Chicken Liver Pate Adapted From Michael Fields Cooking School C Recipes

CHICKEN LIVER PATE ADAPTED FROM MICHAEL FIELD'S COOKING SCHOOL C

Steps:

• Clean the chicken livers carefully, cutting away any green or brown spots, then wash them quickly under cold running water and pat them dry with paper towels. Now cut them in half.
• In a large heavy frying pan, melt the first 3 T butter. Add the onions and shallots and cook over moderate heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions and soft and lightly colored. M ix in the chopped apple and cook 3 or 4 minutes longer. When soft enough to mash with a spoon, transfer to the bowl of a food processor.
• In the same pan, melt the second 3 T butter, this time over rather high heat. As the butter foam subsides, add the livers. Over high heat, turn them in the sputtering butter with a wooden spoon for about 3 or 4 minutes. When the livers are quite brown on the wutdiesa and still pink within, remove the pan fro the heat and flame them with the Calvados, which you have warmed slightly. Let the alcohot burn itself out completely.
• Now add the livers and all their juices to the onion-apple mixture. Moisten with 2 T cream and process. Add more cream if necessary. Process until very smooth. With a rubber spatula, crape the mixture out into a fine mest sieve set over a mixing bowl. Rub the past through the sieve with the back of a spoon. Let mixture cool completely.
• Cream the remaining 10 T of butter. When creamed, beat the cool liver paste, little by little into the butter. Stir in the teaspoon of lemon juice and the salt and pepper. Don't be sparing with the salt, since chilling deadens flavor, the pate will be surprisingly less salty than you thought.
• Pack the pate into small terrines or any attravtive quart-size container. Smooth the top witha spatula and pour over it enough clarified butter to cover it completely. This will not only prevent the pate from changing color as it chills, but will make an almost airtight covering that lessens the possibility of spoilage. (If you do not use the clarified butter, cover the crocks with plastic wrap.) Refrigerate at least 3 hours.
• May be frozen.

CHICKEN-LIVER PâTé

Steps:

• Put a large, heavy sauté pan over medium heat, and melt 4 tablespoons of the butter until it begins to foam. Add the shallots, and sauté them until translucent, being careful not to allow them to brown. Add the livers, thyme and Madeira or port, and bring the heat to high. Cook, occasionally stirring the livers around in the pan with a spoon, until the wine has reduced and the livers are lightly browned but still very soft and pink on the inside, approximately 5 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the stove, and put its contents into a blender or food processor, along with the cream and the remaining butter. Purée until smooth, adding a little more cream if necessary. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt if necessary.
• Pack the pâté into a glass jar or bowl, then smooth the top with a spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about two hours or up to five days. Serve with bacon-onion jam and copious amounts of toast.

CHICKEN LIVER PâTé

Steps:

• Thinly slice onion. In a small saucepan combine onion, chicken livers, broth, and allspice and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes, or until chicken livers are cooked through. Drain liver mixture in a sieve and in a food processor purée with butter, Cognac, and salt until smooth. To facilitate cooling, transfer pâté to a plate and spread. Chill pâté in freezer, its surface covered with plastic wrap, 10 minutes.
• In a small bowl whisk cream until it holds stiff peaks and fold in pâté. Transfer pâté to a ramekin and chill in freezer, covered, 15 minutes.
• Serve pâté with crackers or toasts.

BOURBON CHICKEN LIVER PâTé

Steps:

• Melt 1 stick butter in a large nonstick skillet over moderately low heat, then cook onion and garlic, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add herbs, salt, pepper, allspice, and livers and cook, stirring, until livers are cooked outside but still pink when cut open, about 8 minutes. Stir in bourbon and remove from heat. Purée mixture in a food processor until smooth, then transfer pâté to crock and smooth top.
• Melt remaining 1/2 stick butter in a very small heavy saucepan over low heat, then remove pan from heat and let butter stand 3 minutes. If using herb garnish, put sprig on top of pâté. Skim froth from butter, then spoon enough clarified butter over pâté to cover its surface, leaving milky solids in bottom of pan.
• Chill pâté until butter is firm, about 30 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours more.