Chicken Liver Pâté With Fig Preserves Recipes

Steps:

• Set aside 1/2 cup butter to soften slightly.
• Place onion and apple in a food processor with the steel knife blade; process until coarsely chopped.
• Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and apple; cook and stir until lightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Return onion and apple to food processor.
• Melt 5 tablespoons butter in the same skillet over high heat; cook chicken livers until browned and just done inside, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and pour in brandy; allow to warm up without stirring. Carefully light the liquid; let flames subside.
• Transfer chicken liver mixture to the food processor with onion and apple. Add cream and process until very smooth. Transfer mixture into a bowl and refrigerate until cool, at least 30 minutes.
• Cut the softened 1/2 cup butter into pieces and process in the food processor; add about 1/3 of the liver mixture and blend about 5 seconds. Repeat 2 more times with remaining liver mixture. Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper and blend well.
• Transfer pate to a serving dish or several small dishes; top with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled and set, about 3 hours.

Steps:

• In a large skillet cook the onions in 2 tablespoons of the butter over moderate heat, stirring, until they are softened and transfer them to a food processor. In the skillet melt 2 tablespoons of the remaining butter over moderately high heat until the foam subsides and in it sauté the chicken livers, patted dry and seasoned with salt and pepper, stirring, for 2 minutes, or until they are browned on the outside but still pink within. Transfer the livers to the food processor. Add the Port to the skillet, bring it to a boil, and deglaze the skillet, scraping up the brown bits, for 1 minute. Add the Port to the food processor with the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, softened, the allspice, the lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste, purée the mixture until it is smooth, and force it through a fine sieve into a bowl. Line an oiled 1 1/2-quart terrine or straight-sided dish with plastic wrap and pour the pâté, covered, for 5 hours, or until it is firm. The pâté may be made 4 days in advance and kept covered and chilled. Invert the pâté onto a plate, discarding the plastic wrap, and smooth the top and sides. Spread the preserves on the top and serve the pâté with the toast points or water biscuits.

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.

Steps:

• Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic, onion and chicken livers. Reduce heat to low, and simmer approximately 10 minutes, until chicken livers are tender and no longer pink.
• Place chicken liver mixture in a blender with dry sherry, cream cheese, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover and chill in the refrigerator approximately 2 hours before serving.

Steps:

• In a spice grinder or clean coffee grinder, combine peppercorns, allspice, clove and coriander seeds; grind until fine and set aside.
• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium-high heat; when foam subsides, add onion and cook until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add livers to pan and sprinkle with salt; cook livers on one side until they begin to brown, about 2 minutes, then flip them and cook the other side. Be sure to keep heat relatively high so that the outside of livers sears and inside stays pink.
• Put onion, livers and their buttery juices into a food processor or blender with remaining butter, the cream, spices and brandy. Purée mixture until it is smooth; taste and adjust seasoning.
• Put pâté in a terrine or bowl, smooth top and put in refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours or until fully set. Serve pâté with bread or crackers.