Chicken Liver Pâté with Sherry and Cream Cheese

Liver in sherry

1. Chicken pâté is quick to make, but it needs chilling, at least an hour or an hour and a half. Dry sherry gives the pâté its special flavor, and you can really taste it.

2. Buy the ingredients. It’s best to get “chilled” liver that has never been frozen, as it doesn’t leak. Cream cheese is sold in any store; check the ingredients to avoid “unnatural” and non-dairy additives. There is plenty to choose from, by the way. Use fresh thyme, it is very aromatic.

   

3. Marinate the liver. Wash the chicken liver thoroughly, removing the membranes and any traces of bile. Put the liver in a bowl, salt it lightly and lay sprigs of fresh thyme on top. Pour sherry over the liver. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate; an hour is enough. Then pour the liquid into a separate cup, as you will need it later. Discard the thyme sprigs.

   

Frying

1. Fry the onion. In a non-stick frying pan, melt 1 tbsp butter. Peel and finely chop the onion and fry it over medium heat until golden. Move the finished onion to a saucer and set aside for now. Make sure no bits of onion are left in the pan, because they can burn.

   

2. Fry the liver. Add another 1 tbsp butter to the pan. When the butter is hot, add the pieces of prepared chicken liver. Turning them often, fry over medium heat. The pieces should be evenly browned to a golden color. If the very center of the pieces is not yet cooked through, that’s fine. Never overcook it, or the chicken pâté can have an unpleasant aftertaste.

   

3. Simmer the liver with the onion. Peel and chop a garlic clove and add it to the fried liver. Also add the onion fried earlier and pour in the rest of the marinade. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer the liver over low heat for 10-15 mins. Then remove the lid, you can turn the heat up, and boil off the remaining liquid. After that, let the chicken liver cool to room temperature.

   

Pâté

1. Grind the liver. It’s best to grind the cooled chicken liver with an immersion blender, which is very convenient. Put the fried pieces with the onion in a bowl and blend carefully, making sure no lumps remain. You can also use a countertop chopper or an ordinary meat grinder, but then you should press the pâté through a sieve. Add more salt to taste.

   

2. Mix with the cream cheese and chill. Add cream cheese to the ground liver, a plain, creamy-tasting one with no additives. It is soft enough and doesn’t harden in the refrigerator. The brand and maker don’t matter, even Philadelphia will do. With the same blender, mix the liver and cream cheese until smooth. If the chicken pâté is a bit runny at room temperature, add 1 tbsp butter, which will set as it chills and bring the texture to normal. Or, if the pâté is too thick, add a little more cream cheese and 1 tbsp sherry.

   

   Put the finished pâté in the cold; an hour is enough.

Serving

1. Pâtés are traditionally served with toasted white bread and Riesling.

2. Fry the bread. I bought a French baguette, cut it on the diagonal and fried it on both sides until lightly browned and crisp. If you like, rub the fried bread slices with a clove of garlic, only very lightly, and drizzle with olive oil, as is done for bruschetta.

3. Serve the pâté. For serving, you can lay green lettuce leaves on a plate or small tray. You can spread the pâté on the bread beforehand, or arrange the slices on the plate and serve the pâté in a separate small bowl.