Mama D's Pâté

The time has come my special friends to share my mother's MOST famous recipe. Her pâté is always a staple at our family boozey Christmas party and is the glue in her magnifique beef wellington. I know the concept of pâté is not the most appealing to some but I assure if you put aside your misgivings about liver, fireworks will go off in your mouth.

This recipe is so simple and CHEAP. It tastes like a million bucks and costs about $10 to make. The best way to enjoy this treat is on a crostini with maybe some walnuts, figs, and blue cheese on the plate.

Heather's Chicken Liver Pâté

MAKES A LOT.. enough for 100 crostini (easy)..

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1 lb/450 g chicken livers
• 7 rashers bacon (streaky), chopped
  
• 2 small onions, chopped
  
• 1/4 Tbsp thyme (fresh, chopped preferable)
  
• 2 small bay leaves (or one large)
• 3 Tbsp Dry Sherry
• heavy cream (get a small tub.. will use to add in food processor until smooth)
  
• salt & pepper
• 4 Tbsp clarified butter for top (optional), warm
  

Directions:

• Strain livers and rinse with water. Gross, I know, but just think of it as a science experiment.
  
• For this recipe you can use a large pot or... if you have one, a wok works wonders. Put over med/high heat.
  
• toss in the bacon, onions, thyme, bay leaves, and butter and cook till all of the fat is out of the bacon (about 4 min).
• Throw in the chicken livers and cook 2 min.
• Add the sherry and continue to cook until liver is done. (about 10 min)
  
• When finished, let the mixture cool (you can put it in the fridge). Do NOT put it in the food processor when hot.
• When the mixture is ready, put it in the food processor in batches. You can use a blender if you don't have an fp. Add a little bit of heavy cream to loosen.. you don't want it too runny but it should have a creamy texture. Use your discretion.
• Add salt and pepper to taste
  
• To serve, there are a couple of options: you can put it in a jar (like above without butter), or you can serve in ramekins (or a serving dish) with a coated butter top. If you are just putting it in a dish to serve, remove from the food processor and transfer it into the desired dish and refrigerate. If you want a butter topping, distribute into ramekins (or whatever you want) and refrigerate for an hour. Take out and pour a coating of melted clarified butter over the top. I like to also add some sage leaves for decoration. Return to the fridge until butter is hardened. enjoy!!

Lesson: How to Clarify Butter

Clarifying butter is easy, but time consuming. The process of clarifying is simply removing milk solids and the water content from butter. You are left with the fat/oil that can be heated to a high heat without burning (ie it is perfect substitute for oil).

You can often buy tubs of clarified butter in British supermarkets and some American ones. To clarify your own you must have patience like the karate kid and follow the master's directions. You have to clarify a lot of butter at once but, thankfully it keeps for about two weeks in a sealed container in the fridge.

Step One:
Heat butter ( I would recommend at least three sticks at a time) on a low heat in a pot. You must NOT, under any circumstances, stir, touch or play with the butter as it melts. Let it do its thing.

Step Two:
When it has melted you will start to see white stuff rise to the top. Simply, skim this substance off as and when it comes until you have a clear oily substance left. That, my friends, is the clarified butter.