the food at home.
This is a recipe worth trying, a fine, delicate, flavorful, and, of course, a very delicious pate. Even if you don’t have a large family and you don’t serve it immediately, it’s easy to keep in the fridge for 3-4 days, or you can invite your friends for dinner and they will definitely thank you. It is good served on toast with chutney of you can enjoy it with some spring onions, fresh from the garden. Any way you choose to serve it, do it with a nice wine.
HOMEMADE CHICKEN LIVER PATE
(10 servings)
For the paté:
450 gr. chicken liver
200 ml of milk
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions
1 rosemary twig
3-4 thyme twigs
1 bay leaf
3-4 tablespoons of brandy
300 ml red wine (Iacob)
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
salt, pepper (to taste)
2 whole eggs
2 yolks
75 gr. butter
To seal the pate:
150 gr. butter
a pinch of nutmeg
salt, pepper (to taste)
3-4 thyme twigs
Method:
It is very important to prepare the chicken liver the evening before: put it in a bowl with 200 ml of milk and leave it in the refrigerator overnight (milk will remove the slightly bitter taste of the liver). Before we start preparing the paté, remove the liver from the refrigerator and put it in a strainer.
Heat the oil in a saucepan and the fine chopped onion, chopped bay leaf, chopped rosemary and thyme leaves. Cook the onion for 4-5 minutes, until it softens, then add the cognac and carefully flambé it.
When the flames go down, add the wine and boil for another 10 minutes until everything is reduced to two-thirds.
Remove the saucepan from the stove, leave it to rest for 1 minute, while you cut the butter into cubes and prepare the eggs.
Add to the sauce the butter, the liver, eggs and yolks. When the butter melts, add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer everything to a mixer and process for 1-2 minutes, then strain and season with salt and pepper.
Heat the oven to 140 ° C. Put 3-4 layers of baking paper in a large baking tray.
Pour the pate into 10 small soufflé molds (100 gr.) or 6 large ones (200 gr.) and place in the tray in the oven. Pour hot water into the tray to cover two-thirds of the molds. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 120ºC and leave for another 15-20 minutes.
Remove the molds from the oven and leave them to cool (the composition should be dense, but not very firm, as the cooking process continues during cooling). Then, put the molds in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
To finish the pate, melt 150 gr. butter in a saucepan, add nutmeg, half of thyme leaves, salt and pepper. Pour the mixture with a spoon over the pate, decorate with the remaining thyme and put the mold back into the fridge.
You can serve it with toast and chutney (apple, or other fruits).