Baked Pate Food

LIVER PATE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine water, chicken livers, and sliced onion. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until liver is cooked and tender. Remove from heat, drain, and discard onions. Also remove and discard any hard portions of the liver.
• Place cooked livers in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Add chopped onion, sherry, butter or margarine, salt, black pepper, and mace; pulse to blend. With hands lightly greased, form pate mixture into a mound, and place on a serving platter. Chill for 1 hour before serving.

CHICKEN PATE

Steps:

• Combine chicken (which has been finely chopped), Neufchatel, onion, sherry, mayonnaise, lemon juice, hot sauce, and nutmeg in container of electric blender; process until smooth.
• Transfer mixture to a 2 cup mold coated with cooking spray (Pam).
• Cover, and chill overnight.
• Unmold onto a serving plate.
• Sprinkle with paprika.
• Garnish with parsley sprigs, if desired.
• Serve with Melba toast rounds or unsalted crackers.

BAKED PâTE à CHOUX

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 and grease a baking sheet with butter. Put the butter and a pinch of salt in a saucepan over high heat; add 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and add all the flour at once; stir constantly until the mixture pulls away from the pan and forms a ball, about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the eggs one at a time; use an electric mixer if you like, and beat until the mixture is smooth. (At this point, you can cover the dough and refrigerate it for up to two days.)
• If you're planning on piping out the dough, scoop it into a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch tip, or a plastic freezer bag with a corner cut off. Pipe the pastry onto the baking sheet, or just use two spoons to form your desired shape. Cream puffs should be circles about 1 inch wide and a little over 1 inch tall; éclairs should be 3-to-4-inch fingers, about 1 inch wide.
• Bake until the pastries are golden brown, nicely puffed up and sound hollow when you tap on them, about 30 minutes for cream puffs and 40 minutes for éclairs. Use a skewer to prick one or two holes in each one to allow the steam to escape; transfer to a rack and let cool to room temperature.
• To fill the pastries using a pastry bag, poke a hole into the pastry and pipe the filling into it, or cut off the top caps of each pastry, spoon in the filling, and close it up like a sandwich. (Éclairs can be slit open and filled, too.) Serve as is, or drizzle with chocolate sauce.

CHICKEN LIVER PATE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons butter and 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 10 minutes. Add carrot, thyme, and cayenne and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until carrot is tender, 5 minutes. (If mixture is dry or begins to overbrown, add up to 2 tablespoons water.) Transfer mixture to a food processor.
• Return skillet to medium-high and add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons butter and remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Pat livers dry with paper towels. Season livers with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Cook until golden brown on all sides and cooked through, 6 minutes. Transfer livers to processor and pulse, scraping down sides as needed, until mixture is mostly smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper and let cool. Transfer pate to a small bowl and serve at room temperature with toasts or crackers.

BAKED PATE

Steps:

• In a blender, food grinder or processor (using the steel knife blade), mix the chicken, veal, garlic and shallot until fine.
• Add the remaining ingredients except the bay leaves and grind everything until the mixture is smooth and finely chopped.
• Place in a 2 cup tureen or mold with the bay leaves decorating the top.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until the pate pulls away from the sides and is brown on top.
• Cover and refrigerate when cold.
• Leave bay leaves on pate as a garnish.

MUSHROOM PATE

Steps:

• Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring, until starting to lightly brown, about 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until their liquid is almost evaporated, 4 to 5 minutes. Add sage, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes more. Add sherry, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until the liquid evaporates, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Transfer the mixture to a food processor. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, walnuts and nutritional yeast (or Parmesan) and pulse until very finely chopped, about 30 seconds. Serve garnished with sage, if desired.

SALMON PATE

Steps:

• Drain, debone and flake salmon. Add the remaining ingredients except the garnishes. , On a platter, mold salmon mixture into a fish shape. Arrange almonds to resemble scales. Use slice of olive for eye, thin strips of celery for the tail. Garnish with parsley. Chill until serving. Serve with crackers. Refrigerate leftovers.

