pate

I love chicken liver pâté!  I used to make it with tons of butter (including a thick butter ‘crust’) and port…

…but although times change and I now need to eat low fat meals to manage my reflux, that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy great food!  In fact, this low-fat chicken liver pâté is so scrumptious, rich and creamy that you’d never guess it was a low-fat, reflux-friendly* recipe! And it’s very quick and easy to make, too 🙂

Ingredients

• 400g chicken livers
• half a large onion (or one small onion), roughly chopped – I am fine with cooked onions and many people with reflux are, but if you are not, simply leave the onion out. 
• 10g butter
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme (adjust quantity, to taste – depending on how much you like thyme!)
• sea salt (to taste)
• 2 heaped tbsp fat free crème fraîche (I find Yeo Valley 0% crème fraîche very creamy, and actually nicer than the Sainsbury’s ‘Be Good to Yourself’ one, which has 2.4% fat – try different ones to decide which one you like best)

Method

Fry the onions in the butter, initially on a high heat to brown them a little for flavour (don’t burn them though!), then turn down the heat and cook them for a few minutes until they’ve softened.

While the onions are browning/softening, remove all visible fat from the chicken livers and cut them up roughly into smaller pieces for ease of cooking.  Then turn the heat to high again and add the livers to the onions, sprinkling salt and thyme over everything and stirring.

Cook on a high heat for a couple of minutes, then turn the heat down and cover with a lid, simmering for another 2-3 minutes.  If there is a lot of liquid, remove the lid and simmer for long enough for most (but not all) of the juices to evaporate.  In total, you’ll be cooking the livers for only 5-7 minutes – check that they are no longer pink but don’t cook them so long they become dry and cardboard-like in texture.

Leave to cool until they’re at room temperature, then place everything in a food processor, add the crème fraîche and blitz to a paste.  I like it quite lumpy, but process for longer if you want a smoother pâté.

Tip: When adding the crème fraîche, start off with one tablespoon, check for consistency, then add more as needed.  Bear in mind that it will go slightly more ‘solid’ once you refrigerate it.

Refrigerate for a few hours, then serve with brown toast or wholegrain crackerbread.

Gloriously Simple, Gloriously Low Fat, Gloriously Reflux-Friendly, Gloriously Good!

*Please note I am not a doctor, speech therapist or in any way medically qualified.  The recipes are a combination of my interpretation of the rules outlined in the ‘Dropping Acid – The Reflux Diet’ book and ingredients that work for my reflux.  If you believe you suffer from reflux, please seek advice from a medical professional to confirm your diagnosis and work out the best course of treatment/management for you.  I hope that my recipes can help you as part of this management.  The recipes are, by their nature, very low in fat, so are also suitable for anyone wishing to follow a low-fat diet.