Are you afraid that beef liver is too strong or too minerally and you aren’t sure what to do with it? Are you due for some self-love today? Do you have a beautiful package of grass-fed, grass-finished liver looking back at you every time you open your freezer? If so, now’s the time to start defrosting it. If not, call your best farmer and get some. Beef liver gets an A+ in nutrient-density. And Chocolate Chili Beef Liver Pate has all the right seasonings to keep you coming back for more.Â
USDA Nutrition Database
You only get so many calories in a day, it’s up to us to maximize the nutrient-density we can extract from those calories.
The USDA food nutrition database accounts for 25 vitamins and minerals. I recently pulled together a spreadsheet to compare a dozen fruits and vegetables as well as ground muscle meat and offal products from chicken, lamb, beef, and pork.
The database seems to be a compilation of submitted nutrition data, primarily of packaged food products from conglomerate food producers and fast food chains. It remains unclear to me how the real food products get measured and by whom. Even for ‘real food’ products – such as animal cuts, I assume that the database is using conventionally raised animals versus pastured or grass-finished ones.
I also noticed that there are inconsistencies in the data. For example, I saw situations where a raw product would have a lower vitamin C and B6 levels than the cooked counterpart; however, those are both heat-sensitive vitamins. I concluded in this case that the samples just had different levels of nutrition and since the cooked sample was higher across the board, it may have started with higher levels. I’m guessing that the data is based on data contributions from different animals in different locations at different times.
Nutrient-density
For the samples represented in the database, beef liver and lamb liver alternately had the highest values for more than half of the vitamins and minerals reported. I normalized all the compared food samples to represent 100g of the food considered.
Kidneys had the highest values for Thiamin (aka vitamin B1) and the mineral Selenium. I found that some vitamins and minerals were highest among the fruit and vegetables I included. For example, bananas were highest in potassium, baked potato with skin was highest in magnesium, and broccoli was highest for vitamin C and Calcium. (I did not include any dairy or seafood in my research set this time.) Vitamin K1 was highest in cucumbers. Data is not available for the fat-soluble vitamin K2.
The remainder of vitamins and minerals, including the fat-soluble vitamins A and D, all the B vitamins, Iron, Phosphorus, Zinc, Copper and Manganese were highest in liver.
Chocolate Chili Beef Liver Pate
Weston Price said it way back when…
We have… a need for a strength of character and will power such as will make us use the things our bodies require rather than only the foods we like.
And this remains true today.
But with Chocolate Chili Beef Liver Pate, there’s no need to trade off the things our body needs and the foods we like. We can have both!
Thanks to the community of friends who inspired this recipe! Nourish the Littles recommended this Ancestral Kitchen podcast episode with Naomi of Almost Bananas. Naomi tells of a Slovak butcher who mentions that allspice is the secret ingredient to removing the minerally flavor from beef liver. I’ve used allspice in the past, but started experimenting in much greater proportion before coming to this iteration that my family loved. I hope you do, too!
Chocolate Chili Liver Pate
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 lb beef liver (in slices)
- stick butter or a cup of lard, separated
- 3 T carob powder
- 3 T maple syrup
- 1/4 t nutmeg
- 1/4 t cayenne
- 3/4 t allspice
- 1 3/4 t new mexican chili powder
- 1 t salt
- pinch of pepper (1/8 t)
Instructions
- Peel off or trim skin from liver slices and remove any large tubules.
- Meanwhile, heat pan on medium-high and add first tablespoon of butter or lard. When hot, add liver and saute. Depending on thickness of slices, cook for ~ 2 minutes on first side and ~ 1-2 minutes on second side until rosy in the center. Do not overcook as liver will continue to heat/cook a bit when you blend it.
- Turn off the heat, add remaining butter or lard and return pan to hot stovetop to slowly melt.
- While the butter is melting, let liver slices rest on cutting board for a moment, then cut into 1-2 inch pieces.
- Add liver cubes to food processor or blender along with all remaining ingredients - carob powder, maple syrup, nutmeg, allspice, chili powder, cayenne, salt, pepper, and melted butter. Blend until smooth.
Would love a copy of your spreadsheet.
Hi Maureen, it’s still in progress, but I’m excited to share it! I’ll be presenting the details at the Wise Traditions Conference in Knoxville, TN on Oct 22nd. Can you attend? I’d love to meet you there. Else, if you ping me after the conference, I’d be happy to share the charts with you.
What would you suggest to pair this with or eat it on? Since it’s such a unique flavor combo. I can’t wait to try it!
This is a great question! I’m usually happy to eat any pate by the spoon or with any long veggie I happen to have (carrots, bell pepper or celery). Although I agree that this time it just felt right to enjoy over sourdough bread/crackers. If you think of something else that works really well, please let me know!
This was delicious. I’ve been eating liver in disguise for about a year. i really try to like the taste, but I can’t do it without gagging. Not so with this recipe!! I wolfed it down! I added 2 TBS of maple syrup to help with the organ taste as well as swapping real chocolate for carob. I ate it with Siete serrano salt and vin chips. Thank you!
@Mary Simmons, yes!!! I agree, the allspice is a secret weapon for masking the intensity of liver. Thanks for reporting your modifications – definitely could be very helpful to other readers. (insert a half dozen dancing emojis here 🙂 haha) I’m so glad you enjoyed it!