MASTERCLASS: CHICKEN LIVER PARFAIT AND POPPY SEED FLATBREAD
We strongly believe that you can judge a restaurant by its chicken liver parfait. It’s such an easy thing to make yet often people fail to get the depth of flavour it needs. Cook the chicken livers to medium–rare, anything past that and the parfait will be far from perfect.
PREP AND COOK TIME: 4 HOURS, INCLUDING 3 HOURS SETTING TIMESERVES: 10
300g butter, cubed
drizzle of olive oil
6 French shallots, diced
150g hickory smoked bacon, rind removed, finely chopped
2 bay leaves (fresh if available, dried if not)
1 handful of sage leaves, chopped
1 handful of thyme, leaves picked
2 garlic cloves, diced
100ml port
100ml cognac
1kg chicken livers, cleaned, trimmed and sinew removed
150ml double cream
PORT JELLY:
1 gelatine leaf
150ml port
POPPY SEED FLATBREAD:
300g plain flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
150ml water
1 egg white
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten, for egg wash
sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of poppy seeds
TO SERVE:
Pickled Radish (see Winter Pickles)
1. Heat a teaspoon of butter and the olive oil in a large frying pan on medium heat, add the shallot and bacon and sauté, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Add the bay leaves, sage, thyme and garlic and cook for a few minutes until fragrant. Increase the heat to medium-high, pour in the port and brandy and flambé. To flambé, tip the pan carefully away from you but towards an open flame, allow the vapours to ignite and keep the pan at arm’s length. Allow the alcohol to burn off naturally before you continue cooking.
2. Add the chicken livers to the pan and cook on a high heat, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes until the liver is browned on both sides but still pink in the centre. Take off the heat, discard the bay leaves and transfer to a food processor or blender. Blitz until smooth. With the motor running, gradually add the remaining cubed butter, then the cream. Sieve into a clean bowl to ensure the parfait is smooth. Spoon the parfait into four 300ml ramekins.
3. For the port jelly, soak the gelatine leaf in cold water for 10 minutes to soften. Remove from the water, squeezing off any excess water, and place in a saucepan. Add the port and cook, stirring, over low heat for 1-2 minutes until the gelatine dissolves. Allow to cool at room temperature. When cool, carefully pour the port jelly into the ramekins to seal the parfait. Refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours to let the parfait and jelly set.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease two baking trays.
5. For the flatbread, combine the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor, then add the water, egg white and melted butter and blitz until a ball of dough forms. Knead the dough on a lightly floured benchtop for 5 minutes, then split into eight balls. Roll out each dough ball until you have a paper thin piece of dough about 8cm in width and 20cm in length. Place on the prepared trays, brush the dough with the egg wash and sprinkle with salt, pepper and the poppy seeds. Bake for 12 minutes until a light golden colour. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool and crisp.
6. Serve the chilled parfait with the poppy seed flatbread and large spoonfuls of the pear chutney and pickled radish.
WILL What’s the difference between a parfait and a pâté?
STEVE Parfait means ‘perfect’ in French. The ingredients for a parfait and a pâté are usually the same but when a pâté is sieved to remove any sinew or impurities you are left with a silky and smooth parfait.
WILL Ah perfect – your favourite word.
