OK, I confess! I went a little overboard a while ago trying out different liver pâté recipes. In total I made three different batches of pâté using two different recipes and different mixes of beef and chicken liver. To be honest with you - after having worked with the liver (not the greatest thing to touch!) and with its “special” aroma – I was not even sure that I wanted to taste the pâté any longer. Fortunately it had to cool down in the fridge overnight – and the next day I was ready to dig in!
The first recipe comes from Allers, but I changed it just a little – not sure if it was for better or for worse…..
Hjemmelaget Leverpostei (Homemade liver pâté)
1. Cut 500 gr liver in cubes and poach in boiling water for 3 minutes. The recipe called for pork liver but I could not find it in the stores near our house. So instead I used beef and chicken liver. I made one batch with only beef liver and another batch with about half and half of beef and chicken liver.
2. Put the poached liver along with the following ingredients in a bowl and mix just a little with a large spoon.
· 100 gr vegetable shortening (the recipe said 250 gr but I thought that was way too much)
· Half small onion, chopped
· 2 to 3 anchovies (I think I put more than that!)
3. Grind the above mix in the meat grinder. Once for coarser pate (which is what did) or twice if you want a finer pate.
4. Add the following ingredients to the ground liver mix and mix well:
· 2 tbs olive oil
· 1 dl flour
· 2 eggs (whole)
· 2 dl heavy cream
· 2 tsp salt
· Plenty of freshly ground pepper
· ½ tsp ground ginger
· 1 tsp thyme (I used fresh thyme)
5. Preheat oven to 175°C (approximately 340° F).
6. Put liver mixture in small oiled loaf tins and decorate with thyme sprigs or pieces of anchovy. I used some small aluminum tins I found at the store. They have lids that I think will be good for storage.
7. Cook in oven in a water bath for about one hour till the internal temperature is 76°C. It took 55 minutes in my oven to reach this temperature.
8. Let the pâté cool down in the forms.
9. The original recipe indicated that the pâté can be frozen. If it is edible and we do not eat it all at once, I will try to freeze it and I will let you know later on how that turns out.
Before the oven:
After the oven:
Pâté Poulet
This was a recipe I found in the Crème de Colorado Cookbook, but once again I made some modifications and I have to take all the blame for the potential disastrous result. I prepared this recipe last and as you can see the trend is obvious… measurements did not matter as much at this stage…..it was all done “al ojo”.
1. In a large pan sauté the following ingredients until the liver is just done. I have no idea when the liver is “just done” so I may have overcooked it….. ugh! It was definitely not raw.
· About 2 pounds chicken liver
· Green onions, about a cup
· Plenty of butter
· A generous amount of fresh thyme
2. Add the following ingredients to the mix:
· ½ cup butter, cut into pieces that will fit in the meat grinder
· 4 slices of bacon, browned and chopped
· A bunch of anchovies (probably 4 to 5 pieces)
3. Grind the mix in the meat grinder (or food processor).
4. Reduce ½ cup sherry to about ¼ cup in a small saucepan and add to the ground liver mix.
5. Add the following to the ground liver and mix well:
6. Add salt. The recipe suggested ½ tsp, but at this stage I was just doing it “al gusto” so who knows how much I added.
7. Stir in heavy cream till the consistency looks right! …..coming from the one who has always complained about the Chilean recipe books that are not specific about measurements….{eye roll}.
8. This recipe filled four small oiled loaf tins which I decorated with chopped green onions. I left the tins in the fridge overnight to chill and firm.
The Tasting
Alvaro and I apparently have the same taste in liver pâté. We both preferred the beef liver version with the mixed beef and chicken next. Neither of us cared much for the chicken liver only version of the pâté, but that is probably because we prefer the coarser pâté and for some reason the chicken liver turned out very fine. Both Valeria and Nibaldo only liked the chicken liver pâté. I guess we have some for all tastes!
We had lots of leftovers which were frozen for future use and we will update you on how it tastes after defrosting.
Let us know if you are able to come up with improved versions of the liver pâté recipes. We love pâté and nothing is better than home made with all pronounceable ingredients.