Chicken liver crostini

6
Points®
Total Time
25 min
Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min
Serves
8
Difficulty
Easy
We’ve taken a twenty-first-century approach of combining just a little liver with a lot of wonderful flavorings to make a simply divine pâté. While making pâté at home may seem intimidating, achieving a smooth-texture result is actually quite easy once you’ve removed the all of the connective tissue from liver. But, you could also ask your butcher to do this step for you. Calvados, a dry apple brandy made in the Normandy region of France, lends a subtle apple flavor to meat and poultry dishes so it’s well worth investing in a bottle for the kitchen. You can also freeze the pâté to have on hand for entertaining; it will last in the freezer for up to three months.

Ingredients

Unsalted butter

2 Tbsp

Onion

1 small, chopped

Shallot

1 medium, chopped

Pear

¼ medium, peeled and chopped

Chopped liver

½ pound(s), chicken, trimmed, preferably organic

Brandy

½ fl oz, or Calvados (optional)

Table salt

½ tsp

Black pepper

tsp, freshly ground, or to taste

French bread

8 oz, or Italian bread, cut into 16 (1⁄2-ounce) and toasted

Sweet pickles

12 small, cornichons (optional)

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter or margarine in a large nonstick skillet. Add the onion, shallot, and pear; cook, stirring frequently, until the onion and shallot are translucent and the pear is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the livers and brown them, breaking them apart with a spoon, until they are no longer pink and cooked through, 8–10 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let cool slightly.
  2. Combine the liver mixture with its liquid, the brandy or calvados, if using, the salt, and pepper in a food processor. Pulse until very smooth; transfer the mixture to a small bowl or crock. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 1 day or up to 5 days. Serve with the toasted bread and the cornichons, if using, on the side. Yields 2 crostini per serving.