Chicken Liver Paté

My first experience with chicken liver pate was at the French Culinary Institute. A classmate of mine, Long Xiong was sautéing a ton of these nasty looking organs, and in a separate pot he was boiling all manner of trees and leaves. It was all chucked into a food processor and pureed. He spread it on toast points and I was reluctant to eat it, which usually isn’t my M.O., but I did and it was one of those tastes I’ll never forget.

A year and a half later, on Thanksgiving Day 2008 I tried to replicate Long’s pate. It was different but still lip-smackin’ good. It’s perfect with toast points and wine jam!

Ingredients

1 Quart Chicken Livers
2 Branches Rosemary
6 Branches of Thyme
6 Sage Leaves
2 Bay Leaves
1 Pint Heavy Cream
½ Large Yellow Onion, chopped fine
1 Cup Sherry or Port Wine
Salt & Pepper

Yield: ½ Qt. of Pate

Procedure:

1. Pour the cream, bay leaves and herbs into a boiling pot. Reduce by half on high heat.
2. While the cream is reducing, heat up some vegetable oil in a skillet until the surface is rippling. Sauté the chicken livers on med-high heat until the bottom side caramelizes (appx 5 minutes or less) flip and brown. Once both sides are browned, remove the chx livers from the sauté pan, lower the heat and add the chopped onions. Sprinkle with salt and sauté. Once the onions begin to brown, pour off any excess fat and deglaze with the sherry or port wine. Reduce by half on high heat.
3. In a large food processor, add chx livers, onion/sherry reduction, ¼ small teaspoon of salt and pepper. Pour in the reduced cream. Puree for 1 minute. Taste and adjust.
4. Set in chilled ramekins and place in the refrigerator for an hour.