Chicken Liver Pâté (Jacques Pépin)

The everyday French pâté de foies de volaille: livers poached briefly with onion, garlic and herbs, then puréed with a lot of butter and a little Cognac until completely smooth.

Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Pâtés and Terrines section and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.

Ingredients

• ½ pound chicken livers, well trimmed
• ½ small onion, thinly sliced
• 1 small garlic clove, smashed and peeled
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ teaspoon thyme leaves
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt to start, plus more to taste
• ½ cup water
• 1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons Cognac or Scotch whisky
• Freshly ground pepper
• Toasted baguette slices, to serve

Directions

1. Combine the livers, onion, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and ½ teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Add the water and bring to a simmer.
2. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the livers are barely pink inside, about 3 minutes (see the safety note). Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes.
3. Discard the bay leaf. Lift the livers, onion and garlic into a food processor with a slotted spoon and process to a coarse purée.
4. With the machine running, add the butter 2 tablespoons at a time until incorporated.
5. Add the Cognac, season with salt and pepper, and process until completely smooth.
6. Pack into 2–3 ramekins, press plastic wrap onto the surface and chill until firm. Serve chilled with toasted baguette.

Notes

Source Adapted from Jacques Pépin, “Chicken Liver Pâté,” Food & Wine.

Why it works Poaching in a little water, rather than searing, cooks the livers gently and evenly. The butter — 12 tablespoons to half a pound of liver — is what makes it spreadable and smooth once chilled.

Food safety: chicken livers Chicken liver pâté is the most documented Campylobacter vehicle in restaurant food: of 28 US chicken-liver outbreaks in 2000–2016, 24 were blended dishes such as pâté and 26 involved undercooking (Lanier et al., Foodborne Pathog. Dis. 2018). Pink is not a reliable test in either direction. USDA and CDC say 165 °F (74 °C); Washington State University found that holding livers at 70–73.9 °C (158–165 °F) for 101 down to 26 seconds is safe for Salmonella and still leaves them tender and faintly pink (Poult. Sci. 2021). A probe thermometer is the only way to have both. For this recipe: check the livers at the end of the 5-minute rest and take them to 70 °C (158 °F) if they are not already there.

The Pâtés and Terrines section’s Liver Pâtés page (/pates-and-terrines/liver/) covers the history and technique behind this dish.

The photo The photograph shows a restaurant block of chicken liver pâté, not this recipe.