Chicken Liver Parfait with Brandy

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide, heavy-bottomed frying pan
• •Blender or food processor
• •Fine-meshed sieve
• •Terrine dish, small loaf tin, or ramekins
• •Small saucepan for clarifying butter

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the shallots

   Melt a generous knob of butter in a wide, heavy pan over a gentle heat. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt. Let them soften for five or six minutes, stirring now and then, until they're translucent and sweet and the kitchen starts to smell like something is happening. Add the garlic and the thyme sprigs for the last minute. Nothing should colour. You're coaxing, not cooking.

   If the shallots catch and start to brown, the heat is too high and the parfait will taste bitter. Pull the pan off the heat for a moment. There's no rush here.
2. 2

   Sear the livers

   Push the shallots to the edge of the pan and turn the heat up. Add the livers in a single layer. Let them sit for a minute without moving them. You want colour on the outside, a proper golden sear, but the centres must stay pink. Turn them once. Another minute. They should feel springy when you press them gently, not firm. Overcooked livers make a grainy parfait, and there's no fixing that after the fact.

   Pat the livers properly dry before they go in the pan. Wet livers steam instead of searing, and the difference in flavour is the difference between something memorable and something forgettable.
3. 3

   Add the brandy

   Pour in the brandy and the Madeira. It will hiss and spit and the alcohol will catch if you're cooking on gas, which is fine, let it burn off. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to lift any sticky, caramelised bits. Let the liquid reduce by half, just a minute or so, until the pan is nearly dry and the smell has gone from sharp to warm and rounded. Pull the thyme sprigs out and discard them.

4. 4

   Blend until smooth

   Scrape everything from the pan into a blender or food processor while it's still warm. Add the mace and a good grinding of white pepper. Blend for a full minute, stopping to scrape down the sides once. With the motor running, add the softened butter a few cubes at a time. The mixture will go from rough and dark to pale, smooth, and glossy. Taste it. Season with more salt if it needs it, and it probably will. Parfait eaten cold needs to be seasoned generously now, because chilling mutes everything.

5. 5

   Pass through a sieve

   Push the parfait through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl, using the back of a ladle or a spatula. This is the step people skip, and it's the step that matters most. The sieve catches any fibres or grain and leaves you with something impossibly smooth, the texture of cold silk. It takes three or four minutes. Worth every one of them.

   If you don't have a fine sieve, a coarse one will do, but push hard and work in batches. The goal is a texture so smooth that a spoon drawn through it leaves clean, sharp edges.
6. 6

   Set and seal

   Pour the parfait into a terrine dish, a loaf tin lined with cling film, or individual ramekins. Tap the dish firmly on the counter to knock out any air bubbles. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Melt the remaining butter gently in a small pan, let it settle for a minute, then pour the clear golden liquid over the surface, leaving behind the white milk solids. This thin layer of clarified butter seals the parfait and sets to a beautiful, trembling gold. Refrigerate for at least four hours, overnight if you can. Patience is the last ingredient.

Chef Tips

• •The quality of the livers is everything. Fresh from a butcher, plump and glossy, with no off smell. Supermarket tubs will work if they're fresh, but check the date and give them a sniff. Your nose will tell you what your eyes can't.
• •Keep the livers pink in the centre. This is not negotiable. Grey, overcooked livers produce a parfait with the texture of pâté you'd find in a motorway service station. Pink livers, properly seared, give you something that belongs on a different table entirely.
• •Season boldly. Cold food tastes muted, so the parfait needs to be slightly over-seasoned when warm. Trust your palate, taste it from the blender, and add more salt than feels comfortable. It will be right when it's cold.
• •Serve it with toast, not bread. Thin slices, properly toasted, still warm. The contrast between the cold, rich parfait and the hot, crisp toast is the whole point. A few cornichons alongside if you like, and maybe some of that onion chutney you made last autumn.

Advance Preparation

• •The parfait must be made at least four hours ahead, but it is best made the day before. Overnight in the fridge lets the flavour deepen and the texture firm to the right yielding smoothness.
• •Sealed under its layer of clarified butter, it will keep in the fridge for up to five days. Once the butter seal is broken, eat within two days.
• •It does not freeze well. The texture suffers. Make it fresh each time. It takes less than half an hour of actual work, and most of that is the sieve.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 105g)