Chicken Liver Pâté with Sage and Brandy

A smooth chicken liver pâté: livers and shallots browned in clarified butter, finished with sage and a brandy deglaze, then blended with a full cup of butter.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons clarified butter
• 1 lb livers from pastured chickens
• 2 large shallots, roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage, snipped, OR 1 tablespoon dried sage
• ½ cup brandy, cognac, or sherry
• 8 oz (1 cup) regular butter, at room temperature
• 1 pinch salt and pepper, or to taste
• 6 fresh sage leaves, to garnish

Directions

Key ingredients

Black Pepper · Salt

1. Cook the liver and shallots. Heat the clarified butter in a skillet until melted. Add the diced shallots and sauté until just starting to brown. Rinse the chicken livers gently to remove any excess blood, then shake off all excess liquid and add them to the pan. Simmer until the livers are browned through, the liquid has largely cooked away, and the livers begin to fall apart.
2. Season the liver mixture. Add the garlic and sage and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then deglaze the pan with the brandy. Continue to cook until the brandy has nearly completely evaporated. Remove the mixture from the heat and allow it to cool.
3. Grind the mixture into a smooth paste. Cut the regular butter into pieces. Scrape the liver mixture into a food processor and add the butter. Process until smooth.
4. Chill and serve. Place the pâté in a serving bowl or mold and set in the fridge for a few hours or overnight, but bring it to room temperature before serving. Serve with sourdough toasts or whole grain crackers.

Notes

Split from one record This recipe was clipped together with two others in Beef Liver Pâté with Red Wine and Herbs and is now its own record. The clipped text gave no source line; the photo on the beef recipe carries the clipped site’s watermark.

Safety Chicken livers are a known source of Campylobacter and Salmonella; cook them through until no pink remains in the centre before blending. The Pâtés and Terrines section (/pates-and-terrines/) covers liver safety.

The photo The photograph shows a chicken liver pâté in a ramekin with toasts, not this exact recipe.