Beatrice's Pâté

I could eat it by the gallon.

Many Americans have an aversion to pâté for its liverness and its rawness. At one point, I was also opposed to the mysterious grey paste that lathered its way onto crunchy bread. However, if any recipe can make you get over the ingredients and unsightly appearance of pâté, it is this one. Here is Beatrice’s recipe:

Ingredients:

500g Chicken Liver (Cut into 1-2 inch pieces)

180g Cold Butter (Cubed)

2 Small Shallots (Minced)

6 Cloves of Garlic (Minced)

2 Tbs of Armagnac

2 Tbs of Rum

1 tsp Thyme

2 Bay Leaves

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

1. In a skillet, heat a few tablespoons of oil and throw in your minced shallot.

2. In a separate small saucepan, put your Rum and Armagnac (or Cognac if you can not find Armagnac) and heat on the lowest setting.

   

3. After a minute or so, put your liver pieces into the pan with the shallot.

   

4. Once your liver and shallots are in, throw a pinch of salt, pepper, and thyme on top of the meat. We want to keep the liver red on the inside while searing the entire outer part of the meat. So, cook on one side for a minute and then turn and brown the other sides.

   

5. Once your liver looks seared on all sides, you will prepare to Flambé.

   

   Let’s talk about Flambé for a moment. If you are not in the habit of intentionally lighting your dishes on fire, then the whole spectacle may give you a fright. The flame will reach a substantial height at first, but you can trust that it will die down once the alcohol has burned away (within a few seconds). There is no need to toss your pan in the sink right away if you think the flame is too big. It will be okay. However, I would suggest not doing this if you have low-hanging cabinets directly over your stovetop. If this is the case, you should take the pan in your hand, hold it away from the stove and low cabinets (and away from your body), and flambé in hand. Beatrice ignites her dishes by putting the alcohol into the pan and then lighting a match and tossing it into the pan as well. More typically, however, you can tilt the pan slightly so the alcohol catches the fumes of the fire burner and lights the pan. For induction stovetops, the match or a long-nose lighter is a good option. Below are some pictures of the whole ordeal.

6. Take your saucepan containing the Rum and Armagnac and pour into the pan containing the liver, shallots, salt, pepper, and thyme.

   

7. Tilt your pan towards the burner to catch flame, or promptly throw a match into the pan. Then, stand back for a moment.

   

   The moment of combustion, the peak of the flame, and the moment the fire begins to die down, all spanning about 5 seconds.

8. Once the fire dies down and the alcohol has burned away, toss in your minced garlic, turn off the heat, and cover the pan to rest for a few minutes.

9. After a few minutes, put the liver mixture into a food processor and mix until broken down and relatively smooth. Taste and adjust salt at this point. We needed about three more pinches of salt. Blend, pinch of salt, blend, taste, repeat.

   

   Before and after a quick pulse in the mixer.

10. Throw your butter pieces in and blend again until smooth.

    

11. Store in airtight containers topped with a few laurel leaves. Beatrice says it must be set in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours before eating.

    

12. After 6 hours, spread onto toasted bread and enter pâté heaven.

    As always, thank you for reading and for caring about food. Let me know if you try this recipe out!

    P.S. Here are the two specific alcohols that Beatrice uses. I am sure there will be variations in the flavors when using different brands.