Some folk maintain that it is good luck to eat beans at the new year.
Not me.
I believe that any year that ends with, and then the next year begins with peppery, smooth as silk chicken pâté has got to have been a mostly good old year and a fairly fortuitous new one coming up.
Even if some crappy stuff happened, this pâté will make it all better
Truly.
INGREDIENTS
•9 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick + 1 tbsp)
•1 onion, diced
•1 large garlic clove, sliced
•1 shallot, diced
•1 tbsp Sherry Peppers Sauce*
•1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced
•1 lb chicken livers, trimmed (remove any little white bits of tissue from the livers)
•1-1/2 tsp black pepper
•1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1 tsp salt
•1/4 tsp allspice
•1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
•2 tbsp brandy
*No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No Problem! Simply add a bit of decent sherry (none of that “cooking” stuff) and a dash or three of your fave hot sauce, to taste.
Melt four tablespoons of butter in a large pan over medium heat.
Add the onion, garlic, shallot, and Sherry Peppers Sauce and sauté, stirring often, for five minutes or so, until the onion is beginning to turn translucent.
Stir in the apple and continue to cook for another five minutes.
Remove from the pan and set aside.
Melt another four tablespoons of butter in the pan and add the chicken livers, allspice, salt, and peppers.
Cook, turning the livers often to brown all sides, for five minutes, then add the apple and onion mixture along with the parsley, toss to blend together, and cook for another five minutes or so, until the livers are thoroughly cooked.
Remove from the heat and stir in the two tablespoons of brandy.
Transfer the mixture to a blender with that one remaining tablespoon of butter and pulse, stirring and scraping down the sides of the blender container, until your pâté is as smooth as you like it.
I like mine wicked smooth.
Give the pâté a taste and, if you think it could use it, stir in some more black pepper and/or brandy – I tend to run heavy with black pepper, but you do what you like.
Transfer the pâté to storage jars and stash in the fridge overnight to allow the flavors to develop.
Note: did you know you can also freeze pâté for up to one month?
This recipe makes a fare amount of pâté, so a stashed one crock in the fridge and, since my holidaze gatherings are not yet over, sealed another tightly and tossed it in the freezer for the next time.
I love it when a plan comes together.