Starter
Chicken Liver Parfait
A rich, silky-smooth chicken liver parfait with a luxurious, buttery texture and beautifully savoury flavour. Tender chicken livers are gently cooked with fragrant sage, softened shallots and garlic, then flambéed with brandy for a delicious depth of flavour. Blended with butter until wonderfully smooth, the parfait is finished with fresh sage leaves and a layer of golden clarified butter to create a traditional seal. An elegant yet surprisingly simple starter, perfect served with toasted sourdough, crusty bread or homemade chutney.
Ingredients
- 300g butter, softened
- olive oil
- 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped or half a small onion
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 400g chicken livers, trimmed
- a few sprigs fresh sage leaves
- 1 small wineglass brandy
- salt & pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 110ºC. Put half the butter in an ovenproof saucepan and pop it in the oven to slowly melt until it’s separated – this will take about 10 minutes. Strain and discard the milky part.
- Gently fry the shallots and garlic in a little of the oil for 10 minutes until soft
- Remove the shallots, add a knob of butter and add the livers and sage. Cook for 2-3 mins each side. Don't over cook them otherwise they will become grainy
- Turn the heat up high and add the brandy, allowing it to catch light to cook the alcohol off
- Allow to cool a little then blitz the shallots, livers, salt & pepper in a food processor with the remaining butter until smooth
- Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with a few sage leaves before pouring over the clarified butter. This needs to cover all of the parfait to create a seal.
- Set in the fridge for at least an hour.
Good to know
Practical notes
It should last a week in the frigde if the butter seal is not disturbed. It never lasts that long though
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Preheat the oven to 110ºC. Put half the butter in an ovenproof saucepan and pop it in the oven to slowly melt until it’s separated – this will take about 10 minutes. Strain and discard the milky part.
Gently fry the shallots and garlic in a little of the oil for 10 minutes until soft
Remove the shallots, add a knob of butter and add the livers and sage. Cook for 2-3 mins each side. Don't over cook them otherwise they will become grainy
Turn the heat up high and add the brandy, allowing it to catch light to cook the alcohol off
Allow to cool a little then blitz the shallots, livers, salt & pepper in a food processor with the remaining butter until smooth
Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with a few sage leaves before pouring over the clarified butter. This needs to cover all of the parfait to create a seal.
Set in the fridge for at least an hour.