Up until about twenty years ago, I didn’t have much tolerance for strong-tasting food. I preferred breast meat to chicken legs and thighs, wasn’t keen on stinky cheeses, and kept well away from all things liver.
But
then something changed in me. I’m not sure exactly what, but the
transformation did coincide with my enrolling in cooking school. So
maybe it was just being exposed to all those new taste sensations, and
learning about the history, culture and processes involved in the
creation of food, that opened up my eyes—and taste-buds—to different
flavors. Or perhaps it was just age.
Whatever the reason, I found
myself starting to prefer—craving even—the gamier dark meat of that
oh-so-tender thigh; the pungency of that Époisses de Bourgogne cheese; and yes, liver patés that actually tasted of liver (as opposed to the mild liverwurst I had grown up eating).
But I still had never taken actual livers and cooked them myself. Until I did.
the finished patéNot long ago, I had several chicken livers from a whole chicken I'd bought (you know how they randomly throw handfuls of giblets into the birds at the packing plant), and decided that was the day to try my hand at making paté. Since I’d never made a it before, I sort of winged it. But I did look up on line how to clean the livers. There’s not much to it (click here for a very short instructional video).
Chicken Liver Paté
Ingredients
3-4 chicken livers, cleaned
1 T butter
1 T sherry or brandy
2 T heavy cream
1-2 T cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste
serve with crackers or toast points
Directions
Once
cleaned, I put the livers into a pan in which I had melted a tablespoon
of butter. (I know it looks like a lot of liver, but note that the
skillet is one of the small kinds; there were only about three chicken
livers in total.)
I
cooked them at a medium heat (so as to not burn the butter) until they
were starting to brown, but the insides were still a little pink (you
can cut one in half to see). Near the end of the cooking I poured in
about a tablespoon of sherry (though brandy would have worked too), and
continued cooking until it had reduced.
I took the pan off the flame and mashed the livers up with a fork, making sure I incorporated all the melted butter into them:
Next I added about two tablespoons of heavy cream (which we luckily had on hand for dessert that night), and mixed that in.
I seasoned the paté with salt and a little pepper, and tasted it.
It
was good, but there was so little of it that I decided it needed
something else to make it go farther. Then I remembered I had some cream cheese in the fridge, so I cut a strip of it off the block,
and mixed it into the paté.
I
tasted it again. Not bad! There was now enough that it fit nicely in a
small Japanese bowl I had. I garnished the paté with some chopped
green onions (see photo at top of post), and set it in the fridge to
wait ’til cocktail hour.
About ten minutes before five, I toasted
some French bread and cut it into toast points, and set out a bowl of hummus to go along with the paté.
The
flavor had improved in the several hours between preparation and
service, which had given the flavors time to meld. The paté was livery,
but not too much. And the cream and cream cheese gave it a luscious
mouth-feel and, well...creaminess. And you know how I do love cream.
🌿 🐓 🌱
Look what's new from Leslie!
Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops,
the Law, and Cooking for RBG
(available for purchase here)
-Foreword Reviews (starred review)
"[This] book is a romp from cover to cover—and, just like a great meal, left me ready for more."
-Karen Shimizu, executive editor, Food & Wine
Praise for THE FRAGRANCE OF DEATH:
Lisa K's Book Reviews
"[An] enjoyable fifth outing for Santa Cruz, Calif., chef Sally Solari.... This well-done culinary cozy should win new fans for the ever enterprising Sally."
Publishers Weekly
All five Sally Solari Mysteries are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.
This sounds delightful, and familiar - I think I might have made something like it in the past. I've loved chicken livers for a long time. They make a great stroganoff. Will save this recipe! I'm also a total convert to dark meat and pungent cheeses.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it has to do with our sense of smell and taste diminishing over the years as we age....
DeleteIsn't it funny how our taste buds change through the years. There are things I use to eat that sure don't appeal to me now as well as finding out that things I once won't have touched tasting good to me now. I've learned to never discount a food as never going to eat that.
ReplyDeleteAlthough not a big fan of liver, I know of several that are. This would be great to serve when they come for a visit. Thank you for the recipe!
2clowns at arkansas dot net
You're a good soul to make something for others that you don't eat! And yes, I'll taste anything at least once--assuming it's truly a food folks really eat, and not just some "test" for me. Because you never know: I was sure I'd detest sweetbreads, and they're now one of my favorite foods!
DeleteI'm still waiting for my tastebuds to change. I sadly am the pickiest eater of anyone I know.
ReplyDeleteHa! At least there are lots of foods to choose from, April!
DeleteMy sister used to make a wicked pate with chicken livers. LIvers, butter (lots of it!), dill, maybe wine? All processed in a blender. It's been many years so I'm hazy on the ingredients.
ReplyDeleteBoy was it good.
She even brought an electric pan into the hospital and cooked them for us after a bad car accident. Figured it'd help build us up. Certainly miles better than the food they were serving us!
Oh, my goodness, how I love that story of the electric pan in the hospital--and to cook liver, to boot! Ha! What a gal!
DeleteWe had quite an audience with people following the delcious aroma to our room! We would have been really out of luck if she hadn't been available to help us out at that time.
Delete