Chicken Liver Mousse
1 pound chicken livers
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milk for soaking the livers, about 2 cups
2 shallots, small diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled, minced
4 tablespoons cold butter, divided
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 clove
½ cup port wine
½ cup heavy cream
kosher salt, to taste
Soak the chicken livers in milk for 20-25 minutes to help remove the blood. Discard the milk after soaking.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a sauté pan. Add the shallots, garlic, star anise, cinnamon stick and clove to the pan. Cook the onions and garlic until soft but not browned, add the livers and allow to cook for a few minutes, just until the livers are a little opaque. Remove the pan from the heat. Remove the star anise, cinnamon stick and clove from the pan and discard. Transfer the liver mixture to a blender.
Add the port wine in the same pan you cooked the shallots and garlic in. Raise the heat to high and reduce until about ½ way down. Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat the heavy cream until simmering and remove from heat. Add the port wine reduction and heavy cream into the blender with the livers. Add the remaining cold butter and puree until very smooth. Once blended, check for seasoning and adjust to taste with salt and pepper as desired. Transfer to your serving dish and cover with a piece of plastic film pressing down on the liver so it doesn’t develop a skin when chilling.
Serve with your favorite toppings and bread or crackers. On the show we served our chicken liver mousse with challah bread and a salad of picked Italian parsley leaves and sliced pitted dates that we drizzled with olive oil, fresh squeezed juice from half an orange and a little lemon oil. Season with a pinch of big flaky salt if you have it.