The kids named this one. Gotta give them credit for creativity.
It’s a bit of a dreary day here today. We’ve been out all morning and I’d promised them a movie afternoon with popcorn for behaving while we did the shopping. We don’t do microwave popcorn with all it’s nasties, so a little homemade snack was on the agenda.
Enter our Octomerm creation. I don’t really have proportions for you- I didn’t measure.
Feel free to play with the proportions to suit your tastes.
Iron deficiency has been a bit of a problem around here- for me and also my little man. Not surprising really with the spate of digestive trouble he had as we tirelessly tried to work out the unique set of foods triggering his gut. Since the offending foods have been removed and his gut is slowly repairing his iron levels have bounced back up again. With stronger digestion behind us, I’m determined to cover our needs through our food as the bottle of iron tablets slowly runs out.
Enter Pâté. Well actually, enter liver, however pâté seemed the most likely way I’d get it in to any of us in a hurry. Liver has been on my mental “to cook” list for awhile. It’s packed with iron, has double the folate than spinach for the same weight, is a great source of B vitamins and is one of the few foods that contain Vitamin D and preformed vitamin A. You can see why it’s long been recommended for pregnant women!
To me liver is an important food for everyone- it’s deeply nourishing and is a great blood building food for kids. It’s worth learning to like. Like all new foods you may need to try it more than once to acquire a taste for it, especially the kiddies. Or if you’re like me you already love pâté, you’ve just never made it before.
Being new to making pâté, some googling was in order. It seemed easy enough in method- “just don’t over cook the liver” was the recurrent message, or grainy pâté would be the result. So I though perhaps I’d try to find a recipe for my favourite commercial pâté- Maggie Beer’s Pheasant Farm pâté. Amazingly there is a replica recipe floating around however I didn’t have any of the three (yes three) different varieties of alcohol in it and didn’t fancy buying them all. (I’m determined I’ll make this one day though, I even bought the Juniper berries at the markets on Sunday)
Then I found this one, and all I needed to buy was brandy.
Easy. As I tend to do, I altered it a little and this is what I came up with.
Chicken Liver Pâté
Ingredients
1kg chicken livers
750g organic butter, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 brown shallots or 1 onion, finely chopped
small bunch fresh thyme leaves
150ml brandy
1/2tsp grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
100g extra butter, for topping
Method
1. Trim the chicken livers of any stringy sinews, then rinse them and gently pat dry with kitchen paper.
2. Melt a third of the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, for about 4 minutes, or until softened, then add in the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
3. Add the livers and thyme, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3-4 minutes, or until the livers are coloured on the outside but pink in the center. Pour in the brandy, cook for an extra 10 seconds, then add the remaining butter and nutmeg to the pan.
4. Set aside for a few minutes for the butter to soften, then puree the mixture in batches in a blender until smooth.
5. Press the pâté through a fine sieve for a silky smooth result or leave as is if you don’t mind a rougher texture. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
6. Spoon the pâté into your chosen dish/dishes and chill. Melt the extra butter and pour a little over the pâté to create an airtight seal. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before eating.
To serve eat straight from the fridge or if you think of it in advance- pull the pâté out and allow to warm up for around 20 mins- this will help the butter seal soften as well as the flavours of the pâté to shine though. Serve with your choice of bread, hot toast or crackers- my favourite are the grain-free almond meal crackers I make or toasted sourdough bread. it’s also delicious with sprouted breads or slices of fresh cucumber.
Granted this makes a bucket load of pâté. Well actually it makes 4 ramekins and 2 Chinese containers full of pâté- however much that is. It’ll keep for up to a week once the seal has been cracked and 2 weeks with the butter seal locking the air out. Apparently you can also freeze it without affecting the taste or texture so I have but you’ll probably need to check back for the verdict.
Sandi Cooper Naturopathy 