Liver is a super-food. Liver contains significantly more vitamin A, all the Bs, iron and other minerals than any other food. Pate is my preferred way to eat liver. It’s so good – and you don’t need to eat a lot to get the nutritional value. If you’ve got a turkey liver – you’ve got to try this recipe.
Thanksgiving 2023 we are roasting a wild turkey. It’s a bit smaller than a farmed turkey and the liver was a quarter pound, so I halved the recipe.
Ingredients:
1 turkey liver (about a half pound)
1/3 stick of good quality butter or ghee
1 medium onion, minced (or 2-3 shallots)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T each: rosemary, sage, parsley, thyme
¼ t allspice
¾ t sea salt
¼ t pepper
1-2 T cream or half and half
1-2 T sherry or cognac (optional)
Small handful of cranberries (not too much or the pate will be tart – alternatively try a spoonful of cranberry sauce)
Equipment: non-cast iron pan, food processor
- Trim away any membranes on the liver, slice or chop, and soak in salted water – at least 30 minutes but ideally for a few hours or even overnight.
- In a stainless steel (or any non-cast iron) heat butter on medium and add onion and sauté for 10 minutes until lightly caramelized.
- Chop garlic and herbs and add to pan with onions. Add allspice, salt and pepper. Once you can smell the aromatics (about 2-3 minutes)…
- Add liver and cook until browned on outside but still pink inside (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat.
- Once the onion and liver mixture has cooled a bit, add to food processor along with cream, cranberries and sherry or cognac (if using). Blend until smooth.
- Spoon pate into small jars or other container and refrigerate to cool – later you can put some in the freezer for longer storage. Refrigerated pate lasts about 7-10 days.