Chicken Liver Pate on Crostini Vetri Style

Chicken Liver Pate?!  Don’t leave the page just yet. I know many of you can’t even imagine eating chicken livers in any form but hang in here. This rustic chicken liver pate recipe adapted from Marc Vetri’s il viaggio di vetri cookbook is simply divine.

Yes, there is a distinctive chicken liver flavor, but with all of the other ingredients combined, it is not overwhelming.  In fact, you might be surprised and dismayed at the amount of butter this wonderful recipe contains. It is extremely rich so a little goes a long way. I’ve prepared it many times for parties or when friends spend the weekend and the reception is always overwhelmingly positive.

You have heard me mention Chef Vetri on many occasions here. He and his partner Jeff Benjamin host The Great Chef’s Event to raise money for the Alex’s Lemonade Foundation, a noble cause to help find a cure for childhood cancer. Marc and Jeff invite a bunch of their favorite chefs to come to Philly to cook small plates for hundreds of foodies like myself.  It is in my opinion this is one of the best culinary events anyone could wish for and supports a great cause.

I adapt Marc’s recipe a little because I was missing an ingredient or two and cut it in half because the original makes quite a bit, and I didn’t think I would eat it all.  Besides, the thought of frozen pate is just not appealing, if it can be frozen at ll. (If you read this post Marc, please let me know.) Like I said, a little will fill you up.

This recipe is extremely affordable. The chicken livers cost me only  $1.50 for a half a pound!  There are a few other ingredients that are more expensive but you only need a small quantity and you can always substitute. I didn’t have pancetta, a salt cured pork belly, so I substituted bacon and it didn’t hurt the overall flavor one bit.

If you ever want to enjoy a country style rustic chicken pate, I suggest you give this one a try. I’m sure it will become an often-repeated appetizer in your culinary repertoire.

Chicken Liver Pate on Country Bread Toasts

Ingredients:

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 small garlic clove
• ½ pound chicken livers
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 1 fresh sage sprig
• 1 ounce of unsmoked bacon, finely chopped – (pancetta if you can find it)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• ½ onion
• 1 tablespoon of Port
• 1 tablespoon cognac
• 1 teaspoon white truffle paste (you can substitute ¼ teaspoon white truffle oil
• Loaf of Italian bread, sliced thin and toasted
• 1 – 2 tablespoons of oil to make the Crostini

How to Make at Home

Start by heating up a sauté pan (frying pan) over medium high heat and adding 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes until golden.  Watch it carefully;, you don’t want to let it burn.

Add the chicken livers, bacon, rosemary and sage. Stir and let this cook for about 1 minute.  Season with salt and pepper.

Reduce the heat to low and add the onion. Sauté for 25 to 30 minutes until the onions are soft and the chicken livers are cooked.

Off heat, add the port and Cognac. Raise the heat to medium-high and return the pan to stove. The recipe says to simmer until the liquid is reduced by half but I found it reduced to nothing right away. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool.

Take out the sprigs of rosemary and sage and transfer the liver mixture to a food processor. Add the remaining butter and truffle paste. Puree this mixture until smooth.

Chef Vetri suggests straining the puree through a tamis or fine-mesh sieve into a bowl but we don’t. Why?  Well…..it takes more time, it is very messy and we like the texture of pate without straining it.  I’ll have to try straining it and see if there is a difference.

I put the pate into a ramekin, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for at least one hour but you’ll want to take it out 15 minutes before serving.

Serving

Toast the bread slices. Add some pate to the toasted bread (Crostini) and drizzle some olive oil on top.
The liver should keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I have no idea if you can freeze it but will try to find out.

Saute the chicken livers

Adding a spring of rosemary

Adding onion to the pan

Puree the livers in a food processor

Running Aground

Whenever I’m on a deadline and scouring my brain for ideas for an article, a simple trip to the grocery store or some random restaurant will often provide grist for the “Food for Thought” mill.  It’s not uncommon for me to encounter something that’s off the hook.

So here’s my latest excursion down the rabbit hole.  I was in a supermarket that I infrequently patronize.  Moreover, since my last visit they had reconfigured their layout.  I was reconnoitering the meat department in quest of ground pork, the traditional filling for the Chinese dumplings I planned to make.

Unable to find it I asked one of the butchers where the ground pork was located.  He pointed to an area of the shelf I had missed in my reconnaissance.  However, as I approached the designated location I discovered ground veal. I re-engaged the butcher and explained it was veal, not pork.  His response left me thunderstruck.  He smirked and quipped: “What’s the difference, it’s the same color.”

