Chicken Liver Pâté
A simple recipe, this Chicken Liver Pâté is nonetheless a festive dish to tuck in between Christmas and New Year's Eve, whilst playing board games! It can also become a bit fancy spread on thin toasts to enjoy with cocktails! Happy New Year's Eve, friends!
Ingredients (makes a small pâté):
1 tablespoon olive oil
235 grams/8.30 ounces fresh chicken livers
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 small shallots
1 fluffy sprig fresh thyme
a pinch of fleur de sel or sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper
4 tablespoons good Cognac or Brandy
120 grams/4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large bay leaf
Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.
Rinse chicken livers under cold water and pat them dry with paper towels.
Add to the skillet, and cook, 4 minutes on each side, until browned.
Remove livers from the skillet and spoon onto a plate; set aside.
Reduce heat to medium, and add butter to the skillet.
Peel and finely chop shallots.
Once the butter is just foaming, add shallots and thyme sprig to the skillet. Cook, stirring to loosen brown bits, about three minutes.
Season with fleur de sel and black pepper. Cook, 1 minute more.
Drizzle in Cognac generously, and cook, a few seconds more. Remove from the heat.
Spoon rested chicken livers in a food processor.
Discard thyme sprig, and pour Cognac shallot mixture over the livers.
Process until smooth, scraping the sides of the food processor with a spatula.
Continue processing at medium to high speed, gradually adding chunks of the softened butter, until all is completely incorporated and mixture is smooth and well-combined.
Spoon liver mixture into serving dish or pot, levelling the top with a spatula. Chill in the refrigerator, at least 3 hours.
Melt butter in a small saucepan with the bay leaf.
Remove from the heat, and allow to cool until lukewarm, before gently pouring over the chilled liver pâté. This will give it flavour and will help keep it for longer.
Return to the refrigerator and allow to chill, overnight.
Serve Chicken Liver Pâté cold, with toasted Sourdough.

















