Critic Pleasing Beef Liver Pate

Beef liver has been catching a lot of attention and for good reason. It is very nutritious! And at the right time (meaning not all the time), it can be both beneficial to your palate and overall nutrition. Let’s dig in to how you can make the best beef liver pate that pleases even the toughest of critics!

Eating beef liver health Benefits

For many years, I just ate food and didn’t pay much attention to specific vitamins and minerals. While it is not necessary for most people to monitor their intake of vitamins and minerals, some are required to by doctors, naturopaths, or for various health reasons to make not of specific types and amounts of vitamins.

For those who are want to know, here is a list of the common proven health benefits of liver:

• the organ meat supports your own organs
• liver contains selenium, which protects the body against infections and disease
• it is high in protein
• there are loads of iron and zinc in it, which is good for energy and overall health
• good for dental and bone health
• it contains vitamin A, B, & K (and vitamin K specifically helps to process calcium which is good for bone health)
• aids to healthy blood

It is common today to take beef liver in capsules. For what it’s worth, I wonder about doing this for long periods without end. Then again, I wonder about taking any supplements long term and what it does for the dependency of our bodies to that supplement. I guess the argument is that our food is depleted of nutrients, since a lot of our food is grown in soil that suffers nutritionally.

How much beef liver?

While it is still relatively new in our day to consume organ meat, some folks are concerned about consuming too much of it. Probably adding to the fear are the articles that warn against too much nutrients being toxic to some. I am not a doctor and do not give health advice. I believe everyone is responsible for their own research and their decisions.

With so many people able to write their thoughts and ideas on the internet and social media, it can be hard to distinguish what is the truth.

So when it comes to the question of how much beef liver one should consume, I rest on my usual gut leading: moderation. This is true for everything in life. There are seasons where I am interested in liver and will take a bag of liver out of the freezer and cook it up into pate and liver chinks to mix in with our food. Then there are seasons where I forget about it or am not drawn to it.

Consider the animal as a whole

A cow can be giant. Some of the cows in our bulk meat orders weigh around 600-700 lbs (and over 1,000 lbs is not uncommon). With a simple google search, I found out that the liver is about 1.2-1.45% of the cow’s overall weight.

My brain then concludes that liver is meant to be consumed in that proportion. Eat roughly 1.5% liver in comparison to the beef you eat.

Without getting my calculator out, my conclusions is that it makes sense to have liver every now and then.

When you buy 1/4 or 1/2 shares of a cow at once from a farm, it makes it even easier. Because each time you get a new load of beef, you get a portion of its liver. That seems proportionate to what is healthy to consume in the period you would take to consume the beef you received with your share. Then, when your meat is finished, you would buy another 1/4 or 1/2 share and get more liver to eat again.

How communities in the past viewed liver

I have tried hard to find the article I read that recorded how communities in the past treated organ meat. While I cannot list is here as a source (I will if I find it again), it noted that organ meat was saved for the most important people in the community, like its leaders or important guests. It was also given to pregnant women and kept for those who were in their postpartum period. That’s no scholarly article, but just stories of the past. Make of it what you will.

Directions for Beef Liver Pate

Cook Beef Liver and Onions

Start to slicing onions into long slices and then dicing small (size doesn’t matter all that much, but it will sear quicker in the pan this way).

Next, heat your cast iron pan first then add lard or olive oil. Throw in the onions and cook until soft, then remove them to a side plate.

Cut the liver pieces into 1 inch cubes (roughly), and then place the pieces of liver side by side in pan. Do not overcrowd the pan so that every piece makes good contact with the bottom of your pan.

Cook the liver for roughly 2-3 minutes on the one side, then flip to cook for the same amount on the other side.

Mix Beet Pate in Food Processor

Add ingredients to food processor starting with garlic (to chop fine quickly), then the cooked onions, cooked beef liver, and the rest of the ingredients: fresh herbs, salt, pepper, all spice. Wait before you add the olive oil for the pate mix.

Mix all the ingredients together for 1 minute in the food processor.

Once you have a simple mix, start drizzling in the olive oil slowly, only adding enough to reach the your desired consistency.

Scrape pate into a container and store in the fridge.

Beef Liver Pate Recipe

To start, you should familiarize yourself with how to prepare and cook beef liver, which you can view on my blog here or watch on YouTube here.

Next, the recipe for beef liver pate here.

Pin Beef Liver Pate Recipe here