I can’t even begin to wrap my head around how a butcher could harbor such an appallingly concrete conceptualization of meat……….not a four year old, not a lobotomized lunatic, not even some lay person who couldn’t care less about cooking, but a butcher!  Equating pork and veal merely because of the color is a level of superficiality I just can’t seem to fathom.  His smirk added insult to injury; as if I was the one off my rocker for making a distinction between the two.

The Similarities Between Ground Pork and Ground Veal

OK, I’m going to play devil’s advocate and outline some of the similarities between ground pork and veal.  All ground meats are often a hodgepodge of scraps leftover from trimming the primary cuts and/or miscellaneous segments of the carcass.  The pieces going into the admixture often contain a higher percentage of fat, gristle, and the like.

While your generic ground beef is a heterogeneous amalgamation, it is possible to procure ground beef from a specific cut of the animal such as ground chuck, round, or sirloin.  On the contrary, such specification is usually not offered with ground pork and veal in the average supermarket and thus, they will be comprised of the aforementioned mélange.  If you desire ground pork or veal from a specific cut you will need to go to a real butcher shop, or buy the whole cut and grind it yourself.

The second likeness between ground pork and veal is the unknown fat content.  Packages of ground beef will normally contain the percentage of fat in the mix, such as 85% ground chuck, (which means 15% fat).  Ground pork and veal are not labeled as such and it’s anybody’s guess what the fat content is.  In all likelihood it is notable, as the inclusion of fattier sections of the carcass in the grind is financially more efficient.

The third corollary between ground pork and veal are the safety issues.  In fact, these apply to all ground meats.  A far greater proportion of the surface area of ground meat comes into contact with equipment and people during its processing.  This means a higher chance of contamination.

Ground meat also spoils at a higher rate than solid pieces such as a steak.  Therefore you must use it sooner than you would a regular cut of meat.  If you don’t plan to use it with 24 hours of purchase, place it in the freezer.

Once in the freezer use it in less than three months.  It is also generally advised to cook your ground meat to a higher temperature than you would a steak or chop.  And finally yes, on the most superficial level, ground pork and veal are about the same color.

But all of these concordances are inconsequential when compared to the blatant discrepancy between the two comestibles:  ONE IS PORK AND ONE IS VEAL!

Different Meats, Different Profiles

Two very different meats from different animals with noticeably different flavor profiles.  Because they share the same physical attributes you can swap one for another in a recipe, but you will absolutely change the taste.  Case in point.

Since the supermarket in my introduction was devoid of ground pork, and I was too lazy to make another stop, I reluctantly went with the ground veal to make my Chinese dumplings.  It was a bad idea and I fervently advise you not to repeat my mistake.  The resulting dumplings were nothing like their porcine counterparts, despite the similar color, the salience of which is the limit of my butcher’s discernment of reality.

Here now is my recipe for Chinese dumplings, with ground pork.

Chinese Dumplings
(Makes 80-100 dumplings)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground pork
• ¼ lb. finely chopped shrimp
• 4-5 eggs, scrambled in vegetable oil and then finely chopped
• ½ lb. Chinese chives, finely chopped, (or substitute scallions)
• 5 leaves Napa cabbage, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
• Soy sauce to taste
• Salt to taste
• A splash each of sesame oil and vegetable oil
• 80-100 dumpling or wonton wrappers

How to Prepare at Home

In a large bowl stir the ground pork with a small splash of water.  Do this two more times to produce a moist and somewhat sticky mixture.  Add all of the remaining ingredients and mix well.

On a cutting board place a dumpling wrapper and dollop about a teaspoon or so of the mixture onto the center.  Do not overfill or it will be difficult to adequately seal them, and/or they can burst open during cooking.

Wet the edge of the wrapper with some water, fold it over, and then crimp the edge to seal it. Arrange the dumplings on a parchment lined sheet tray.  You can freeze them at this point for later use.

To cook, bring a pot of water or broth to a boil, add the dumplings, and cook until they float.  They are completely done when you can poke their center and the dough springs back.  You can serve them in broth like wontons but traditionally they are dipped in a sauce.

Dumpling Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3 oz. soy sauce
• 1 oz. dark soy sauce
• 1 oz. rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon hot chile oil
• A splash of sesame oil
• Finely minced chives or scallions

How to Prepare at Home

You can adjust any or all of these ingredients to suit your taste.  Simply whisk the ingredients together, dip the dumplings in the sauce and enjoy.

Contributing Food Writer
Chef Mark R. Vogel

Throw’em a Bone

It’s 2.3 million years B.C., otherwise known as the Pleistocene period.  You’re an australopithecine, an early hominid, i.e., an erect, bipedal primate.  In plain English, you’re basically a human-like creature somewhere between an ape and a modern day human.

