INGREDIENTS
Parfait
300 g chicken livers
Milk, to soak the livers
30 g butter
3 shallots (approximately 70 g), thinly sliced
2 tbsp tarragon leaves
125 ml (½ cup) Tawny port
60 ml (¼ cup) brandy
2 egg yolks
1 tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt flakes, or to taste
170 g butter, extra, at room temperature
250 ml (1 cup) cream
To serve
Wattleseed crackers or alternative cracker
Homemade or store-bought onion jam
Cornichons, caper berries or other pickles
METHOD
Parfait
- Rinse the livers under cold water and drain. Place in a bowl and cover with milk. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Strain and discard the milk (this removes bitterness). Remove any connective tissue and discard.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat, induction setting 3. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent.
- Add the tarragon, Tawny port and Brandy to the shallot mixture. Increase the heat to medium-high, induction setting 7. Bring the mixture to the boil then reduce on medium-low heat, induction setting 4 until thick and syrupy. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
- Combine the livers, yolks, spices, salt and shallot mixture in a food processor and blend until smooth.
- Add the extra butter and blend until smooth. Strain the parfait through a fine sieve over a bowl and discard any solids. Stir in the cream.
- Pour the mixture into sterilised preserving jars and loosely close the lids. Steam the jars at 85°C for 25 minutes, or until cooked through. To check if the mixture is cooked, insert a toothpick into the centre and it should come out clean.
- Cool the parfait before placing into the fridge overnight.
To serve
- Serve the parfait with crackers, onion jam and pickles.
Alternative appliance method
Combi steam Pro oven
- Select Combi mode: Conventional at 110°C + 60% moisture. Cook for 20-30 minutes or until set.
Hints and tips
- This recipe was tested using 3 x wide mouth jars that hold approximately 300 ml each.
- Sterilise the jars using the ‘disinfect items’ function in Miele steam ovens. Alternatively, place the bottles upside down in the steam oven and Steam at 100⁰C for 10 minutes.
- Parfait is different to a pate. Parfait texture is usually smoother, and the mixture is steamed. Whereas a pate is usually cooked on a cooktop, blended and set.