Paté is not something that I’ve partaken in much in my lifetime. It’s a little uppity for my tastes, or so I thought. Little did I know what I was missing! And after the other night of cooking liver and having leftovers, I wasn’t sure what to do with the few pieces of liver that I still had. I wanted to do something different.

So after perusing the Nourishing Traditions chicken liver pate recipe I decided to try making a beef liver pate version, but with already cooked liver. This is a great way to use up your leftovers, or even a good way to get liver into the people that won’t eat a slab of liver at one sitting.

I never knew that I could eat such a small portion of food for lunch! I ate one very thin slice of homemade bread (make a loaf out of Pamela’s if you want gluten free or use rice crackers), with about two tablespoons of this pate, and topped it with ginger carrots. I was good for hours and hours after this lunch. And I had a lot of energy. This is unusual for me… but I guess this is par for the course with nutrient-dense eating!

I’ve included both recipes below, my version and the NT chicken liver version. The tips below are only for my version.

Tips for making pate out of leftover beef liver:

• This will probably only work if the leftover liver was not overcooked the first time. If it’s on the done side, don’t add it to the pan as I say below but just cut it in pieces and add it to the food processor. Let it sit out and warm up in the kitchen for about a half hour though.
• If you floured and cooked your liver the first time, or sauce is clinging to it still, don’t worry. Just cut it up and throw it in. The breading and/or sauce will be fine in the pate.
• The herbs I included below were just the ones I had on hand. Add what you have, or even no herbs at all.
• I used a pretty sweet red wine to deglaze the pan. I think the sweetness worked well with the beef liver. But use whatever you have. If you don’t want to use wine, use 1 T of apple cider vinegar and 2 T water.
• I almost completely carmelized the onions, which works very well to counteract the taste of the stronger beef liver.
• This recipe is forgiving, which is good because you never know exactly how much leftover beef liver you’ll have. You may need to adjust the amounts below to fit the ounces of liver you have leftover, and your tastes.
• This would freeze very well! Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and then also store it in a freezer bag.

Kim’s Leftover Beef Liver Pate

Rating: 1 fork (key)

Difficulty:

Easy to Moderate – makes about 1/2 cup of pate (about 8 servings)

Ingredients:

a few pieces of leftover cooked beef liver (I had about 3-4 ounces)

1 small clove garlic, or half a large clove

1/2 cup chopped onions

2 T grassfed butter

2-3 T red or white wine (see note above if you don’t want to use wine)

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp dried tarragon

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp powdered rosemary

3 T cream cheese (I used yogurt cheese leftover from making whey)

2 T grass fed butter, softened

salt and pepper to taste (you might not need any depending on the seasonings from the first time it was cooked)

In a small pan, saute the onions in the butter. Carmelize the onions, and when nearly done add the garlic (through a press so that it’s minced). When the onions are done, deglaze the pan with the wine and add all of the herbs and the dry mustard. Add the liver and just heat it through slightly and get it coated with sauce. Remove from heat and put the mixture into the food processor. Let the mixture cool.

Meanwhile, get your ramekins ready: line a 1/2 cup ramekin with plastic wrap. Once the pate mixture is cool, add the butter and cream cheese to the food processor and blend. Taste for seasoning. Add the mixture to the ramekin and completely cover, refrigerate until solid.

Serve with crackers or toasted bread alongside lactofermented veggies.

NT Chicken Liver Pate

Difficulty:

Easy to medium – Serves 12-18

Page in NT: 171

Ingredients:

3 T butter

1 pound chicken or duck livers, or a combination

1/2 pound mushrooms, washed, dried and coarsely chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped

2/3 cup dry white wine or vermouth

1 clove garlic, mashed

1/4 tsp dried dill

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

1 T lemon juice

1/2 stick butter, softened

sea salt

Melt butter in a heavy skillet. Add livers, onions and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until livers are browned. Add wine, garlic, mustard, lemon juice and herbs. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is gone. Allow to cool. Process in a food processor with the softened butter. Season to taste. Place in a crock or mold and chill well. Serve with whole grain bread or triangle croutons.

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Tagged as: beef liver, butter, calves liver, chicken liver, freezes well, gluten free, lamb liver, Leftovers, liver, nourishing traditions, offal, pig liver, pork liver