Daniel Pfyl, hospitality management lecturer at Otago Polytechnic, shares some professional techniques to make your cooking easier.
Pfyl likes to make this for special occasions, such as parties and pot-luck dinners. He makes a large one in a terrine and slices it to serve, but you could also make it in ramekins - it will cook more quickly in these.
Chicken liver pate with apple and fennel salad
Serves 12 to 16 people
Ingredients
350g chicken livers
milk for soaking (optional)
250g butter, melted
1 small onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 small bunch assorted fresh herbs, (parsley, thyme, marjoram etc) coarsely chopped
about 30-40ml brandy
about 60-70ml port
2 eggs
about ½ tsp salt, pepper
nutmeg to taste
about 1 Tbsp green peppercorns (optional)
Method
1) Preheat oven to 150degC.
Place a folded teatowel in the bottom of a roasting tin.
Line a 1-litre terrine dish with clingfilm. Don't worry about any wrinkles. Leave enough overhang to cover the pate.
2) Chef Pfyl likes to leave chicken livers to soak in milk in the fridge overnight. It's an industry thing and not strictly necessary but it may reduce any bitterness, he says. If you have soaked them, drain them and discard the milk. Trim the livers of any fatty bits and cut in half.
3) Cut the onion roughly and slice the garlic. Cook them gently in a little of the butter until translucent, stirring occasionally. Add the chopped herbs.
4) Add a dash of brandy and allow it to catch fire to burn off the alcohol.
(If you don't have any brandy, leave it out.)
5) Then add the port and allow it to simmer until reduced to a glaze. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool a little.
Melt the rest of the butter and allow to cool a little.
6) To blend the pate, it's best to use a liquidiser as it is faster than a processor and will produce a smoother consistency.
Put the raw livers in the liquidiser with the cooled onion mixture. Add the eggs; it's best to break them into a small bowl first to make sure no shell gets into the pate. Liquidise, while slowly pouring in the melted butter.
7) Season with salt and pepper and a few gratings of nutmeg and blend again to incorporate the seasonings. Pour into the prepared terrine dish.
8) Pull the film away from the sides then let it go, to stretch the film and let the pate flow into the corners.
9) Rinse the green peppercorns, if using, and sprinkle over the top. They will sink into the pate during cooking. (Don't try using black peppercorns as they are too hard.)
10) Fold the rest of the clingfilm over the pate and put on the lid.
11) Place the terrine on the teatowel in the roasting pan and take it to the oven. Pour hot water into the pan to surround the terrine then put it in the preheated oven.
12) It will take about 1 hour 10 minutes to cook. When cooked the internal temperature will be 70degC and the top will be nearly firm to the touch, with just a little bounce. The pate will rise, then fall back as it cools. It is often recommended to put a weight on top of the pate as is cools to make it firmer, but Chef Pfyl says it is not strictly necessary.
13) When the pate is cold, loosen the plastic by pulling it a little. Turn it out carefully and smooth the surface with a knife warmed by putting it in hot water. Use the warm knife to slice the pate and serve with apple and fennel salad. Alternatively, you could spoon the pate out of the terrine to serve.
Apple and fennel salad
This goes well with pate and caramelised onions.
Ingredients
1 bulb fennel and its leaves
1 eating apple
3-4 Tbsp mayonnaise
lemon juice
Method
Wash and slice the fennel thinly on the diagonal. You don't want it too chunky.
Finely slice the apple, with the skin on, into slices then slice across into matchsticks. Optionally, you could grate the apple, or use carrot.
Finely chop some of the fennel leaves.
Mix the apple and fennel and add a good squeeze of lemon juice (this helps prevent the apple browning as well as adding a nice sharpness).
Stir in the mayonnaise, season with salt and pepper to taste. A little cider vinegar is a good addition.
To check earlier Cooking 101 columns visit: www.odt.co.nz and search for ''cooking 101''.
More information on cooking from Otago Polytechnic can be found on www.otagocookeryl4.blogspot.com
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