Chicken Liver Pate recipe with Floral Capers

A piquant take on a classic Chicken Liver Pate recipe that’s surprisingly easy to make.

Season: a spring afternoon with a glass of Gamay

  • 500g chicken liver, cleaned
  • 1 cup milk (full cream)
  • 250g butter
  • 1 large yellow onion 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 Tbsp green peppercorns
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme
  • 1/4 cup Cognac, brandy or Armagnac
  • 1 Tbsp capers

It’s true: some people are squeamish about offal. But as anyone who’s had a freshly prepared chicken-liver pâté knows, there’s nothing even remotely challenging about this dish — its rich savoury flavour, velvet texture and light consistency all offer a clean note on the palate.

And, if it wasn’t already the prefect pre-dinner luxury its main ingredient — liver — is also protein-rich, and an important source of folate, copper and iron, as well as B12 and A vitamins.

But, like any produce, it’s important to be choosy. Having a butcher you trust is invaluable. Look for a pasture-raised chook if possible, free-range and organic at the very least. When you’re selecting liver, make sure it’s not dry or slimy, and that it doesn’t smell (this is a pretty solid rule of thumb when buying any produce).

Once you’re back in your kitchen, the first thing you’ll need to do is prep the livers. Trim off any veins or tissue, then gently peel away the outer membranes with your fingers, and pat the livers dry with paper towel or a clean tea towel.

Next, toss the newly cleaned livers in a ceramic, glass or enamel bowl, and cover them evenly with the milk. You’ll need to let them sit for two hours in a cool place — the perfect opportunity to establish your mise en place (a French term for getting sorted).

Cut up a block of butter into manageable little cubes (no need to be too meticulous, you’re melting it later). Take your fragrant little capers out of their jar, and soak them in a bowlful of water, regularly changing the water — this is important, or they’ll just taste of salt and not of capers.

With your sharpest chef’s knife, roughly chop the onion. If you refrigerate it beforehand, or run it under water, those onion tears will flow less freely. Stick it in a container and set it aside. Take the garlic (Australian-grown tastes better, it’s fresher), cut off the woody end and crush the entire clove with the base of your knife. Once mashed, peel off the skin and mince the garlic as finely as you can be bothered. Set to one side.

Rinse your thyme and bay leaves. If you’re growing thyme in the garden, choose the softest, greenest shoots and avoid woody stems. Chop the thyme roughly, leave the bay leaves whole.

When your livers are well and truly milk-soaked, drain them and turn the stove on to a medium heat. Add about four tablespoons of butter to a pan, and stir assiduously until it melts. Don’t let it brown.

Add your onions, and cook, stirring, for about four minutes, until they’re soft, fragrant and pliant but not browned. Add your minced garlic and stir vigorously for about thirty seconds — be careful, garlic burns fast.

Next, add the liver, thyme, bay leaves, and a tablespoon of green peppercorns. Give the ingredients a once-over with salt and pepper at this stage, but don’t go overboard — you can always season later if it’s not salty enough for your taste.

Stir the ingredients, flipping the livers over to ensure they’re evenly browned. Five minutes of cooking should brown them but leave the insides a little pink. When they’re going caramel-coloured on the outside, add a dash of cognac, brandy or Armagnac (you could always pour some for yourself while you’re at it – cooking can be hard work). While still stirring occasionally, let the cognac absorb into the livers, and when all the liquid’s gone, turn off the heat.

Pluck out the bay leaves — you don’t want them going into the pâté, because they’ll make it terribly bitter to taste if they end up being pureed – and let your ingredients cool a little. Then spoon everything into a blender, and blend. Add the rest of the pre-cubed butter, piece by piece until the mixture is smooth and thick.

Here’s the important part — taste and decide whether if you need a little more salt or pepper, but use restraint, the flavours will become enhanced as your dish chills in the refrigerator.

Depending on how you want to serve your homemade pâté, select either six individual ramekins or your handsomest earthenware terrine. Spoon the pâté mixture in and evenly spread your washed and drained capers over the top. A couple of sprigs of thyme wouldn’t go astray. Cover the top of the dish with cling-wrap, and refrigerate for at least six hours.

When you’re ready to serve, it’s traditional to serve with thin croutons, but tearing a few hunks of bread from a freshly baked loaf and warming them in the oven is even more rustically appealing. Then just add a few cornichons — and that glass of Victorian Gamay.

Tip for More Awesomeness: two words — duck livers.

Click here for more pâté recipe ideas.

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