Chicken Liver Paté

It is not often that I rush into print with a new recipe using a new kitchen toy.  But in this case I have made enough chicken liver paté in a blender to last a bit. And so good it is that I feel obliged to report on its success right away.

I have managed to do without an electric blender since many years ago when I owned one that came attached to a clumsy, multi-tasking object. Since then, a plastic, hand-worked Mouli soup-making gadget has done the kind of blending required.

Then, in a Christmas sale, I saw a blender on offer at a much reduced price, and with so compact a design that it would take up only a little of our limited kitchen space.

At last I could make fine-blended paté – chicken liver paté in particular.

I will be doing the same for years to come (with variations for sure) as the result was so stunningly good, cheap and simple to make.

CHICKEN LIVER PATE

You will need:

Chicken livers

A spirit of your choice

A herb, or herbs, of your choice

Garlic

Pepper and salt

Butter

Melt a good lump of butter slowly in a saucepan until the bubbles have almost stopped.

As best you can, trim away and discard connective tissue and blemishes from the chicken livers. Then fry the livers in butter until each piece has changed colour all over.

In an electric blender jug put a small splosh of spirit.

On top of it place the cooked livers with their juices.

Add the herb(s), a peeled clove of garlic, pepper and salt.

Pour in some melted butter.

Close the lid.

Fizz up the lot (you may have to disengage the blender jug and push the mixture downward once or twice).

Extract the blended paté from the disengaged jug with a flexible spatula, and lower the mixture into small pots.

Level the paté and, with kitchen paper, clean the insides of the pot above the paté.

Cover the paté with the melted butter.

Allow the pots to cool, and then refrigerate them for future use.

Spread the paté on to biscuits or such to enjoy with drinks.