COUNTRY PATE

Steps:

• Trim veal or chicken and pork of excess fat and tendons. Skin fatback. Cut into 1 inch cubes and pass through largest hole of a meat grinder. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in salt, pepper, and applejack. Cover with plastic wrap touching the mixture and refrigerate at least 1 day or as long as 3.
• After marinating, heat oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Saute livers until well browned, about 1 minute per side. Remove from pan and set aside to cool. Add garlic and cook about 1/2 minute, being careful not to let it color. Reserve garlic with liver.
• Add brandy and bay leaves to same skillet. Scrape bottom of pan to loosen brown bits and cook over low heat until warm, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool and remove and discard bay leaves.
• Dip white bread in warm water to soften. Squeeze out excess moisture. Add to the liver and garlic along with 2 cups marinated ground meat, allspice, nutmeg, and brandy. Stir to combine.
• Transfer to a food processor, add eggs, and puree until a smooth paste is formed. This paste will bind the pate. Place puree in a large bowl, add remaining ground meat, and combine well. (We recommend using your hands, not a spoon, to combine this dense mixture.)
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• Line a 9 by 5 by 3 inch glass or ceramic loaf pan with bacon slices so they overhang lengthwise, about 3 inches on each end. Slice ham and tongue into 4 by 1/2 by 1/2 inch julienne strips.
• Spread about a cup of pate evenly over the bacon to cover the bottom. Arrange alternating strips of ham and tongue lengthwise, over the pate. Repeat this procedure, alternating pate with strips
• of ham and tongue, until pan is filled and top layer is pate. (When the loaf is sliced you will see a regular pattern of solids and pate.) Fold overhanging bacon over the top. (The pate may rise slightly over the top of the pan. That's OK.)
• Tap pan against a counter to firmly pack. Garnish top with bay leaves and garlic cloves. Cover with 2 layers aluminum foil, tucking edges under to completely seal. Place inside a larger pan and pour in boiling water until it rises halfway up the sides of the pate. Bake 2 hours 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Place cooled pate on a baking sheet and cover with another baking sheet. Top with some 3 pounds of weights (canned goods or milk cartons are good) and refrigerate overnight or as long as 2 weeks. This compacts the pate and makes it easier to slice.
• To serve, remove and discard the bay leaf and garlic garnish. To loosen, dip pan's bottom in warm water and run a knife along inside edges. Invert onto a serving platter. Cut into 1/2 inch slices and serve on lettuce leaves.

TUNA PATE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, chili sauce, onion, garlic powder and hot pepper sauce until blended. Add tuna and parsley; mix well. Shape into a ball; place on a serving plate. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Serve with crackers.

PATE BRISEE

Steps:

• Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process a few seconds to mix. Quarter the 3/4 stick of butter lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch pieces. Scatter the cubes of butter evenly over the flour. Pulse the machine until the butter pieces are about the size of lentils.
• Place half the ice water in the bottom of a bowl. Turn the flour/butter mixture onto it and pour the remaining water evenly over the top. Using a large rubber spatula, fold the mixture until it is evenly moistened. Squeeze it; it should hold together. If not, sprinkle in a little more water and gently mix.
• Turn the mixture out on the table and quickly frisage: using the palm of your hand, push sections of the dough away from you against the table. Gather the dough together and frisage any portions that were missed. Form the mass into whatever shape you will be rolling out (ie, disk for round, cylinder for rectangle), and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days. Dough can be frozen for up to 3 months.

CHOCOLATE PATE

Steps:

• 1. In top of a double boiler over simmering water, melt chocolate with cream and butter. Beat with a wire whisk until smooth and glossy.
• 2. Remove from heat and add yolks, one at a time, beating well after each.
• 3. Add powered sugar, whisking constantly until smooth. Mix in Rum.
• 4. Butter a small 4-cup loaf pan. Put waxed paper or plastic wrapt in pan, leaving overhang, and butter sides and bottom of the lining. Pour chocolate mixture into pan, cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
• 5. To remove pate, gently loosen lining from pan. It is sticks, set in hot water for a few seconds. Turn pate onto a serving plate and remover plastic lining. Using a hot knife, slice pate into 1/2 inch slice and serve over a pool of raspberry sauce, with a large dollop of fresh whipped cream. Store pate in freezer and slice when needed.
• 6. For Raspberry Sauce: Drain 1 package raspberries and discard juice. Retain juice from other package. Puree fruit, juice, sugar and liquer in food processor or blender. Strain puree to remove seeds . Chill until ready to use.