Chicken Liver Pate = Yum?

Tonight I was in the mood for what I call "Mediterranean".  For all the food purists out there, please accept my apologies if what I ate tonight wasn't exactly Mediterranean, but I like to take the Italian example of eating simple foods as a meal.  We had our usual salami, prosciutto, asparagus, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, bread and pears but after hours spent pouring over the beautiful cookbook of Tuscany I decided to try my hand at liver pate. (By the way, the book is literally called TUSCANY, The Beautiful Cookbook)  I'm sure I've lost several of you already to the word liver with things like, "yuck" and "gross" floating through your minds, but don't be so hasty.  The art of cooking is all about exploration and expanding your horizons and us Americans sometimes are limited on willingness to be adventurous when it comes to food.  You may associate something you've eaten with the one time you tried it 15 years ago or how your mom used to cook it both of which left you with memories you'd rather forget.  However, please try to open your mind to the fact that there is more than one way to prepare food, case in point, that other dish your mother makes that no one else can quite replicate.  Have you ever had two people's spaghettis that tasted just alike?  I know I haven't.  Heck, I often have trouble duplicating the same thing twice.  It's all about the mystic essence that is the heart of cooking that brings it all together in a culmination of love, effort and beautiful ingredients.  This is what I truly love about food and cooking, not to mention the way it brings friends and family together to simply enjoy each others company and relish in the joie de vivre!  So I dare you to try this liver pate; who knows, you might just find you like it!

As taken from TUSCANY, The Beautiful Cookbook

CROSTINI DI FEGATINI, Chicken Liver Toasts from Firenze
These are the most traditional Tuscan crostini.  The pate is often served on toasted country bread slightly moistened with stock.  In the local trattorias, crostini are a must with the antipasti, which nearly always include a slice of sopressata (a cured meat made of pig's head) and a slice of finocciona (a salami laced with fennel seed).


13 oz chicken livers
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
6 bay leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup light chicken stock
1 tablespoon capers in salt
4 canned flat anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 slices coarse country bread or French baguette

*Remove and discard any fat and connective tissue from the chicken livers.  Slice the livers into fairly large pieces.
*In a skillet over high heat, warm the olive oil.  Add the garlic, bay leaves and chicken liver pieces.  Season very lightly with salt and pepper.  Stirring frequently, cook over high heat until the mixture starts sticking to the skillet, about 5 minutes.
*Add the wine, scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet and cook over high heat until the wine evaporates, about 2 minutes.  Add 1/4 cup of the stock, lower the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat.
*Remove and discard the bay leaves.  Put the liver mixture through the fine disc of a food mill, collecting the mixture in a small pan.  Alternately, pulse in food processor until smooth.
*Rinse the capers in cold water to remove the salt.  Place the capers and anchovies on a cutting board and chop together finely.  Add the caper-anchovy mixture to the liver mixture along with the butter.
*Place the pan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the ingredients are well blended and smooth, just a few minutes.  Do not allow the mixture to boil.  Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let cool, stirring occasionally.
*Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 350 degrees.  toast the bread slices in the oven until golden.  Remove the bread and while they are still hot, dip each slice quickly in the remaining 3/4 stock.  Spread the toasts with the liver mixture and serve.

SERVES 6

Shannon's Notes:

*I didn't have any white wine so I had to substitute red wine instead to deglaze the pan with.
*The capers I used were just the regular packed in juice you get at the store but I still rinsed them.
*I didn't have any anchovies on hand either but I did have a tube of anchovy paste that I use for caesar dressing.  I just squirted about a tablespoon on top of the capers before I chopped them up.

I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed this.  The changes I had to make seemed to work out okay.  Even Zane and Ainsley ate it up.  So for those of you that have the guts, give it a try and let me know how you liked it.  I love to hear about your culinary adventures!  Cheers!