The Hungry Canary

Adapted from Ideals Family Cookbook · Dorothy Piepmeyer

Chicken Liver Pâté

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Ingredients

  • ½ lb chicken livers
  • 2 hard-cooked eggs
  • ⅛ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce (original cookbook ingredient)
  • Hungry Canary substitution: use ¼ tsp coconut aminos + ¼ tsp apple cider vinegar instead of the Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 Tbsp cream
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ⅛ tsp celery salt

Directions

  1. Cut the chicken livers into small pieces.
  2. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken livers, stirring and turning, until lightly browned outside and fully cooked through, reaching 165°F internally.
  3. Pass the cooked livers and hard-cooked eggs through a food chopper with a fine blade, or pulse in a food processor until finely minced.
  4. Add the pepper, cream, salt and celery salt, plus either the original Worcestershire sauce or the coconut aminos and apple cider vinegar substitution. Mix until smooth. Mix until smooth. Adjust consistency with a small amount of additional cream only if desired.
  5. Transfer to a clean container, cover and refrigerate promptly. Serve chilled.

Cookbook attribution

Based on “Chicken Livers Pate” by Dorothy Piepmeyer from the Ideals Family Cookbook. The dictated original uses ½ pound chicken livers, two hard-cooked eggs, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, cream, butter, salt and celery salt. It directs the cook to brown the livers in butter, finely chop them with the eggs, then mix in the remaining ingredients.

Food safety and adaptation notes

Chicken livers need to reach 165°F in the center; surface browning alone is not enough. Refrigerate the pâté promptly at 40°F or below and use within 3–4 days. The original specifies neither chilling time nor a modern internal temperature. This version retains the original flavorings, adds safe-cooking guidance, and offers a food processor as an alternative to the fine-blade chopper. The original recipe uses ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce, which the Hungry Canary version offers as a substitution note rather than requiring it. For a Worcestershire-free version, replace that ½ tsp with ¼ tsp coconut aminos and ¼ tsp apple cider vinegar. The swap approximates the savory and acidic notes without claiming to taste exactly the same. Choose the version that suits your dietary needs.