Quick chicken liver pate

A good tangy, richly flavoured, silky smooth chicken liver pate hits all the umami buttons and delivers huge pleasure return for remarkably little effort.

Quick chicken liver pate Credit: Kitti Gould

• serves

  10

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 80 g butter
• 300 g chicken livers, trimmed
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 100 ml thin cream
• ½ small lemon, juiced
• 2 tbsp brandy
• 2 tbsp port or dessert wine (see note)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
• toasted sourdough, to serve

Chilling time: 2 hours

Instructions

1. Heat a large frying pan over medium - high heat. Add 50 g butter and when melted and foaming, add the livers and fry for 1 minute on each side or just until golden, but still pink on the inside. Be careful not to overcook them – keep some plumpness and pinkness.
2. Add the garlic, cream, lemon juice, brandy, port and a pinch of salt and pepper and stir to combine well. Bring to the boil, then immediately remove the livers with a slotted spoon and place in a blender.
3. Simmer the liquid in the pan until thickened and reduced by about half. Pour into the blender with the livers and add half the thyme leaves. Blend for 30 seconds or until smooth. Taste and add more salt or lemon juice to taste. Spoon into a suitably sized deep serving bowl.
4. Melt the remaining butter in the pan, add the remaining thyme leaves and pour over the top of the pate to form a seal once chilled. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight to allow the flavours to develop.
5. Spread on sourdough toast.

Note

• Brandy is essential for this dish, but you can substitute the port or dessert wine with 1 tablespoon of caramelised cider or balsamic vinegar, vinocotto or pomegranate molasses.

Photography by Kitti Gould.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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