Pâté Passion

Pâté, for me, is French. Despite the fact I grew up on Norwegian leverpostei, liver pate, similar to German liverwurst that came in a can. Yes, in a yellow can with the picture of a happy child. Every Norwegian kid would have a slice or two of bread smeared with it for breakfast/lunch/snack/evening meal. It’s probably still one of the first solid foods given to a toddler. Bread. Liver. Good stuff, right? Although I don’t think most of us thought of it as liver. It was just tasty and it filled us up.

 

The slightly fancier version, family brought to us from Denmark. Their pâté is coarser, grainier, and packed with flavour. A delicious treat.

 

But nothing can compare to the variety of pâtés found in France.  When I —  as an innocent 17-year old — arrived in Provence and saw the selection available, it was mind-blowing. We did our fair share of tastings and a favourite sandwich to this day: fresh baguette, local pâté.

 

There’s no end to what you can do with a bit of offal, seasoning, a hint of liquor and … what else; butter!

 

Finally, I decided it was time to try to make my own. The allure of mixing my own flavours won over the worry it would be too difficult. You know what, it’s easy! A bit of chopping, some frying, help from the food processor and some time — et voilá, c’est fait!

 

There’s no party without pâté 🙂

 

 

 

 

Simmering liver and apple.

 

The only kind of processing I like.

 

It’s getting there.

 

 

Butter makes everything better.

 

All done!

This has been my breakfast on a Wasa cracker the last few days. Great start to the day!

Pâté

adapted from an amazing book called Home Made by Yvette van Boven

I made two kinds, with slight variations: 

Chicken

• 3 shallots, diced
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 lb chicken liver
• 2 cups cream
• 1 Tablespoon Brandy
• thyme
• salt
• freshly ground pepper

Beef

• 3 shallots, diced
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 lb beef liver
• 2 cups cream
• 1 Tablespoon Cognac
• rosemary
• salt
• freshly ground pepper

Sauté the shallots in 1 Tablespoon of the butter until they’re see-through. Place in the bowl of your food processor

Sauté the chicken livers in batches in the same pan for approx. 5 minutes. They have to stay pink on the inside! Place in the food processor

When they are all cooked, add the cream, booze, and 2 Tablespoons of butter to the bowl and finely grind.

Press the pâté with the round side of a spoon through a sieve into the bowl below.

Transfer the pâté to a dish in which you want to serve it.

In the meantime, melt the 1 ¼ sticks butter on low heat in a saucepan. Pour only the clear part of the melted butter over the pâté to neatly seal it. Finish with a sprig of thyme.

Leave the pâté to set for at least 4 hours.

 

Comments

1. Ratatouille et Rosé - mainlyfood - […] mentioned my love for everything French before. I may be Norwegian by birth, but somewhere in my long line…