On the subject of liver, I originally bought 3 of the 250g packs of frozen chicken livers from Sainsburys, for 50p each, and only used two for the Liver and Mash recipe… Having already defrosted them all, it would have been a shame to waste them – so I decided to treat myself to some pate… Happy tummy night tonight, I think a loaf of bread is called for too!
Ingredients: Serves one to four, depending on the one or the four… 😉
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
50g butter
250g chicken livers
Peel and very finely chop the onion (that said, I like mine chunky for a sweet crunch) and crush the garlic. Add to a frying pan with the butter on the lowest heat and sauté to soften.
Finely dice the chicken liver and add to the pan. Cook all together on a low heat for around 10 minutes, taking care not to burn the butter.
Pour the melted butter, liver, onion and garlic into a bowl and mash together with a fork until well combined. Spoon into a container (a small butter tub would be perfect, or a pair of ramekins) and allow to cool before chilling.
They will keep in the fridge for up to three days. If you want to keep them for longer, they can be topped with a little extra melted butter to preserve, which will keep the air out.
Some recipes use a lot more butter: Leiths ‘Cookery Bible’ recommends using 225g butter with a further 85g to preserve – but I couldn’t stomach either the richness or the cost. They also add a dash of brandy and lashings of black pepper – funnily enough, I didn’t have either lying about! But use this as a base and add what you like: a splash of lemon juice wouldn’t go amiss, for example…
(The ramekin dish pictured here was from the Southend YMCA shop, for 50p.)
Ingredient costs Sainsburys or Sainsburys Basics, correct at time of writing: 1 loose onion, 11p. Garlic clove 3p (1 bulb 30p, average 10 cloves.) 50g butter, 24p (250g butter, £1.20). 250g frozen chicken livers, 50p.
Jack Monroe. Twitter: @MsJackMonroe. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/agirlcalledjack