CHICKEN LIVER PARFAIT

Welcome to my culinary diary, where I share my journey through the world of flavours and textures. Today's recipe, a Chicken Liver Parfait, is a special one! Inspired by an unforgettable visit to State Bird Provisions in San Francisco. This dish is my homage to the city's dynamic culinary scene, capturing the elegance and richness of a fine dining experience in a humble yet luxurious spread. The result is consistently smooth and delightfully decadent, a testament to the transformative power of simple ingredients skilfully combined. Join me as we delve into the creation of this sumptuous pâté, a recipe that promises to bring a touch of San Francisco's culinary magic into your kitchen.

Prep Time: 12 hrs  | Cook Time: 40 min  | Set Time: 3h  | Total Time: 15 hrs, 40 min  | Serves: 4-6 | Difficulty: Medium 

Equipment:

Oven

Blender

Spatula

Digital scale

Thermometer

A small baking dish

Fine mesh sieve

Kettle

A medium baking dish

Piping bag

Aluminium foil

Ingredients:

225g chicken livers

200g milk

225g double cream

One large egg

1tsp salt

1tbsp red onion marmalade (made with Port or Madeira)

125g unsalted butter cut into 1cm cubes

2turns of freshly ground black pepper

1pinch of grated nutmeg

Directions:

1. Weight in all the ingredients.

2. Pour 200 ml of milk and 200ml water into a bowl and submerge livers in it overnight.

3. The next day, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

4. Strain the livers, combine with all the other ingredients except butter in a blender, and mix quickly until smooth.

5. Strain the mixture through the fine mesh sieve into a small baking tray and cover it with an aluminium foil.

6. Boil water in a kettle.

7. Put a smaller baking dish with the covered liver mixture into a larger baking dish. Then, pour boiling water into the larger dish to approximately the level of the liver mixture.

7. Bake in the preheated oven at 180c for 30 minutes.

8. When livers are baked, the mixture's temperature should be between 75-80c.

9. After baking, transfer the mixture into the blender, add butter, and blend until smooth.

10. Pour mixture into a piping bag, cool down at room temperature for an hour, and then put in the refrigerator to set for 2 hours.

Notes:

To serve chicken liver parfait, cut the tip of the piping bag (you can search online for exciting ways to do cuts) and pipe on a plate or in a dish. We serve it with a toasted brioche and red onion marmalade; however, poached pears, gooseberry compote or sour cherries also work. You could try our sourdough bread recipe in this blog, a match made in heaven for this chicken liver parfait.

As always, feel free to contact me to ask any questions. I might have the answer to most troubleshooting issues you will come across. I’ve been there, failed too many bakes to care to remember.