If there’s an appetizer that I’ve been obsessed with for a long time it’s paté. Ever since I was a little girl it was by far what I liked to eat the most when the “adults” got together in my house and I almost didn’t share it. This chicken liver paté is almost a legend amongst my friends and that’s because it’s extremely delicious.
To go with the paté I always make honey pears. It really goes extraordinarily with the paté and I’m a huge fan of the savoury/sweet combo. These pears are also great with strong cheeses.
To vary the flavour of this paté you can add raisins (hydrated, chopped and mixed in after blending), green pepper (1/4 tsp ground green pepper and more on the butter on top), toasted and chopped walnuts, etc.
The layer of butter on top prevents the top layer from oxidizing: it goes dark and a hard layer forms. Sometimes in gourmet stores you’ll see that paté is topped with gelatin and it’s doing the same job as the butter. The difference for me is that I don’t like to eat the gelatin but the butter is fine.
These baguette toasts I make pretty often for my appetizers and all I do is drizzle them with olive oil and salt and they go to a preheated oven at 180C for about 6min. If they’re only golden on one side then flip them because they’re the best when super crispy.
Can you believe the texture of this paté? I love it with all my heart. Oh and the funny thing is that I don’t eat liver in any other form than paté LOL. It’s just the best!
Chicken Liver Paté
Ingredients
For the paté
- olive oil for cooking
- 300 g chicken livers it could also be duck liver
- 50 g brown onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves grated, puréed or finely chopped
- 25 ml brandy
- 150 g salted butter melted and cooled to room temperature. Also extra to cover the paté
- salt and pepper to taste
- thyme leaves to decorate
For the honey pears
- 2 pears peeled, sliced and those slices cut in half
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
For the paté
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Clean the livers by removing the membrane that joins the two lobes. Also remove any excess fat.
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Put a bit of olive oil on a pan on medium-high heat and sear the livers. Don't fill up the pan; let them ham space in between them. This helps them get golden instead of boiling.
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Cook the livers to medium degree. Take them out as they're cooked and add more to the pan until they're all ready.
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Add a bit more olive oil and cook the onion on low heat until translucent and soft. Use its juices to scrape the bits of live stuck to the pan because it's full of flavour.
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Add the garlic and cook for a minute.
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Add the brandy and flambé it or let it boil until only a small amount of liquid remains. To flambé it you can light the tip of a piece of kitchen paper rolled onto itself and place it on top of the pan. It will light right up.
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Put everything in the blender along with the butter and blend.
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Taste the salt level and correct if necessary.
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Pour the mix onto one or several containers and level with a spoon.
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Cover with a layer of extra melted butter at room temperature and lay the thyme sprig as a garnish.
For the honey pears
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Cook the pears with the honey and water until they're really soft and there's nearly no liquid left.
