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Chicken Liver Paté This inexpensive pate can be prepared quickly, although it needs 10 to 12 hours in the refrigerator to set. It yields enough for about 60 toasts. This is a precooked pâté. The cooked ingredients are combined into what is sometimes called a mousse, meaning "foam" in French, something that is beaten to produce an emulsion and a light texture. Dishes combined with whipped cream or beaten egg whites often take the name of mousse, such as chocolate mousse or scallop, or chicken liver mousse, akin to this pâté. This pâté, made with uncooked butter, is lighter and more digestible than one made with pork or chicken fat and cooked. It is important to respect the proportion of fat to liver. Excess liver makes the pâté dark, strong, bitter, and grainy. Be sure that the livers are free of sinews and of any part that is green, which indicates that some of the bitter bile has been in contact with the liver. Pale yellow livers tend to have a mellow, rich taste and are preferable to deep red ones. Pâtés usually do not freeze well, especially coarse country pates. The inside becomes watery and grainy. Because of its extra-smooth and compact texture, however, this chicken liver pate freezes perfectly. Do not freeze with the aspic or decoration. To freeze, cover tightly with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Defrost it slowly under refrigeration for 24 to 48 hours before decorating and glazing. Small soufflé molds are ideal for freezing because they can be defrosted in only a couple of hours. The decoration and the aspic glaze, though optional, raise a fairly ordinary preparation to the level of an elegant, classic dish. The aspic sets the decoration, keeping it from curling and wilting, but you can decorate the pate without glazing with aspic if you serve the pâté soon after it's decorated. There are some basic rules of decorating which you should observe. The decorations should be edible, such as green scallion and red tomato. Avoid vegetables that are bitter, such as lemon peel, or those, such as beets, which will discolor the food. Use carrots, tomatoes, olives, and different shades of green from leeks or lettuce. Cut the vegetables very thin; blanch them in boiling water for a few seconds to make more pliable. 1 pound chicken livers 2/3 cup thinly sliced onions 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed (1/2 teaspoon) 2 bay leaves, crushed 1/4-teaspoon thyme leaves 1 cup water 2 teaspoons salt 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened Freshly ground black pepper 2 teaspoons Cognac or Scotch whisky A piece of tomato skin and green of scallion for decoration (optional) 1 envelope unflavored gelatin for aspic (optional) Place the livers, onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, water, and 1-teaspoon salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook at a bare simmer for 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes. Take out the solids with a slotted spoon and place them in the bowl of a food processor with metal blade. (Reserve and strain the liquid to make the aspic.) Start processing the liver, adding the butter piece by piece. Finally, add the second teaspoon salt, the pepper, and Cognac or whisky and process for 2 more minutes so that the mixture is very creamy and completely smooth. If the mixture looks broken down, with visible fat, let it cool in the refrigerator for about 1 hour to harden the butter, then process again until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Pour into a mold. Decorate or refrigerate to set and serve as is. To Decorate Blanch the piece of scallion in boiling water for 10 to 15 seconds until it wilts, then cool it under cold water. The blanching flattens it and makes it pliable, and the cold water sets the color and prevents yellowing. Lay it flat on the table, and pat it dry with paper towels. Cut some strips from the leaves, and arrange them on the border of the pate to make a "frame" for the decoration. Cut some leaves into pointed, thin strips to make stems. Arrange them on top of the pâté, and set them by pressing with the tip of your fingers or the point of a knife. Use different sizes of leaves and shades of green. Fold some of the larger "leaves," make others into long stems, and some into tiny lozenges. Use your imagination; there are no rules for this part. Place a tiny bit of green at the end of each stem to make a calyx for the flower. Cut small pieces of tomato skin with jagged edges to suggest flowers, and place them at the ends of the stems. A Use the small trimmings to make the willow like wildflower. One small piece of tomato skin is enough for the whole pâté. Refrigerate the pate while you prepare the aspic. To make the aspic, combine the strained cup of liquid from the liver and the gelatin in a saucepan. Stir gently over heat until the mixture almost comes to a boil and the gelatin is completely melted. Place the saucepan on ice, and stir until the liquid becomes very syrupy. At this stage the aspic is shiny and glistening, and about to set. This is the right moment to use it. If it becomes too hard, remelt it and start again. Take the pate out of the refrigerator, and pour and spread 3 or 4 tablespoons of aspic on top. The layer of aspic should be approximately 1/4 inch thick. The aspic sets the decor, prevents it from drying out, and gives the effect of a beautiful stained-glass window. To serve, scoop out about a teaspoonful of pate and place it on each plate with a bit of aspic and some Melba toast (recipe follows). The mixture can also be prepared in small soufflé molds of about 1/2-cup capacity, each one decorated differently. Melba Toast: Escoffier invented this toast for the famous opera singer Nellie Melba, as he did the Peach Melba. Toast thin-sliced bread in the toaster. As soon as it comes out of the toaster, trim the slices on all four sides. Slide your knife into the soft area between the bottom and top crusts and separate the bread into two extremely thin layers. It is not necessary to toast the white side. This is the only way you can make really good thin toast: by toasting a thicker slice, then splitting it in half after it has been toasted. If you tried to toast an extra-thin slice it would curl and burn rather than brown. 12 TO 14 SERVINGS Return to Top | Back to Recipes |
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