Rustic Chicken Liver Pâté with Pistachios

 

With the leftover turkey and sides recycled, there is still the turkey livers to be made into something and found this recipe which is very interesting.  While classic pâtés are creamy smooth, this version is dubbed “rustic” because of the several added ingredients that give the pâté texture and crunch as well as a wonderful complexity of flavors. Everyone fell in love with this variation,  like as though Cupid had double shot his arrow..

Ingredients:

•3 Tbsp olive oil
•1 celery stalk, finely chopped
•2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
•8 oz chicken livers - cut into small slices
•1 tsp chopped fresh sage
•1/4 cup marsala (or sherry or Madeira)
•2 anchovy filets, drained and coarsely chopped
•1 Tbsp capers, drained
•1/4 cup shelled pistachios plus 2 Tbsp chopped for garnish
•Freshly ground pepper

Method:


1.Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the celery and garlic and cook until fragrant.
2.Turn the flame up to high and add the chicken livers. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the livers are crisp outside but still a bit pink inside.

3.Stir in the sage and deglaze briefly with the marsala. Transfer all to the bowl of your food processor.

4.Add the anchovies, capers and whole pistachios. Process until fairly smooth, but not puréed. Taste and adjust the seasoning. The anchovies are salty enough that you should not need to add more salt.

5.Transfer to your serving dish and serve warm or at room temperature. Serve with thin slices of toasted baguette or crackers.  It can be dressed up by using it to fill individual endive leaves.

6. Garnish with the chopped pistachios.

Confession:

I did not have all the ingredients mentioned above so i have to improvise.  I used 1/2 tsp ground sage as i did not have fresh ones.  I had some Riesling leftover from Thanksgiving, so it was used instead of marsala  I thought i have a can of anchovy but after looking high and low and could not find it,  forget about looking, think fast - ok got it  - i used a tiny piece of salted threadfish in oil (malaysian salt fish/hum yee).  All these subs must be alright as not only me but everyone who tasted it, gave a thumb-up.

Serves