Chicken Liver Pate

I love chicken liver pate. For breakfast on toast with a squeeze of lemon and a twist of black pepper or served in little ramekins as an impresive starter with a teaspoon of lavender jelly and a salad garnish. It looks like hard work but it could not be easier!

This pate also makes delicious canapés presented on little toasts with a touch of loganberry jelly:

250g of chicken livers.

3/4 pat Butter (plus extra for sealing the tops)

2 shots brandy

1 red/white onion, chopped

Sweat the onions down slowly over a low heat in one third of the butter and a little vegetable oil. When soft turn the heat up and add the livers. Fry for 3 minutes then add the brandy and cook for another minute. The livers want to be cooked but still pink-ish in the middle.

Remove from the heat and blitz in a food processor. While the motor is still running add the rest of the butter in knobs and continue to blend until the pate is smooth. Season with black pepper and salt. Make sure the mixture is well salted as it will loose some of its flavour as it cools. For a smoother pate strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl or indervidual ramekins. For a more rustic pate pour straight into your serving dishes. Place the pate in the fridge until cool. Melt a little more butter and pour over the tops to seal the pate. I like to add a bay leaf or parsley sprig and a ground of black pepper on top of the butter as a little garnish. Re-set in the fridge. This pate will keep in the fridge for 1 week (though I have been known to eat a pate a good while after this as long as the butter seal has not been broken and it doesnt seam to have made me ill....)

I sometimes blend in some red onion marmalade or swap the brandy for sweet sherry to change the flavour of the finished pate.