Chicken Pâté with Apple and Cognac

Golnaz is pregnant, and not feeling the love for meat in general – but she really wanted some pâté. Chicken liver and Granny Smith apple pâté to be precise, so she asked me if I could find a recipe.

QuickLikeABunny – da Google came through with what looked to me like a winner; so we negotiated ingredients (Persian shallots and fresh parsley instead of fresh shallots and thyme) and settled down after a Sunday afternoon Persian feast (thanks, Ms. G!) and got to work.

INGREDIENTS
•9 tbsp butter (1 stick + 1 tbsp)
•1 onion, diced
•1 large garlic clove, sliced
•1 shallot, diced
•1 tsp salt
•1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
•1 Granny Smith apple; peeled, cored and diced
•1/4 tsp nutmeg
•1 lb chicken livers, trimmed (remove any little white bits of tissue from the livers)
•1 tsp black pepper
•2 tbsp cognac

Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat and sauté the onion, garlic and shallot with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt for 4 minutes.

Add the apple and nutmeg and cook for another 5 minutes, then remove from the pan.

Melt another 4 tablespoons of butter (you have 1 tablespoon left at this point – that’s good) over medium heat and add the chicken livers, another 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the black pepper.

Note: Golnaz and I really like a peppery pâté, so we used at least 1 teaspoon of freshly ground Tellicherry peppercorns at this point and added a bit more later – the original recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon.

Cook the livers for 5 minutes, turning often.

Add the apple and onion mixture along with the chopped parsley and continue cooking for another 4 minutes, until the livers are cooked through with very little pink left.

Stir in the cognac and remove from the heat.

The original recipe called for running the liver mixture through a blender in 2 batches to achieve a silky-smooth texture. We opted for the Cuisinart and tumbled the whole shebang in at once.

Add that last, lone tablespoon of butter to the still warm liver and apple and onion and stuff mixture, and process until it is as smooth as you like. We went for pretty darned smooth. Taste for seasoning and add a bit more salt and pepper, if you like. We liked – and added a bit more pepper.

C’est tout – your pâté is done!

Turn the mixture into 1 or 2 small terrines or crocks – whatever you plan to serve the pâté in – cover with plastic wrap, and stash in the fridge to set.

You can eat the pâté at any point now (we did!), but the flavor will greatly improve after resting in the fridge overnight.

Mmmm, peppery pâté.