dessert wine jelly with the best ever chicken liver pate

I tasted the 2010 Mullineaux Straw Wine at the Swartland Revolution recently and was totally blown away. It’s a thick deep golden ‘nectar of the gods’ that tastes like apricots, nuts, and honey.  Aside from wanting to drink every drop in my glass and then wiping it clean with my finger, I immediately wanted to dive right in and cook with it.

I tweeted about this sudden urge and got a response from @SoniaCabono2 who suggested I make jelly with it and serve it with foie gras.  This got my mind rolling.  I rarely eat foie gras so thought my ‘best ever chicken liver pate‘ would be the perfect solution.

A jelly maintains the integrity and flavour of the wine entirely, just changing its texture.

The salty pate smeared on a shard of crispy flatbread and a dollop of Mullineaux Straw Wine Jelly was literally a match made in heaven.

The textural combination of the crunchy, the buttery smooth, and then the sweet jelly that dissolves a few seconds after it’s in your mouth was pretty special.

You will need 2 sheets of gelatin (thanks @neillanthony) which you soak in cold water for five minutes.  Very gently heat a cup of dessert wine.  You do not want to bring this to a boil as the alcohol will evapourate. Squeeze out the 2 sheets of soaked gelatin and add to the warming wine and stir until it dissolves.  This happens very quickly.  Remove from the heat and pour it into a mold or small bowls to set.

For my best-ever chicken liver pate recipe, click click.