Liver is one of those things you either love or hate. My mum introduced me to pate when I was quite young. I think my earliest memory of eating liver pate is from primary school and my mum would make a snack of chicken liver pate, on toast with some marmalade.
Somewhere along the way, pate filtered itself out of my life and diet until I was in my 20's and started going to restaurants for meals. In fact I distinctly remember a friend of mine, Caroline, reintroducing pate into my life. She's French and you could say pate and its variations are a staple part of French living and so, it became a part of mine.
Fast forward to a few years ago when I was home and got a hankering for chicken liver pate and of course, I couldn't find it in the shops so I decided to make some
To be fair, making pate is super easy and can be as easy or as difficult as you chose to make it. I chose a simple way or making my pate but one that packs a lot of flavour.
Pate is great as a snack on toast or as a fancy sort of hor d ouvres with some fig jam on toasted baguette. I'd say, give it a go. Its a bit like marmite. You either love it or hate it.
Makes 2 ramekins
250 grams chicken livers, washed, trimmed
100 grams butter
1 large shallot, minced
1 tsp. fresh thyme
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup whiskey
3 tsp creme fraiche, sour cream or mala
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 table spoons orange zest
1/4 cup orange juice
Heat a tablespoon of butter in a skillet and cook shallots, garlic, and thyme for a few minutes until softened. Add the whisky and cook for 1 min and set aside.
Heat the butter and olive oil in the same pan and add chicken livers, cooking until just cooked through. Add the livers to food processor and let cool slightly before adding 50 grams of melted butter and blend until smooth.
Add creme fraiche and seasonings and blend until consistency of pudding. Spoon out into small ramekins or jars and smooth out the tops.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
At this point you can leave them as is, or if you would like a lovely garnish that will help preserve them longer, seal them up with butter.
Melt 3 - 4 tablespoons of butter over low heat. Pour over each chilled mousse, garnishing with a sprig of thyme and cracked pepper. Refrigerate until butter is set.