Baked Liver Pâté: Yum. (Seriously? Seriously.)

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As I described in Wednesday’s post, I’m working on eating nose-to-tail. My offal (not awful) point-of-entry was pastured cow’s liver. This was nearly a year ago, and at that point I balked at adding a Tablespoon of grated liver to 2 lbs. of ground beef.
Oh, how I have grown (weirder).
Though eating unconventional cuts may cause me an initial shudder, I also feel a bit of a thrill about it. I feel like a Rogue. A Maverick. An aggregate of Palin-isms the size of Alaska (or Russia, depending on whose backyard you’re in) couldn’t describe the Chuck Norris-esque charge I get when I’m prepping, say, beef tongue.
I know. I’m a pervert.
I won’t try to hide my enthusiasm about the gorgeous, deep-red, pastured chicken livers I got from US Wellness Meats recently. Liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods available to us today. Chris Kresser writes about it – and does some myth-busting –  here. Liver is a traditional fertility food, rich in folate (different from folic acid – which is often present in pre-natal vitamins as a cheaper alternative to folate) as well as vitamin A and B-vitamins (including B12, which is only available from animal products). Liver is borderline magical. Just look at these puppies:

Diane of Balanced Bites has a photo on this blog post that shows the difference between conventional, “organic,” and true pastured liver. It needs to be red – that’s the sign that the animal led a healthy life. The redder the better.
I wanted to do something a little different, so I went with a baked pâté from Simply Recipes (a site with a fantastic low-carb section). This is almost like a meat loaf (although I’m sure the *Fraahnsh* would disagree.) You can replicate the recipe from the Simply Recipes page.
Since fall is fast approaching and Punxsutawney Phil Pumpkin Spice Latte is peeking meekly out from its hiding place, I’m feeling drawn to those earthy, comforting aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg. This recipe stood out to me for four reasons:

Liver and CINNAMON? Yes please! Add a bottom and top layer of bacon to the deal and I’m totally sold.

This recipe is easy, warm, and tasty; and the baked pâté goes well with a sliver of Herdsman raw milk cheese from the pastured cows at Cherry Grove Farm.

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(They have stuff besides chicken livers, don’t worry. You can get yourself some lamb or bison, or their delicious grass-fed beef.)

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6 Responses

  1. I’m so not ready for offal, but I have to say I totally understand that thrill, when you’re smacking conventional wisdom in the face and doing something that’s new and awesome. I am cave woman, hear me roar! I got a little thrill from moving our living room furniture around by myself. With ease, I should add.
    Slanker farms sells a ground beef with various offal ground in…I feel like that might be a good place to start. With enough heat/spice I might not know it’s in there.

  2. Mark Sisson has a great pork, beef and liver trine recipe that I highly recommend for liver haters. It has enough pork and beef in it that you don’t notice the liver and of course, it’s wrapped in bacon.

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