a one-liver pate;

When you poach a chicken, there are these giblets in the cavity of the beast. What does one do with those? And why am I ”Eats – for – One – guy” poaching a whole chicken?

Second question first:
In this case, I’m using the chicken meat and the broth that the poaching creates in Brunswick Stew. If I weren’t doing that, poached chicken meat can be used in chicken noodle soup, for chicken salad, for chicken hash, for chicken sandwiches, to fill tacos or quesadillas, to throw into canned soups or to add to leftover, already-made soups to make them more interesting and hearty. And you’ve got the chicken broth, for free, as a bonus. I freeze mine in stackable quart containers.

The giblets ”the heart, gizzard and neck” go in the water to poach with the chicken. They add flavor to the broth. Then there’s the liver, it’s too strong to go in the broth, and I just don’t throw things away, so I’ll make a little one-liver pâté. (Note: When I took the picture, I also had a rabbit liver, so I made a two-liver pate;… and that jar on the right is duck fat.)

Heat about one tablespoon of butter in a small skillet over medium heat, add the liver and sauté for about 3 minutes total, turning half way through, until it’s firm to the touch and just pink in the center. Roughly chop the liver and a scallion and put them in a little food processor with the pan juices, salt and pepper, and whir until just chopped fine, but not pureed.

Put that mixture in a little jar (you keep those little jars that pimentos come in, don’t you, they’re perfect, short with a wide mouth) and pack it down.

Put the jar in the fridge and by hors d’oeuvres time, it’ll be nice and chilled and firmed up and ready to spread on the cracker of your choice. Yum.