Chicken liver parfait (with sage and red wine)

The sage is a not-very-often-used herb that happens to go wonderfully with the taste of liver. Also, this home-made pâté is actually a parfait given its soft consistency and the generous use of liquid cream and butter. The red wine used both in cooking the liver and in mixing the paste only enhances the flavor and gives it an addictive touch of a fermented and balsamic note. This parfait is best served with something sour, like pickles and a red balsamic glaze (in our case), or chutney if you have any on hand. The yellow-y parts in the picture are from the butter used to seal the pâté shut (given that it has no additives, it can get oxidized pretty fast, so it's best to seal it for consuming later). Enjoy :)




Ingredients (serves 4):

• 400 g chicken liver
• 75 g butter
• salt and pepper to taste
• sage (fresh or dried, optional)
• 30-40 ml red wine
• 100 ml liquid cream
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• extra butter for sealing - about 30 g (optional)

Melt the butter in a frying pan. Clean the liver pieces and add them. 

Turn them on the other side once in a while to make sure they get cooked evenly. Towards the end of the frying, add about half the wine and the garlic, cut into pieces. Also add the sage, if using fresh (ours was dried). After the livers are done, pour the whole contents of the frying pan into a blender or food processor and puree. Add the rest of the wine, the cream, salt and pepper and the sage (if using) and puree some more. Pour the pate in a bowl (or individual little ramekins, like we did) :)

If you want to reverse the parfait on a plate (like in our main picture above) after cooling, then line the forms with a bit of sheet (like seen below at the bottom left ramekin):

Now the only thing left to do is to allow them to cool for at least 2 hours in the fridge. But to seal them away from changing their color (or even from harmful bacteria, if you don't plan to serve them the same day), it's best if you melt a little extra butter in a pan and pour it on top of each. Now refrigerate, wait, and dig in! :) Don't forget the crunchy bread and pickles (or chutney)!