Chicken liver pâté with fruit glaze
It’s so easy to make your own paté – and so very delicious! The ultimate addition to any cheeseboard or platter (perfect on Huntley & Palmers Baked Flatbreads range) – it’s creamy and rich, with the tartness of the fruit glaze cutting through beatifully. Best of all, you know exactly what’s gone into it. Makes one medium bowl.
Ingredients
350g free-range chicken livers
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
50g butter, cubed
1 large shallot, roughly chopped
1 clove NZ garlic, roughly chopped
¼ cup brandy (optional)
3/4 cup cream
2 tbsp fruit paste (pear, fig, plum)
¼ cup red or white wine
Method
Trim the chicken livers to remove all the fat and connective tissue, looking out for any greenish patches – cut these off as they will make the pate bitter.
Heat the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the shallots, garlic and thyme, and cook until very soft, 10 minutes or so. Add the chicken livers and cook for about 5 minutes each side, or until just cooked through.
Add the brandy, increase the heat and boil to cook off the alcohol for half a minute. I flambé the pan – sometimes this just happens by accident so be prepared!
Transfer everything to a food processor and blitz until very smooth, scraping the sides a few times with a spatula. Add the butter, one cube at a time, waiting until each cube in incorporated before adding the next.
Add the cream in a very slow drizzle and process until the mixture is satiny smooth. If it starts to split, add a little more cream. Taste, and season with lots of cracked pepper and salt – you want it to be just slightly over-salted, as the salt flavour will reduce as it cools.
Spoon the mixture into greased ramekins (or one larger greased bowl). Bang firmly on the bench or a hard surface to level it out and remove bubbles. Let set for half an hour in the fridge.
Heat the fruit paste and wine over a medium heat until the bubbling and the paste is dissolved. Carefully pour it over the pate to cover it completely. Refrigerate for 1 hour to set.
