Porcini & Brandy Chicken Liver Pâté – Rich and Silky Homemade Pâté

2026-09-01 16:04

A rich and silky chicken liver pâté with earthy porcini mushrooms and a generous splash of brandy. Butter, gentle spices and cream create a smooth texture, while porcini adds a deep woodland flavour that turns a simple liver pâté into something special.

Porcini - Brandy - Chicken Liver Pate
Porcini - Brandy - Chicken Liver Pate

Chicken liver pâté is one of those recipes that proves just how much flavour can come from a handful of relatively simple ingredients.

This version takes the familiar richness of chicken liver and butter and adds two ingredients that work particularly well together: dried porcini mushrooms and brandy.

Porcini bring a deep, earthy and almost nutty character to the pâté. Unlike ordinary fresh mushrooms, dried porcini have a concentrated flavour, so even a relatively small amount makes its presence known without overwhelming the chicken liver.

The brandy provides another layer of warmth and complexity, while butter and a little unsweetened cream soften the stronger flavours and give the finished pâté its smooth, luxurious texture.

This is a pâté that's equally at home spread generously over rustic bread for a simple lunch or served in smaller portions with toasted bread as a starter.

It's simple home charcuterie, but with porcini and brandy involved, it certainly doesn't taste ordinary.

Recipe

A rich, smooth chicken liver pâté made with 500 g chicken liver, dried porcini mushrooms, brandy and plenty of butter. The porcini are rehydrated and gently cooked with shallot, garlic, thyme and bay leaf before being combined with the liver and a restrained mixture of white pepper, black pepper, nutmeg and allspice. Brandy adds warmth and depth, while butter and a little unsweetened cream create the silky, spreadable texture. Chilled overnight, the flavours develop into an earthy and luxurious pâté ideal with toasted bread, cornichons or chutney.

Recipe Overview

Difficulty
Intermediate
Yield
750 g
Category
Pâtés and Terrines
Region
French

Equipment Needed

food processor or blender, kitchen scales, stainless steel bowls, frying pan, loaf tin

Ingredients

Offal

  • 500 g Chicken Liver

Seasoning

  • 5 g Salt
  • 0.15 g Allspice
  • 0.25 g Nutmeg
  • 0.4 g Black Pepper
  • 0.6 g White Pepper
  • 0.5 g Dried Thyme
  • 1 pcs Bayleaf — Add while frying, remove before blending

Additional Ingredients

  • 30 g Dried Porcini — finely chopped
  • 200 g Unsalted Butter

Liquids

  • 40 ml Brandy
  • 60 ml Cream

Fresh Additions

  • 1 pcs Onion — finely diced
  • 1 cloves Fresh Garlic — finely chopped

Method

preparation

  1. Soak porcini for 30 minutes in very hot water (about 150 ml).
  2. Prepare and combine all dry seasonings. For better distribution mill to fine powder.
  3. Drain the chicken liver from remaining blood, trim where needed and cut in to equal sized pieces.
  4. Remove the porcini from the water and remove as much water as possible by lying them out on paper towels. Keep about 30 ml of the soaking water.
  5. Chop the porcini.
  6. Melt about 30 g butter in a frying pan.

cooking

  1. Gently fry the diced onion until getting soft.
  2. Add the chopped porcini and the garlic to the onion and gently cook for another 4 - 5 minutes.
  3. Strain the soaking water from the porcini and add 30 ml to the frying pan.
  4. Keep cooking until the soaking water nearly evaporated.
  5. Add the milled spices, steer well for another minute and transfer the onion, porcini mix to a bowl or plate and put aside.
  6. Melt the remaining butter n the frying pan.
  7. Add the liver and gently fry until nearly done.
  8. Keep 1 to 2 tbsp of the onion - porcini mix aside and add the rest to the liver in the frying pan.
  9. Soon as the liver is fully cooked, add the brandy and let it bubble for another minute.

processing

  1. Remove from the heat and transfer the content from the frying pan into a mixing bowl or a food processor.
  2. Use a blender or a food processor to create a smooth and creamy paste.
  3. While processing add the cream and continue until everything is evenly distributed, smooth and creamy.

finishing

  1. Fold in the remaining porcini - onion mix.
  2. Transfer the mix into loaf tins and refrigerate.
  3. Keep refrigerated until completely cooled through and settled before serving.

Additional Guidance

Resting and Cooling

Cover the pâté and refrigerate until completely cold and properly set.

Although it's tempting to taste it immediately, the flavour improves considerably after resting. I prefer to prepare pâté the day before serving, allowing the porcini, brandy, liver and spices time to come together.

Storage

Up to 5 days in the refrigerator. It should be ok for freezing but I personally never did it. It never lasted that long.

Serving Suggestions

Take the pâté from the refrigerator shortly before serving so it loses just enough of its chill to become beautifully spreadable. Serve it with toasted baguette, rustic bread or crisp toast. Something slightly sharp alongside it provides a particularly good contrast to the richness. Cornichons, pickled onions or a little fruit chutney all work very well. The result is a pâté that's unmistakably rich but not simply dominated by liver. The porcini provides deep earthy notes, brandy contributes warmth and aroma, and the butter brings everything together into a smooth, luxurious spread.

Additional Notes

Filling the Mould Spoon or pour the pâté into a small loaf tin, terrine dish or individual ramekins. Tap the container gently against the work surface to remove larger trapped air pockets and smooth the top. For longer refrigerated storage and an attractive traditional finish, the surface can be covered with a thin layer of clarified butter once the pâté has cooled.

Sausage Specifications

Freezer Friendly Yes
Tags: brandy chicken liver pâté brandy pâté dried porcini homemade charcuterie homemade sausages liver pâté mushroom pâté porcini chicken liver pâté porcini pâté

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