Pate is an excellent choice on keto but so often the shop bought ones contain many ingredients that you do not need, mainly added to preserve but often just to bulk out the product and lower the cost. The thing is, that pate has been made and preserved at home for ever and we have just forgotten how. Once you make this super easy pate you will never buy any again. With chicken liver readily available frozen for less than £1,this is cheap, tasty and looks great for a posh dinner party starter.
Ingredients
Chicken livers, fresh or frozen and defrosted
a small onion
butter (about a pack)
150 ml double cream
Dijon mustard
garlic powder
dried tyme
brandy (optional)
salt and pepper
chop the onion into small piecesFry the onion in a knob of butter over a gentle heat, you do not want crispy fried onions, but translucent soft ones, having the heat too high will also cause the butter to burn, this can be avoided by adding a small slash of olive oil to the pan. This will take about 5 minutesWhile the onions are frying tip the chicken livers into a sieve and rinse under a cold tapChicken livers are not pretty things and because they usually chopped up no care is taken in their presentation. After they have been rinsed, lay them on a board and have a look at them and start to remove any stringy bits that are clearly not part of the liverOnce any odd bits are removed, chop each liver into small chunks as they will be blended later we are only interested in even sizes to help with even cookingAdd the chopped liver to the cooked softened onions and continue to fry, add another knob of butter if it looks a bit dry, its almost impossible to add too much butter to the pan and it will help with flavour and textureAdd a good teaspoon of Dijon mustard to the pan with salt and pepper and a sprinkle of garlic powderAdd a sprinkle of dried tyme to the pan as its cookingOver cooking liver makes it tough , so you want to cook it enough and then when you take it off the heat there will be enough heat in the pan to finish off the cooking, this will be when the liver has changed colour and there is just a little bit of pink showingAdd a measure of brandy /a large splash to the hot pan and stand back from the cooker do not be tempted to drown the pan in brandy as when it flames it will burn for ages and with a big (dangerous )flame . Keep a damp tea towel handy to put out the flames if they get out of handAs the brandy vapours are released you can tilt the pan towards the heat source and it will catch fire, this is flaming . DON’T PANIC! the flames will only remain while there is alcohol to fuel it.Allow the flames to die down
Leave the liver to cool down for a few minutes as it will cause a big mess in the food processor if its put in too hotAdd the now warm liver mixture to a blender or food processor and add 150 ml of double creamBlitz the contents until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides
When the pate is ready it will be smooth and pale in colour, a drop more cream can be added if necessaryNow you need to decide how to present the pate, you can use a loaf tin and then cut slices to serve or you can use ramekins to make individual portions. I thought I would experiment with a silicon mould for small petit fours to make mini single serve portions. silicon makes it easier to turn out but if you only have a metal loaf tin its a good idea to line the tin with cling film to help turn it out laterUse a tea spoon to fill the cavities of your chosen mouldsmooth the tops to make even surface, leave a space at the top
Here are other items I could have usedMelt some butter in the microwave. I can’t say exactly how much as it will depend on what you have chosen to serve your pate inI have transferred the silicon tray to a cake stand as it will be difficult to move when the butter is added without spilling it. This isn’t necessary if you use glass/metal containers.Using a teaspoon cover each of the pates with butter, this is an old fashioned way of preserving, the butter makes an air tight seal and keeps the pate fresh until its eaten
Transfer to the fridge to setPop them out of the silicon and you have an individual pate portion for lunch, or ready to put on a bed of leaves for a starter with some multi seed crackers
