Homey Liver Pate "Russian Pashtet"

Sometimes during summer my desire for cooking lowers. It is because summers are usually hot and even humid. When it is hot, I just want to dedicate the whole day to doing nothing and celebrating the sun:-) Especially, while living in the Southern Florida, I am being constantly seduced to go to the beach and I often choose to do so:-)
When I do cook in summer, most of my dishes tend to be light, cool and easy to make. Pate of chicken livers is one of them. One might doubt the easiness of preparing the dish. It is sounds French; French cuisine is famous for its richness and complexity. In the case of my pate, I completely agree with richness of flavors. However, the recipe is easy to follow and can be executed in less than an hour. It is my mother's recipe. She used to make the dish quite often when I was little; in original recipe, she uses beef liver and lots of butter. I use chicken liver because it has mild aroma. I also slightly modified the original recipe by incorporating red wine and basil paste. I purposefully added basil paste right before rolling the pate, so the flavors won't blend completely.
The final product was so delicious, so fluffy and so tender! I was very glad to be able to wait for the pate without spoiling my appetite. Unlike me, you can prepare pate in advance and store it in a fridge:-) So, here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1 package of fresh chicken livers (slightly washed and well drained)
3 cloves of garlic (peeled and sliced)
1 tablespoon of butter (for sauteing)
1/2 of butter stick of room temperature
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 small carrots (washed and peeled)
1/4 cup of red wine
Salt and pepper
Basil paste or fresh basil mixed with olive oil

Instructions

1. Slice 1 carrot on small pieces.

2. Heat a medium size pan over medium-high heat. Add butter and olive oil.

3. Add garlic, carrots (slices and 1 whole carrot) and the chicken livers; cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

4. Add wine, salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes so that livers are slightly brown on the outside and still pink on the inside (without blood inside). Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly.

5. Take out the whole carrot and put it aside. Puree the liver mixture in a food processor or a blender until smooth. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.

6. Lay out aluminum foil on a cutting board. On the foil, spread the liver mixture evenly in a rectangle shape. Spread the butter on top, add basil paste and the cooked carrot in the middle.

7. Fold gently from your side shaping an even roll. Place the roll in a fridge for at least couple hours.

* You can add onions while sauteing as well. They will give delicious sweet taste.

* I used Merlot. You can use other red wine or brandy.

* I like to spread pate on a French baguette crust right from the oven. It aslo goes well with any other bread.

Bon Appetit!