Perfect Parfait: Heston Blumenthal’s Parfait of Chicken Livers

One of my favourite starters or light lunches is a deeply flavoured chicken liver parfait, full of thyme and with an underlying taste of port. This recipe, which I tore out of The Sunday Times magazine way back on October 30, 2005, is my idea of a perfect parfait.

Dubbed “Posh pâté,” and subtitled “Hold on to your taste buds – this chicken liver parfait will blow you away,” Heston Blumenthal’s recipe is wonderfully rich and delicious on toast with a sprinkling of rock salt and black pepper. The amount of alcohol boggles the mind but it is what gives this dish its superb flavour. And as with any alcohol used in cooking, it boils away, leaving only its taste.

Heston Blumenthal’s Parfait of Chicken Livers
Adapted for Thermomix by Madame Thermomix. Makes 2 x 500 ml pâtés or about 12 individual ramekins. Thermomix blends so smooth you don’t need to sieve this. Requires preparation the night before.

Ingredients
1 garlic clove
100 g shallots, peeled
1 bunch thyme (6-8 sprigs), tied
150 g dry Madeira
150 g ruby port
75 g white port (I used Tawny port to great effect)
50 g brandy
400 g chicken livers
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
4 eggs
400 g unsalted butter, cut into 2-cm cubes

Method

1. The day before: Peel the garlic by placing the unpeeled clove in the bowl of the Thermomix and knocking the skin off 4 seconds/Speed 4 ½ /Reverse Blade Direction. Remove the skins and then add the shallots. Chop a few seconds on Speed 4.
2. Weigh the thyme, Madeira, ruby port, white port and brandy into the TM bowl, then transfer the mixture to a bowl. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 24 hours. (If for some odd reason you won’t be using your Thermomix again today, you can leave the shallot and alcohol mixture in it, put on the lid and put the whole thing in the fridge for 24 hours.) Place the livers in a bowl of milk, cover and leave in the fridge overnight to reduce the bitterness.
3. The following day, pour the marinated shallot mixture into the TM bowl (or take your covered TM bowl out of the fridge) and cook 100° C/15 minutes/Speed 2/Reverse Blade Direction to reduce it until there is no liquid left. This will take more or less time, depending on how cold the mixture is when you start. With Thermomix tirelessly stirring and you watching its progress it will not catch or burn. And with the reverse blade function the Thermomix blades will not chop the tied bundle of thyme.
4. Drain the chicken livers, rinse and pat them dry. Trim them, place on a plate, add the salt and leave to warm to room temperature. Crack the eggs into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and, again, leave to warm to room temperature.
5. Preheat the oven to 150° C/300° F/Gas Mark 2 (130° C/270° F fan oven). Meanwhile, use your Thermomix to weigh the butter into a glass jug and then melt the chunks a few minutes in the microwave. (The jug makes it easy to pour out the melted butter.) Remove the thyme from the warm shallot reduction in your TM bowl and add the chicken livers; blend 2 minutes/Speed 8 or until smooth. Add the eggs and blend 30 seconds/Speed 8. With the Thermomix blades running at Speed 8, pour the hot melted butter onto the TM lid, allowing it to gradually seep around the measuring cup and into the mixture in the bowl. Process again 5 minutes/Speed 10 for a smooth pâté.

   

6. Pour the blended liver mix into two terrine dishes that comfortably hold 500 ml, or into 12 ramekins. Cover the terrines/ramekins with foil and place on an oven tray with high sides (a roasting tin works perfectly). Place the tray in the oven and pour hot water into the tray until it reaches the same level as the liver mixture in the dishes. Carefully slide the oven rack into the oven and close the door.
7. After 20 minutes (or 12 minutes if using aluminium barquettes such as those in the photo), check the parfait by carefully agitating the terrines: the mixture should be set at the edges, but still wobble slightly in the centre. If it is not ready, put it back into the oven and continue to check regularly. (If you have a probe, the internal temperature should be 65°C.)
8. Once ready, remove from the oven and allow to cool. Leave to set for about half a day in the fridge before serving, to allow the flavours to develop and deepen.

   

Serve with a loaf of toasted bread made in your Thermomix and a glass of sweet white wine, some of the port or Madeira used to make it, or your favourite red. It’s great as a starter, or add a green salad to make a light lunch.

We served this twice recently, once at Tongham Tasters with bread and some pink Cava. The next night was our Last Century Wine Dinner where we served it on curried macarons where the sweetness of the almonds and the zing of the curry set it off amazingly well.

Thermomix is a tool and you are the genius that uses it. Use your imagination!

Bon appétit !

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