Liver Pate

Lest your first instinct be "Ew...liver?!" - I will say up front that I had my own doubts. I mean, who eats liver these days? My grandma - maybe. After eating this pate, I will no longer speak ill of this organ meat. And it turns out that liver is SUPER good for you, like crazy amounts of vitamin A and B12, and boosts for energy and brain power and all kinds of good stuff. The link with the recipe actually lists the vitamins in just 1 oz. of liver - and there is another linked page here with 10 Top Health Benefits. I've also been reading this book called Anticancer, which I am finding very interesting because of the ways that it talks about low stress and change of diet (change of lifestyle kinds of things) as having profound effects on how our bodies deal with cancer. I'm feeling amazed by food lately - how changing how we eat can do such drastic benefit to our health.

So - back to pate. According to the author of the recipe, it is important that the liver you get be organic or grass fed. I tried this pate twice: first with Kadejan chicken livers from the Wedge ($1.99/lb) and next with Callister chicken livers from the Seward ($4.99/lb). According to the recipe link, the color of organic vs. pasture raised chicken livers is noticeable, but I found both sets of livers to be pretty similar.

The pate made a great lunch with carrots and celery and cucumber - or it would be good on crackers, or whatever. The only note I have for the recipe is that it takes quite some time to cook off the liquids after you add them, so be prepared. Otherwise this recipe is super simple and easy. Also, I think the pate is way better made with wine than with vinegar (but perhaps this is obvious).