Impala-Liver paté

We spent the Easter weekend in a place called Biki Bini Bos near Rustenburg. It is a lovely place, very quiet and the owners Martie and Pieter and their family are the nicest hosts you will ever meet. On the day we left they even offered the liver of an Impala to me that they shot in the morning ...

So here is my recipe for liver paté - it works with any kind of liver of course but Impala liver has a very nice taste indeed.

Ingredients
400 gr. Liver
110 gr. Butter (warm)
1 small onion
50 gr. fresh cream
a shot of Brandy
1 bay leaf
2-3 juniper berries
fresh thyme




Cut the liver into 2-3 cm thick slices. Roughly chop the onion. Crush the juniper berries in a mortar.

Take some of the butter and put it a frying pan together with the bay leaf, the juniper berries, the onion and the thyme. 


When the butter is really put some slices of the liver in the pan. Not all at once or else the temperature of the pan will drop to much to sear the liver properly.



The liver will take about 3-5 minutes to cook properly. Do not leave it in the pan too long or else the liver and the paté will be grey which you do not want. You can feel if the liver is just about right by how firm it is. It should be firm and very elastic. But this takes a bit of practice.


Take out the liver, deglaze the pan with a shot of Brandy. Take out the bay leaf and the thyme and throw away. But everything into a blender and add the cream and the rest of the butter. Blend the mixture until smooth.

Next put the mixture through a very fine sieve. Do not be lazy and miss this step. It will make the paté very smooth and will take out all the little grainy stuff.

Now you can pour the still liquid paté into whatever kind of container you have available. Put it immediately into the fridge for about 20-30 min. - just long enough for the surface to solidify a bit. If you keep it in the fridge for too long the surface will turn brown.


Now take some extra butter and clarify it i.e. heat it until it dissolves and take of the white froth from the top. Now carefully spoon the clear butter over the paté and put it in the fridge again. It should be ready to eat after about 3-4 hours in the fridge and it will keep for a couple of days. Try the Italian Bread recipe below for a perfect combination.