Chicken Liver Parfait. Big whoop, I hear you say as you start navigating away from the page. But trust me, if you are in any way partial to chicken liver (and even if you’re not, but you’re easily persuaded to partake in activities you know you shouldn’t) try this! It is slightly more finicky than bog standard pâté, but it’s totally worth the effort of cleaning the icky sieve afterwards. It’s like the conscious (and poor) person’s foie gras. Just please don’t try to fry it. And whatever you do, don’t attempt to make it directly after watching an episode of American Horror Story like I did, cause the whole process is a bit gross. You’ve been warned. Also, you might want to befriend a cardiothoracic surgeon and keep him / her on hand before tucking in. This is not diet food!
From Food & Home Entertaining
Chicken Liver Parfait
Hands-on time
20 mins
Cook time
45 mins
Total time
1 hour 5 mins
Author: www.twosuitcasesandatinpot.com
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- 500g chicken livers
- 500ml milk
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 shallots or small onions, chopped
- 6 sprigs thyme, leaves only
- 375ml port
- 375ml sherry (not too sweet)
- 500g butter, melted
- 1 large egg yolk
- Salt and pepper
Method
- NB. Ensure all your ingredients are at room temperature when mixing or they might curdle.
- Clean the livers and soak in the milk overnight to remove any bitterness.
- The next day, place garlic, shallots and thyme in a saucepan with the port and sherry. Simmer until reduced to a thick syrup and allow to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 150˚C.
- Rinse the livers and pat dry with a paper towel.
- In a food processor, blend the livers with the syrup reduction and slowly add the butter in a steady stream. Once it’s all incorporated, stir in the egg yolk. Don’t blend again, or the mixture might curdle. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and season to taste. This is a bit tricky, cause you really don’t want to taste it at this point! I suggest cooking a teaspoon full in the microwave to check the seasoning.
- Pour into a terrine lined with plastic wrap. I just used a loaf tin, but this meant that the plastic melted where it came into direct contact with the metal. In retrospect this was a doff move.
- Place in a bain marie or oven tray with hot water halfway up the side of the dish. Bake for about 45 minutes. The centre should be at 68˚C (a knife stuck in the centre and placed on your lip should be hot, but not burn you. If it burns you you’ve overdone it and will now also require some Bactroban for that burn on top of having to dig out the frozen cheese puffs because you promised tonight’s hostess that you’d bring a snack to the party. I suggest you just sit down with a glass of wine before you start cleaning up that icky sieve.)
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the water. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving. Don’t be tempted to prod it in any way!
- Unmould and serve thin slices with melba toast.