CHICKEN PATE

Rich adores Chicken Pate and has been asking for some since we finished the Duck Pate last weekend. We have friends for dinner I thought it would make a great canapé spread on slices of baguette. (Slice a baguette, sprinkle the slices with olive oil and pop them in the oven at 180 for 5-10 minutes till they are crisp, once cool spread on the Pate)

Pate is surprisingly easy to make so give it a go. The great thing about this recipe is that it makes a good quantity. We will eat the left over Pate for lunch on Saturday ... all we need is some salad and a fresh baguette ...

CHICKEN PATE

Fills 0.5l Kilner Jar

Ingredients

360g Chicken Livers, 180g Butter (Room Temperature), 36ml Sherry, 1 Large clove (or two small ones) of grated garlic, 1 Heaped tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme, Olive oil, Salt and Pepper

Place the livers in a frying pan with the olive oil. Cook them on a low heat till they have just cooked through
Once cooked transfer the livers to a food processor and blitz till smooth
Place the pan back on the hob and add the garlic and herbs, stir for 30 seconds then pour in the sherry. Be careful when pouring in the alcohol, if the pan is hot then it will flame. It is good if it does because it is burning off the alcohol. If it does not flame allow the alcohol to boil for a minute or so till the alcohol has boiled off
Pour the alcohol, garlic and any bits left in the pan from the livers into the food processor and blitz quickly again so they are mixed through, remove the lid and allow the livers to cool while you cut up the butter
Once the livers are cool add the butter to the food processor, season well and then blitz till all the butter has mixed into the pate
Transfer the pate to a Kilner Jar and store in fridge
Once cool serve with crusty bread

Cooking notes

When making pate I work on a ratio of double the livers to butter. Make sure that the livers are cooked through but do not over cook them as over cooked livers will make the pate taste slightly bitter.

Wait till the liver has cooled before adding the butter, if you add it to hot livers the butter will melt.

Adapting

You can change the herbs and alcohol in this recipe to change the taste of the pate.

I enjoy Marsala or Port instead of the Sherry and Rosemary or any other robust herb instead of the Thyme. If you make the pate with Rosemary use half a tablespoon as it is much stronger in flavour and a tablespoon will over power the pate.