[Mrs Bee]

1x 200g pack of duck liver
8oz slightly salted butter
2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tab brandy
1 tab of cointreau
2 tabs green peppercorns in brine, rinsed and patted dry
1 heaped tsp mustard powder
peppercorns and fresh thyme to decorate.

Trim and wash livers. Remove the stringy bits. Pat dry.
Melt the butter and reserve just over a quarter to seal the finshed pate.
From the remaining butter take out 2 tabs and fry the garlic and seasoned livers until for about 5 mins over a medium heat, turning constantly.
When the livers are just cooked through put them in the liquidizer or food processor with the rest of the butter(not the reserved quarter for sealing).
Deglaze the pan with the alchohol and half the green peppercorns,and scrape the contents of the pan in with the livers and add the mustard powder and plenty of salt and pepper. Whizz this until you have a smooth puree.

Mix in the remaining peppercorns and either put the mix into individual ramekins, or a large bowl or a loaf tin.
Cover the pate with the remaining butter and pop a sprig of thyme and a few extra peppercorns on to decorate.
Cool in the fridge until needed. Makes a lovely dinner party dish and can be made in advance and frozen. Serve with toasted sour dough or any good bread. Oil and garlic crostini are very good with it as it takes away the faffing with making toast and keeping it warm.

I fiddle about with this basic recipe and add a few herbs and a little cooked diced duck breast to the pate after the initial liquidizing.
Another recipe that I make using the same method is a duck or chicken liver one.
12oz cleaned washed chicken livers
4oz streaky bacon
6oz unsalted butter
2 crushed garlic
5 or 6 allspice berries crushed
1/2 a chopped onion
pinch mace
couple of tsp fresh thyme
2 tabs brandy
1 tab lemon juice
2 tabs greenpeppercorns in brine.

[Sparkyrog]

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