You live in eastern Africa, in and around modern day Tanzania.  There’s one small problem though.  You’re kinda dumb.  It’s not your fault.  Your brain isn’t much larger than an ape’s.  You’ve been eating too much vegetable matter.  And while a modern day cardiologist or food neurotic might applaud you, the veggies just aren’t cutting it.

You’re never going to build the pyramids, find a cure for tuberculosis, or land on the moon on a diet of leaves and berries.  In order for your brain to grow you need meat, or at least some form of animal protein and fat.

But there’s another problem.  You haven’t quite figured out yet how to construct effective weapons and coordinate efficient hunts with your fellow hominids.  Again, you’re not that bright to begin with.  But you do know how to scavenge and are beginning to employ rudimentary stone tools.

You’ve seen vultures drop bones from the sky to break them open and feast on what lurked inside.  Early hominid see, early hominid do. Thus, you can find a carcass and use your rocks to crack open the bones.  Inside is the luxurious goodness that brain development is made of:  bone marrow.

What is Bone Marrow?

Bone marrow is rich in fat and protein and other elements less common in the vegetable matter available to you.  Caloric and nutrient dense, and more importantly, requiring far less energy to digest than roughage, a diet rich in bone marrow allows metabolic resources to be allocated elsewhere, namely developing a larger brain.  Gradually you and your kind will evolve into Homo habilis and other similar species that will eventually give rise to Homo sapiens, i.e., modern day humans.

Marrow is the soft, gelatinous tissue found in the cavities of bones.  It plays an important role in red and white blood cell formation and the immune system.  It is quite fatty, but most of the fat is monounsaturated fat, which like polyunsaturated fat helps to reduce cholesterol.

Finding Bone Marrow in Your Market

Marrow bones, yet another exquisite victual more popular in Europe than palate-challenged America, can still be found in most major US supermarkets.  I prefer specimens cut into approximately two-inch lengths for ease of cooking and marrow removal.  If your market only has longer bones, simply ask the butcher to cut them.

Like meat, keep them in the fridge only a day or two, or else freeze them.  Prior to cooking rinse them in cold water.  Some chefs prefer soaking them for a few hours in salt water to draw out any impurities.  Should your recipe call for cooking the marrow sans bone, soaking is required to soften it and thus facilitate its extraction.  Simply pop it out with your finger after its protracted salt water bath.

Marrow bones are frequently enlisted to make stock.  Cooked marrow can be whisked into soups, risotto or sauces to enrich them.  Bordelaise sauce, the classic red-wine-infused brown sauce is finished with bone marrow.

Marrow can be used to make what the French call a salpicon, a mixture of diced ingredients which is then employed as a stuffing or garnish.  Marrow-based stuffing can be utilized in dumplings, artichokes, cardoons, (a European artichoke relative), and savory pastries such as a bouchée, a small round puff pastry pouch that encases a filling.

Cooked marrow can be sliced and served as a garnish with meat dishes.  And where would osso buco be without the succulent marrow?  The highlight of the dish is scooping out the marrow, (sometimes with a special marrow spoon), and savoring it with the meat.

Bone marrow is cooked either by poaching or roasting.  Roasting of course will produce the deepest and most intense flavor.  My favorite way of enjoying bone marrow is perhaps the simplest:  roasting it and spreading it on crostini as in the recipe below.  I haven’t included specific amounts.

This recipe needs no precision.  Simply make as much as you think you’ll need.  A rough guideline is one to two pieces of bone per person as a hors d’oeuvre.

Roasted Bone Marrow Crostini

Ingredients:

• 1 baguette or other long, thin loaf of bread
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Beef marrow bones, cut to approximately two inches.
• Salt
• Pepper
• Parsley
• Lemon juice, (optional)

How to Prepare at Home

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Slice the bread into thin rounds.  Arrange them on a baking sheet and generously drizzle them with extra virgin olive oil.  Place them in the oven and toast until golden and crisp.

Remove the crostini and raise the oven temperature to 450.  Make sure it is fully heated before adding the bones.

Rinse the marrow bones and pat dry with paper towels.  Lay them flat on a baking sheet or roasting pan.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Place them in the oven and roast for 15 minutes.

Remove the bone and allow them to cool somewhat.  Remove the marrow, add salt, pepper, and parsley and mash with a fork.  Spread the mixture on the crostini.

Some folks like a squirt or so of lemon juice to balance the unctuousness of the marrow.  For a more rustic presentation, present each guest with their own bones, allowing them to remove and season the marrow as they prefer.

Chef Mark R. Vogel

What Are Your Experiences with Cooking Bone Marrow?

Related Topics

Osso Buco