As a chef, a motto that I live by is “waste nothing, use everything. When I harvest an animal I use just about every inch of that animal for food. I use bones to make stock. Which by the way is wonderful for soup when your sick! I use the heart, Caul fat and of course the liver. For most the lover often times gets left in the field. But I say take it! There are so many delicious items you can make with liver. As a French trained chef I always tend to develop French style recipes. And thats exactly what I did with the Venison Liver Pate with Spiced Cherry Compote and Crispy Onions. The tart spiced cherries bring a great acidic element to the rich liver pate. And the onions bring back some salty savoriness into the dish and the added crunch rounds everything out. Its a perfect appetizer for your fall harvest. Its even a great way to start your Thanksgiving Dinner off. And if your lucky enough to have purchased the fall issue of Ballistic Magazine you’ll also have this recipe sitting on your bookshelf then! But for those who didn’t get your hands on a copy and because I love ya’ll so much here is the recipe! Enjoy! And always #wildernesstotable on Instagram… I want to see your recipes!

VENISON LIVER PATE WITH SPICED CHERRY COMPOTE AND CRISPY FRIED ONIONS

Deer Liver Pate

Ingredients:

·      1 pound Deer Liver, skinned and cut into medium size pieces

·      1 cup of Buttermilk

·      ½ Cup Butter, unsalted and cubed

·      1 Tbs. Beef Tallow

·      1 Cup of Onion, small diced

·      3 Garlic cloves, minced

·      ½ Tbs. Fresh Thyme, chopped

·      ½ tsp. Salt

·      ¼ tsp. Black pepper, ground

·      ¼ Cup Port Wine

Directions:

Soak the deer liver in the buttermilk for at least an hour or more. Drain off the buttermilk and pat the liver pieces dry. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons for the butter and the beef tallow together. Then add the onions and cook until they are translucent and soft. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute longer. Then add the liver pieces to the pan and season them with the thyme, salt and pepper. Cook the liver pieces till they develop a nice crust on both sides, yet still pink in the middle. Then add the port wine and cook till it has almost completely evaporated, scrape the pan with a wooden spoon right after the port is poured into the skillet.

Take the skillet off the heat and let cool. Once cool add the skillet mixture to a food processor and puree. Once a puree has formed, add the rest of the cubed butter and puree till smooth. Then add the puree to ramekins or mason jars, cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

 

Spiced Cherry Compote:

Ingredients:

·      1 Cup Sweet Cherries, frozen

·      ½ tsp. Cinnamon, ground

·      ½ tsp. Garam Masala, ground

·      ¼ tsp. Cardamom, ground

·      ¼ tsp. Black Pepper, ground

·      ¼ tsp. Salt

·      2 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar

Directions:

In a saucepan combine all the ingredients together and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the cherries have become soft. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature before serving.

 

Crispy Fried Onions:

Ingredients:

·      ½ Cup All-Purpose Flour

·      ½ Cup of Water

·      1 egg, beaten

·      1 tsp. Salt

·      ½ tsp. Baking Powder

·      Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

·      1 Large Onion Sliced very thin

·      Oil for frying

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk the first six ingredients together. Then separate the onion slices into rings and dip the rings into the batter. In a deep fryer set to 375 degrees, fry the onions in batches for about 3-4 minutes, turning them through out to fry evenly. Cook until golden brown and crispy. Drain the onions on paper towels. Serve.

To serve the pate, top the pate with the spiced cherry compote and crumble the crispy fried onions on top. Serve with bruschetta chips.