Why would you want to eat liver if you have migraines? Because it’s high in bioavailable copper needed to break down histamine, and has loads of other important vitamins and minerals besides. A few ounces of this goodness contains ample quantities of vitamin A; all the B vitamins including choline and betaine; copper; zinc; iron; potassium; phosphorous; selenium; and even a little vitamin D. It also has vitamin E as tocotrienols, squalene, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lycopene, vitamin K, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and Coq10 from the Red Palm Oil I added to it.
The real gold nugget here though is the vitamin A. Vitamin A, along with food-based vitamin C like Acerola powder, can help your liver to produce a protein called ceruloplasm, which makes copper bioavailable for thousands of enzymatic functions including the breakdown of histamine. So I figured, why not just add acerola powder directly in here! I did. Now it’s an even more potent medicine.
It is important to use only chicken liver if you have any copper toxicity issues, since other types of liver such as beef liver can have much higher amounts of copper. Obviously you want to use the most humanely-raised, organic or pastured chicken livers possible.
I know that most moderns are out of touch with ancestral ways of eating and don’t find pate palatable. That’s why I’ve made this pate as mild as absolutely possible, and packed full of pungent fresh herbs to help dull the mineral taste of liver. If you’re averse to other pates you’ve had, don’t let that stop you from enjoying this very mild pate. Even my very picky fiver year old son liked it (I didn’t tell him it had liver in it). So here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
3/4 cup melted butter or ghee
3 T Red Palm Oil (Nutiva Brand)
1 very large or 2 med onions or shallots
4 garlic cloves
4 large mushrooms
1.5 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp pepper
2 T acerola powder (I like Micronutrients brand)
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 T fresh thyme
1 T fresh oregano
1 T fresh savory
1 cup of fresh chicken liver
1/3 cup chopped parsley
2 T heavy whipping cream (optional, but it gives a nice whipped consistency to the pate)
2 tsp whiskey (optional)
Directions
Sautee all ingredients except livers, herbs, cream, and whiskey. Meanwhile, boil some water with salt and add the chopped liver. Cook for a few minutes until the liver is slightly pink in the middle, but don’t overcook. This recipe yields a little over 2 cups, which should be enough for 2 people to eat 2 T a day.
After the ingredients are sauteed, add them to a blender with the liver, herbs, and whiskey. Add to food processor and blend until smooth. This lasts about a week (it lasts a long time because the saturated fats preserve it and prevent oxidation), and you can freeze extra batches. I eat this at least three times per week, if not daily. When I eat it daily, I eat 2 T a day. When I eat it a few times a week, I eat around 4 T on those days.
Nutrition Info
Eating 2 T per day of this pate will offer up roughly 3,000 IU of vitamin A and on average about 30% of the daily value for most B vitamins.
The amount of vitamin C here is pretty minimal at around 200 mg in the whole batch, or around 90mg per day in the daily dose of 2 T, which is above the RDA of 60.
This should provide about 16% of your RDA for vitamin E.
The total amount of CoQ10 in the whole 2 cup batch is about 1.8 mg, or 257mcg per day – pretty negligible.
I’ll see what I can do to find values for the other nutrients in here soon.
Enjoy!
