Real Food Friday Feast - Chicken Liver Pâté

Chicken livers, like eggs, have always gotten a bad rap when it comes to the whole "foods that raise cholesterol" debate. Ironically, this superfood is probably one of the most nutritious things you could possibly eat and we are depriving ourselves of it based on the words of a few government agencies. These people are the same people who will tell you that genetically modified food is safe and that processed food, made by a scientist in a lab, is good for you!

I always vaguely knew it was best to avoid liver and eggs if you didn't want to raise your cholesterol to an unhealthy level. "People" said it and so it must be right... right? Well, if there is one thing I have learnt over the last year it is that "people" are NOT always right and that, finding your own answers is the best route to take, rather than just doing what everyone else is doing. You are missing out on a lot if you take on sheep-like tendencies.

This is why you SHOULD eat liver according to Dr Weston Price (follow the link to read ALL about how wonderful liver actually is) who states that liver contains more nutrients than any other food:

• An excellent source of high-quality protein
• Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A
• All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
• One of our best sources of folic acid
• A highly usable form of iron
• Trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium; liver is our best source of copper
• An unidentified anti-fatigue factor
• CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardiovascular function
• A good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA.

So, now I KNEW I had to eat liver! The problem was that I had always hated liver. When we were growing up, my mom would often make chicken liver stew. My worst was when I THOUGHT it was actually chicken stew, which I LOVED, and then I would sink my teeth into that weird texture of a liver instead and I would feel like retching! As a child they totally grossed me out and I went to extremes to get out of eating them! As an adult it was far easier to avoid them, and it helped that they were supposed to be bad for me. I had a good excuse to cut them out of my diet. So, when I found out I needed them in my diet, I was not too happy! 

It took me a whole year to actually purchase any for ME to eat. I was buying them for my cats because they eat raw liver as part of their diet, but no liver had made it onto my plate yet. When I started ordering raw giblets from my free-range meat supplier, she gave me about 3kgs of mixed giblets and at least a third of all the giblets were chicken livers. It was way too much even for 6 cats to eat so I had to make another plan or they were all going to go to waste.

I decided that chicken liver pâté was something I could handle eating and I started looking up recipes. Did you know that ALL liver pâté recipes contain alcohol?! Brandy seems to be the preferred spirit. Can't figure that out?! Others contain flour or sour cream. I needed something simple that I could eat it with no bad repercussions. The best thing to do was to experiment!

And here is what I came up with:

CHICKEN LIVER PÂTÉ

500 grams chicken livers

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 bay leaves

1/3 teaspoon salt (You can add more according to taste)

1 cup water

1/6 teaspoon ground nutmeg

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (this depends on preference really. If you'd like a harder pâté, add more butter)

• Rinse the chicken livers and cut off any tough pieces of connective tissue
• Place water, chicken livers, leek, garlic, bay leaf and salt in a saucepan on medium heat and bring to a simmer
• Cover, lower the heat and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes
• Discard the bay leaves. Drain the liquid out (it makes a really tasty stock for soup!) and scoop everything else into to a food processor
• Add nutmeg
• Process just until the livers are finely chopped, then, with the blade still running, start adding the butter 1 tablespoon at a time
• Once the butter is blended in, season with salt and pepper and continue to process until the pâté is completely smooth
• Scoop the pâté into your bowls of preference
• The pâté will need to stay covered to protect it from air. You COULD use gladwrap but why add more plastic to the world, and to your food?! A very tasty method is to pour melted butter or duck fat on top which will create a protective seal that you can also eat!
• Refrigerate 4 to 6 hours so the it can firm up. Your pâté will stay fresh for about a week.

This recipe is for those who love pâté but want to avoid alcohol and any other funny additives and stick to real, wholesome food. It's the simplest recipe you'll probably find anywhere because there's really not much to it, but, considering how simple it is, it tastes delicious! Because it was my first time EVER making pâté, I was erring on the side of caution but next time I am DEFINITELY adding a few extras like some masala (I DO love my curry;)), and maybe some coconut milk to give it an even creamier texture. I am pretty sure, if you want to avoid too much butter, that coconut oil would work just as well. Just be sure to get the odourless one if you don't want your pâté tasting like a tropical island;)

The BIG test was, of course, GLM;) She is probably even worse than me when it comes to liver! I can force myself to eat just about anything if I know it's good for me but that's me. I will make myself eat some fried liver now, just because it's good for me and I'm even starting to enjoy it! GLM refuses to do it. Pâté was my only hope of getting liver into her system. I put some on a biscuit last night and held my breath...

She LOVED it:) 

She shoots, she scores!

That's it for this week:) Have a lovely weekend and we'll chat again on Monday!