chicken
liver
pÂté
This is an old recipe, one of only two that came from my domestic kitchen pre 1981 and the opening of Mistress Augustie’s Restaurant. It is much denser than all commercially available pâtés that are mainly fluffed up with extenders that are even cheaper than chicken livers.
AO 6 APRIL 2023
cheap
and
delicious
for the pâté
125g unsalted butter
250g p/w brown onion, roughly chopped
black pepper, freshly and coarsely milled
125g fatty speck, rind removed and roughly chopped
500g chicken liver, cleaned
6 sprigs of thyme, stalked and finely chopped
30g chunky rind orange hom-made marmalade
Maldon sea salt to taste
for the port wine jelly
60g port wine
60g water
2.4g leaf gelatine
juniper berries crushed…we like a lot but about 10g
On medium heat sauté the onion in the butter with the pepper until it is softened, then add the speck and continue cooking everything is well browned.
I use a well-seasoned heavy duty steel pan from Füriteknics….lovely even heat. Add the chicken liver, be warned they can explode and when they are half cooked add the thyme. Continue cooking until they are almost cooked through, turn the heat of and rest them in the pan for another ten minutes, stirring them over a couple of times.
Put everything into a food processor, add the marmalade and a small amount of Maldon sea salt. Process until smooth, taste and adjust salt and pepper. Scrape into a container/s, smooth the top and clean the edges with paper towel. Contact cover with Freezer-go-Between and refrigerate until cold.
for the port wine jelly
Weigh the port and water into a small saucepan. Soften the gelatine in cold water, bring the liquid to the boil, turn the heat off, add the gelatine and stir until it is completely dissolved. Allow to cool.
Scatter the crushed juniper berries over the top of the pâté and carefully ladle the cooled jelly over the top, cover and refrigerate.
JIM LAHEY’S FABULOUS CIABATTA MAKEs THE MOST PERFECT TOAST CLICK HERE
PÂTé PARCEL
This simple pâté became one of our signature dishes. Wrapped in savoury pastry and decorated to look like a parcel. Served with a Madeira jus or classic orange sauce it received undeserved accolades.
Use this pastry…it is very forgiving and doesn’t go soggy. The most important detail for making these parcels is cut your pâté block and make sure they are very cold…EVEN pop them in the freezer for thirty minutes. Work one a a time and carefully seal with egg yolk.
Cover each parcel with Freezer-go-Between and refrigerate until you are ready to cook them. Pre heated 185°C oven taking them straight from the fridge. They are ready when the pastry is golden and crisped.
