Pâte Recipe

Pâté of Chicken Livers

Pâté of chicken livers is a wonderful appetizer and it offers an unusual opportunity: the intensity of liver flavor can be controlled to whatever extent you wish. Because of this pleasant quality "I don't like liver! Never have and never will!" can change to "Oh my, this is good!" And as the liver flavor is moderated the texture also changes from granular chopped liver (low-rent cheap) to very much like buttery foie gras (very costly).
The pork moderates the intensity of liver flavor and the pork fat and additional butter smooth the texture of the pâté. This recipe, with equal amounts of chicken livers and pork, makes a mild pâté. Adjust the proportions to suit your palate.

Ingredients:
A pound (500g) of somewhat fatty pork
One medium onion, diced
A cup or so of chicken stock, enough to cover the pork and onion
A pound (500g) of chicken livers
Two tablespoons (15ml) cooking oil
One half teaspoon (2.5ml) of prepared Dijon mustard
One teaspoon (5ml) of rubbed sage
One very small pinch nutmeg
(Be cautious with the nutmeg -
it is easy to put in too much.)
One teaspoon (5ml) salt
Additional butter as desired
(If you use salted butter you will
need to adjust the amount of salt.)

Method:
The pork should be sliced thin and simmered with the onion until very tender, an hour or more, in enough chicken stock to cover them. Let the mixture cool and strain the pork and onion with a sieve. Refrigerate the pork-onion mixture and the stock separately. When the stock is cold, separate and collect the fat from the top of the stock. The stock can be saved for another use.
While the stock is cooling, rinse and drain the livers, pat them dry and sautée them in the oil. Be careful to not overcook them: they should still be pink in their centers and not hardened. Let them cool to room temperature.
I use a hand grinder for the next steps. You may prefer a food processor. Grind the pork together with the onions, then the livers. Grind the pork once again, then mix the livers with the pork and blend in the congealed fat from the stock.
Blend in additional butter as desired and at this point add the salt, nutmeg, sage and mustard and mix all thoroughly. Adjust the seasoning to taste and refrigerate.