Chicken Liver Parfait with Sun-Dried Cherry and Apricot Sauce

Description

Chicken Liver Parfait topped with our Sun-Dried Cherry and Apricot Sauce

This wonderful recipe was developed by Mike Boyd of the Stratford Chefs School! Once you make this parfait yourself, you will never want to buy it from the grocery store again!

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

CHICKEN LIVER PARFAIT
50 ml	Red wine
50 ml	Ice wine
2 pinches	Herbs from Provence
3	Shallots, diced
250 grams	Chicken livers
3	Eggs
1 tsp	Salt
1/4 tsp	Black pepper
240 grams	Butter
SUN DRIED CHERRY AND APRICOT SAUCE
2	Shallots, minced
1/2 clove	Garlic, minced
4	Dried apricots, diced
1/3 Cup	Sun Dried Cherry Sauce
2 Tbsp	Brown sugar
2 pinches	Salt
2 Tbsp	Sherry vinegar
2 tsp	Red wine

 

Instructions

Chicken Liver Parfait
1. Preheat oven to 150 °C
2. Sweat onions in small sauté pan with oil and Herbs, being careful not to brown them
3. Add wine and reduce to one quarter
4. Melt butter but do not over heat
5. In a blender, combine liver, eggs, salt, and pepper.
6. While blender is running add wine and shallot mixture, and slowly pour in melted butter. Mixture should be well combined.
7. Strain mixture through a fine mesh strainer
8. Place mixture in a small bread pan or terrine mold
9. Place in a bain marie, remember to use warm water in your lining pan. Place everything in for roughly 45 min, or until parfait is set (tap pan and if mixture stops jiggling it is set) Cooking times will vary based on the size of the pan you use.
A bain marie is a large tray or pan of water in which your small bread pan or terrine mould will sit and cook in, the water will allow the parfait to cook slowly and evenly. The water level of the bain marie should never reach more than half way up the parfait pan,
10. Let cool, and serve in scoops or very delicate slices, topped with Sun Dried Cherry and Apricot Sauce.

Sun Dried Cherry and Apricot Sauce
1. Sweat shallots, garlic and apricots together
2. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a simmer uncovered for 5 min
3. Mixture will thicken as it cools, serve room temperature

 

Helpful Hints:

This is not your average quick and easy appetizer recipe. It requires patience and time for preparation. Use the Bain Marie method when creating this Chicken Liver Parfait in order to cook the liver correctly. The cooking process is crucial for creating the spectacular melt in your mouth taste of a gourmet parfait! All the effort put into creating this Chicken Liver Parfait is worth it! Make sure to cook the liver for a couple of minutes on each side. Cook until it is lightly coloured, but still a little pink in the middle. If you over-cook them, they will lose their smooth texture and become grainy. It is important to have a layer of butter or lard on top of the parfait because when exposed, the liver mixture will oxidize. Finally, when serving time approaches, remove the parfait from the fridge about 20 minutes prior. This will will allow it to soften slightly. Removing the parfait early will also help remove the chill from the dish, which deadens the flavours.

If you require more information or assistance on how to execute the Bain Marie method properly, check out the attached video below or read about it on the The Kitchn where they provide a written explanation.