Mark Hix makes chopped duck livers on toast with a fried pheasant egg

Chopped duck livers on toast with a fried pheasant egg
Serves 4
Pheasant eggs are probably the closest thing I have come across to a gulls egg, although boiling and peeling them proves difficult as the shell just sticks to the white. This is such a simple, tasty and inexpensive dish and quick to knock up at home. You can use duck or chicken livers for this and fresh is always preferable to frozen.
2 large shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
100g butter
250g fresh chicken or duck livers, cleaned and cut into even-sized chunks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 pheasant eggs
A little olive or rapeseed oil for frying
Thick slices of hot toast to serve
A dash of sherry

Melt half the butter in a saucepan and gently cook the shallots and garlic for 3-4 minutes, stirring every so often until soft, then remove from the heat.
Dry the chicken livers on some kitchen paper. Season them and then melt the rest of the butter in a frying pan until it begins to foam. Add the livers and cook them for a couple of minutes on each side and add a dash of sherry to the pan. Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and mix with the shallots and garlic.
With a heavy knife, chop the livers fairly finely on a chopping board, or give them literally a few seconds in a food processor and re season if necesarry. Lightly fry the pheasant eggs in the oil then spoon the livers generously on to the toast and place the fried eggs on top.