Making Chicken Liver Pate

When we butcher chickens, in addition to the meat, we save the gizzards, hearts and livers for cooking.  The livers are my favorite, pan-fried in butter.  That's some good eating.  In looking for other ways to prepare a bunch of chicken livers, Tricia thought about making pate with them. Chicken liver pate can be used as a dip along with some bagel chips or crackers.

Although we'd never made it before, she found a recipe in her Nourishing Traditions Cookbook, by Sally Fallon, and got busy.  Here's the ingredient list:

3 Tablespoons butter
1 pound chicken livers
1/2 pound mushrooms
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2/3 cups white wine
1 clove garlic, mashed
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 teaspoon rosemary
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 stick butter, softened
sea salt

First Tricia melted the butter in a cast iron skillet, adding the livers, onions and mushrooms.  She cooked them until the livers were nice and brown, stirring them around.  She then added the wine, garlic, mustard, lemon juice and herbs, boiling until the liquid is gone.  Then you allow it to cool completely.  She poured it all into the food processor with the softened butter and processed until smooth.

Processing

Using a spatula, the pate was moved into a bowl and we opened a bag of bagel chips to scoop up the pate.  It tasted rich and smooth, a perfect appetizer or dip.

We ate a bunch of it and then did a little research and discovered that it freezes well, so we packed it into individual containers for freezing.

It can be frozen and popped out and thawed for use later.  

It is a really simple recipe that is a delicious alternative for pan-fried chicken livers.