pickled vegetables

homemade pâté

This is one of those dishes I probably never would have made had I still been living in England, but now I know how easy it is to to make, I don’t think I’ll every buy it again – no matter where I live!

It is so easy to pick up good pâté in the UK but I find it almost impossible to find pâté here in California. For me, it is such a nostalgic comfort food. The first bite always takes me back to the time around Christmas when my Mum would fill the fridge with all sorts of goodies and we would nibble our way through them in the lazy lunches and suppers around Christmas.

I’ve had my fair share of pâté spread onto a crusty baguette in France too. Gorgeous in a different kind of way.

This recipe is so easy but so good. My only problem with it has been that I end up making so much at a time that I become a pâté pusher to anyone who comes to the house. Luckily my fellow Brit ex-pats are equally pâté starved so are usually thrilled to go home with a pot of this. My kids surprised me by loving it too. It has been great to have in the fridge for their sandwiches and I also stirred some through hot pasta with peas for a quick dinner for them last night. Chicken livers are really inexpensive and packed with iron. I love them.

This is a great party dish, serve it with crackers or toasted bread, pickles and cornichons. It is a delight to have a pot of this in the fridge ready for lunch and it will happily keep in the fridge for a week. You can even freeze it.

lex house pate

Ingredients (to make enough to fill a couple of jam jars)

  • 100g (3.5oz) salted butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and flattened
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 225g (8oz) chicken livers, try to get organic as the liver is what processes all that the chicken eats
  • 1 tablespoon Marsala or Cognac
  • 1 small anchovy fillet
  • Half a teaspoon each of freshly ground pepper and salt

To make:

1.  Melt a knob of the butter in a frying pan (I use my Scanpan) and gently cook the garlic, bay and thyme until the garlic is soft but not brown. Around 4 minutes.

2.  Add the livers and Cognac and cook on a medium high heat for around 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the livers to be brown on the outside but still pink in the middle. Don’t be scared of the pink middle. The trick is not to overcook them so aim for the middle 20% to be pink when you cut a liver in half. Remove the bay leaves and thyme.

3.  Put the butter, anchovy, salt and pepper in a food processor or blender and whiz together before adding the chicken livers and juices. Purée until smooth and check for seasoning.

4.  Divide either into individual ramekins or into a narrow necked jar. The narrow neck is to reduce the amount on surface area and therefore reduce the amount of air that will get to the surface of the pâté. Cover and chill for 4 hours or overnight before serving. You can keep the pâté for 4 days in the fridge. You can also freeze it.

Equipment

You can now buy the equipment I use in this recipe through my shop. I’ve spent years testing my favourite bits of equipment so rest-assured that whatever I recommend is the best tool for the job and will give you great results without cluttering your kitchen with unused tools. I receive a small affiliate fee from Amazon if you buy via my link. The products don’t cost you any more. These small fees help me keep creating all the free content I share.

Get more recipes like this

Find more recipes for starters/appetisers and pâté here.

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