Liver. Why do I cringe so when I am encouraged to eat more liver? Many, like my husband, Weldon, actually love liver and onions as an entrée. Weldon’s mother made it regularly for his family. My mother did not. Liver is an acquired taste and the best advice I have is to feed it to your babies when they are “acquiring” flavors and developing taste buds.
As I work on developing my own taste buds for liver, I have come up with some pretty good ways to sneak liver into my diet without sacrificing flavor, or inducing the shudder reflex. Liver Pate’.
Playing with a Liver Pate’ recipe until you find all the right combinations of desired flavors is worth the effort. I love to freeze my pate’ in ice cube trays for ease of use. Here are some creative uses for Liver Pate’.
- We will occasionally eat homemade pizza on sprouted grain crust. I use pate’ as my first layer of flavor, covered by my pizza sauce (marinara combined with pesto), next layer, cheese, followed by toppings of my choice (usually Holy Cow Beef grassfed beef sausage, purple onions, olives, red bell peppers, fresh tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, etc.)
- I will use the pate’ as I use hummus on sandwiches, tortillas, or lettuce roll-ups. Simply spread the pate’ onto the tortilla, or lettuce, followed by Primal mayo (or homemade), we always add raw onions (onions pair extremely well with liver), next add protein (we usually use Holy Cow Beef smoked roast beef – sliced deli thin). We also add many other veggies (tomatoes, sprouts, cucumbers etc.) and possibly other spreads like dijon mustard.
- I will throw a frozen cube of pate’ (use an ice cube tray) into my taco meat, spaghetti sauce, shepherd’s pie meat mixture, etc. (This was inspired by my similar use of beef bone broth)
- We also use pate’ for the traditional servings as well. Pate served as an appetizer with ancient grain crackers is an interest that is turning into a growing gourmet treat. Pairing a deep red wine with Beef Liver Pate’ is also a treat for Weldon and me. If you do not drink wine, pairing a deep red kombucha will be equally satisfying.
ingredients
- 1 lb – Holy Cow Beef Liver
- Enough Milk to soak the Liver you may also use water with a bit of Lemon Juice or Vinegar
- 1 – very large purple onion – sliced fairly thin
- ½ cup butter from Grassfed cows
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 Garlic Cloves sliced or minced
- ¼ cup Cognac or Scotch Whiskey, heavy cream (milk or milk substitute will work too, or sherry)
- 2 tsp Allspice
- 2 tsp Rosemary
- Salt & Pepper to taste
instructions
Soak the beef liver overnight (in the refrigerator) in milk or water with added lemon juice or vinegar.
The next day, add butter to a skillet on very low heat – add onions topped with the garlic. Stick the bay leaf into the middle of the onions. Cover the skillet with a lid and cook on the lowest heat for most of the day until the onions have released their sweetness (like you do when prepping French Onion Soup).
Remove the bay leaf and discard. Remove onions & garlic using a slotted spoon, leaving any leftover butter in the skillet. Drain the liver and discard the milk or water that was used for soaking. Sauté the liver in remaining butter. If needed add additional butter to keep liver from sticking to the skillet. If using Cognac, Scotch Whiskey or Sherry, add it now to let the alcohol cook off and keep this recipe Auto Immune Diet friendly.
Let liver and fat cool down a bit. Add liver, fat, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, allspice, rosemary, and cream (if not using alcohol or use a non-dairy liquid of choice) to a food processor. Blend until smooth.
Traditional recipes will call for you to chill your pate’ and serve it chilled. We like to bake our pate’ to help flavors meld well. We transfer the pate’ to a baking dish and bake at 300 degrees for a couple hours. This step is worth the effort and time. Allow pate’ to cool and transfer to storage containers of your choice. Traditionally served cold with ancient grain crackers. Enjoy!!!
