Chicken Liver Pâté with Pear and Sage – dairy and coconut free
Of all the things you can do to improve your health quickly, really focusing on making nutrient-dense dietary choices is right up there in the top three. No question.
And, when it comes to the most nutrient-dense food you can eat, liver is right at the tippy-top. It is known to be one of the most concentrated sources of vitamin A of any foods but it doesn’t stop there. In addition, liver also contains oodles of important vitamins and minerals – it is an outstanding source of Vitamin D, Vitamin B12 (and other B-Vitamins), copper, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, manganese, and iron, which is in a form that is particularly easily absorbed and used by the body.
In the nutrient-dense school of life, liver is the head girl
We should all be eating at least 2 or 3 serves of liver each week.
In this nutrient density nugget:
- I give you the low down on just why liver is so damn good for you
- I dispel the myth that liver is a storage organ for toxins in your body.\
- Share tips on how you can easily (and even sneakily) add liver to your diet
*this little vid’ is just over eleven minutes long.
And, if you’d like more Nutrient Dense Nuggets, you can find them all here.
OK, you know how phenomenal liver is. I’ll stop banging on about it.
Back to this wee chicken liver pâté with pear and sage…
I’m a fan of playing with my food.
By playing, I mean experimenting with different flavours and combinations.
This is especially true since embarking on this AIP way of life back in 2014. Even after all these years, there are still a whole lot of ‘normal’ foods that I don’t eat as a rule. Things like foods containing gluten or nightshades.
Because I feel better when I don’t eat them.
Lately, I have been playing with healthy ways to eat my pears.
The good peeps at Kurrawong Organics have been sending me a lot of pears in my veggie box these past few weeks. I started out poaching them in spiced sugar syrup. Not the MOST nutrient-dense option, it must be said. Although bloody yummy and quite indulgent!
… I digress.
What could be MORE nutrient-dense than adding MY PEARS to a lovely chicken liver pâté?
So many AIP-friendly recipes for pâté seem to contain apple as a way to sweeten and make it taste a smidge milder (less ‘liver-y’, even). For this reason, it was a short jump for me to start experimenting with pears as an alternative, and this little chicken liver pâté with pear number is the happy result.
It’s kind of more-ish, too! I hope you like it.
- 450g / 1 pound chicken livers
- 1 onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 120g bacon or speck
- 10-12 fresh sage leaves
- 1 pear
- 4 tablespoons duck fat
- ½ teaspoon salt (+ more for seasoning)
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- Start by completing your mise en place (which is just a fancy chef word for preparing your ingredients). Clean and trim your chicken livers. Peel and finely chop your onion and garlic cloves. Roughly chop your bacon and sage. Core and chop your pear.
- In a large frying pan, heat half your duck fat over medium heat. Add the bacon and onion. Saute over until onion is translucent, about 7-8 minutes. Add chopped garlic and cook, stirring for a minute before adding pear and sage leaves. Cook this for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Carefully transfer the mixture to your food processor or blender
- Heat the remaining duck fat. Add livers one-by-one, allowing space between each. Cook for 2-3 minutes before flipping over. The livers are cooked when they are a lovely caramelised colour on the outside and still pink on the inside.
- Transfer the pan contents to your food processor.
- Place the pan back on the heat and add vinegar. Give the mixture a good stir to release any sticky bits in the bottom of the pan. Add the contents of the frying pan to your food processor along with half a teaspoon of salt.
- Mix thoroughly. I scrape the sides of my food processor and mix again to ensure a smooth consistency.
- Taste for seasoning. Hold yourself back from eating too much! Spoon into ramekins and refrigerate.
E N J O Y !
Lovely Jo will definitely try this variation on chicken liver pate!
Lovely-jubbly, Miss Mary Murphy. I hope you enjoy!