Chicken Liver Pate

Legend has it that this recipe was born, via experimentation, in a drunken "how hard can it be" moment in my mother's youth, which although certainly a plausible account, is difficult to believe given the deliciousness of the pate.  I stray from mum's recipe in the details (I use port and red wine where she uses sherry and white wine)  but the essence is the same and it reminds me of winter dinners of pate on toast as a child. 

Ingredients

500g chicken livers
250g bacon (can be either rashers or short-cut), chopped
1 almost full brown paper bag of mushrooms, chopped
1 cup mushroom or chicken stock
1 1/2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tbsp fresh thyme
a splash of port
a good glug of red wine
butter and olive oil
salt and pepper

Method

In a large frying pan, heat butter and olive oil over a low heat.  When the butter has melted, add bacon, onion and garlic and fry until onion is softened.  During this process, and the rest of the  cooking process, add a little stock from time to time when things are looking a little dry.

Add livers to the pan, season with salt and a generous amount of pepper, and fry until mostly cooked, then add the thyme, port and wine.  Finally, add the mushrooms and continue cooking until all vegetables are softened and the livers are cooked all the way through (they will break apart relatively easily when they are done). There should still be some juices in the pan at this point, which you should process, as needed, with the pate to ensure a smooth texture.

Let the mixture cool a little then process in batches in a food processor, until the pate is smooth. Taste the pate for seasoning and adjust if necessary (admittedly, slightly warm fresh pate tastes different to the final product, so keep this in mind when seasoning).

Divide the pate into containers according to your needs.  If preparing for a dinner party, you could use individual ramekins or a loaf tin from which you can then slice the pate into individual portions.  When making pate for everyday purposes, I use tupperware containers so as to maintain freshness for longer.

This pate works perfectly on crackers, crostini, toast or fresh bread and matches well with mushroom soup. I can also imagine it being ideal for beef wellington.