I don’t know about you, but when I have dinner out at restaurants, chicken liver pâté is one of my go to starters……or actually, it used to be.
One – times have changed, I haven’t been to a restaurant for a long while due to lockdown!
Two – I know how to make chicken liver pâté now so I won’t need to order it any more, meaning I can choose something else just as lovely on the menu!!
So is it hard?
It’s funny that you should ask! For years, I wondered how lovely it would be if I could make chicken liver pâté at home, but I put that thought to the back of my mind because for some reason I assumed it would be quite tough.
How wrong I was – I am not joking, this starter is one of the easiest you’ll make PLUS you can make it ahead of time if you’re having a dinner party, so one less thing to stress about! I’m totally bowled over by it and I only wish I’d realised it sooner.
Top tips for a good Chicken Liver Pâté
- Buy the best chicken livers you can – the darker they are, the better they’ll taste. Organic livers should be darker so try to go for those.
- Some folk soak the chicken livers in milk before using. This is thought to eliminate any strong flavours but to be honest, I’ve never done this. Maybe some other livers need it, but I don’t think this is necessary with chicken liver.
- I’ve added nutmeg and mace to my chicken liver pâté as those are the spices I like in mine. But you can add other spices too – maybe star anise or fennel? Play around and see what you like.
- After making the pâté, it needs to be topped with clarified butter as this makes it last longer – up to two weeks in the fridge. Clarified butter is just butter that has had its solids removed. Put the butter in a pan on a medium heat. After 10 minutes, start skimming off the foam. You’ll then see the solids at the bottom of the pan. Carefully strain, through muslin cloth leaving the solids behind, and you’ll have your clarified butter.
- So the clarified butter preserves the life of the chicken liver pâté but is it edible? It sure is. It’s up to you whether you want to eat it or not, but you could spread it onto your sourdough before you layer the pâté on top. Deee-licious!
Other Recipes
Before we get started, if this chicken liver pâté with port has tickled your fancy but you’d prefer it without alcohol, that’s fine, just leave it out. It’s still just as tasty!
You might want to consider other livers? Maybe lamb liver pâté or a rich pork liver pâté.
If you like these starters, try some others like my stunning Spanish Croquetas or maybe some air fryer okra. Different but no less delicious!
As always please do let me know what you think of these recipes – it makes me so happy to know you’ve tried them!
Chicken Liver Pâté with Port
Ingredients
For the Pâté
- 400 g chicken livers, membranes removed
- 40 g butter
- 1 small banana shallot, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp brandy
- 2 tbsp port
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch mace
- 2 tbsp double cream
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper
To top the pâté
- 150 g clarified butter
- 6 sprigs thyme
Instructions
- Add the butter to a pan and turn the heat onto medium. Once melted, add the onion and grate the garlic in too.
- Once the onions have sweated down, add the chicken livers, tomato purée, mace, nutmeg, bayleaf, brandy, port, salt, pepper and double cream.
- Mix all the ingredients together for 5-10 minutes until the chicken livers are cooked through.
- Either blend all the ingredients together or pour the contents into a blender and blitz until smooth.
- Divide the mixture between 6 ramekins
- Cover with the melted clarified butter and place a sprig of thyme on top.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Serve chilled