Real Chicken Liver Pate

Pate is not something I would normally buy from the shops. The undercooked pink colour and layer of shiny jelly on top has always kind of put me off. Fresh pate is a different story though. The farmer's market I visit weekly has an annual pate competition, where anyone who wishes to, enters their version of pate, to be sampled by the masses of market goers and then voted on. Last year's pate competition got me interested in this delicious spread and after a friend brought a batch of his own homemade version to a party, I have been eager to give it a go. A wee while ago, I purchased a pottle of organic chicken livers from one of the market stalls, and with my friend's recipe and an open mind in hand (I hadn't handled offal before), I attempted my own version. The verdict? It was awesome. Seriously, quite amazingly delicious. And, actually really easy! I have made at least two more batches since that time and I also served up the livers, cooked pate style (but not blended) on sourdough toast for dinner last week and it was spectacular!

Here's my friend's recipe, with a few tweaks, of course.

Chicken Liver Pate

500 grams fresh, organic chicken livers, roughly chopped
175 grams butter
2 onions, diced
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp fresh thyme
Squeeze of lemon
1 Tbsp port
Dash of cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Melt 125 grams of the butter in a medium-sized pan. Fry the onions and garlic until soft. Add the livers and fry for around 3 minutes. Add the herbs, salt and pepper and lemon and cook for a further 2 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and allow to cool slightly. Place the liver and herbs mix into a blender and process, slowly adding in the remaining 50 grams of melted butter, the port and a dash of cream. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Scrap mixture into a jar or ceramic dish and chill in the fridge (although I can never resist a slather of the warm mixture on fresh sourdough). Keeps for around one week in the fridge.

I shared this post on Real Food Wednesdays.

Melt an exceptional amount of butter.

Fry onions and garlic until soft.

Add livers and fry.

Add herbs and other seasonings and keep cooking.

Blend with port and cream.

Store in a glass jar in the fridge. Yum!