Pork And Pistachio Pate Food

DUCK & PORK TERRINE WITH CRANBERRIES & PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Put the duck breasts and skin in a shallow dish, then place in the hot oven for 20 mins. Discard the shrivelled bit of skin that remains, then pour the duck fat into a bowl to cool. Reserve 6 bacon rashers, then roughly chop the remainder. Roughly chop the cooked duck meat.
• In a food processor, blend the chopped bacon, pork and duck in batches to a coarse texture, then tip into a large bowl. Tear up the bread and soak in the milk for 5 mins. Squeeze out the bread and put in the food processor with the shallots, garlic and livers. Process to a coarse texture, then add to the bowl, mixing well.
• Grind the peppercorns, coriander seeds and cloves to a coarse powder using a pestle and mortar. Stir in the cinnamon. Add the spices to the meat along with 4 tbsp reserved duck fat, the Cognac, eggs and 2 tsp salt. Mix together very thoroughly - the best way is to use your hands.
• Press half the mixture into a 1.5-litre baking dish or similar. Scatter over the pistachios and cranberries, then cover with the remaining meat mixture. Arrange the reserved bacon rashers over the top, tucking in the ends. Cover the dish tightly with foil, then put in a roasting tin. Pour boiling water into the tin to come halfway up the sides of the dish.
• Bake for 2 hrs, remove foil, then bake for 15 mins more to brown the top. Cool completely, then wrap in fresh foil and chill. For the best flavour, let the terrine chill and mature for at least 2 days before eating.
• TO FREEZE Make the terrine as stated, cool and then freeze. Defrost in the fridge before serving.

RICH PORK PâTé

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Run the liver under cold water, then trim, removing any tough membrane. Chop roughly. Heat half the butter in a pan and gently cook the onion and garlic for about 8 minutes until starting to soften. Transfer to a bowl. Heat the remaining butter and fry the liver and bacon for 5-6 minutes until golden. Set aside to cool.
• Increase the heat and deglaze the pan: add the Madeira and bubble, stirring, until the pan residue is released. Tip into the bowl with the onion. Add the sage, parsley, cayenne, breadcrumbs, white pepper and a good pinch of salt. Mix well.
• In a food processor, pulse the pork belly with the cooled liver and bacon until finely chopped, giving a textured but not too coarse pâté. Transfer to the mixing bowl and mix with the other ingredients. Fold through the pistachio kernels.
• After testing the flavour, divide evenly among 4 x 200ml sterilised Kilner jars (see tips on sterilising, below), gently pressing down and smoothing over the top. Lay a bay leaf on top of each and clip the Kilner jars closed.
• Put the Kilner jars in a deep roasting tin and pour in boiling water to come halfway up the jars' sides. Cook in the oven for about 1¼ hours until the pâté begins to shrink away from the sides of the jars. Remove from the roasting tin and leave to cool. Once cold, you can refrigerate the pâté for up to 1 week. Maturing it for a few days allows the flavours to mingle and develop. Remove the pâté from the fridge 15 minutes before serving, to allow it to reach room temperature.

PORK, APRICOT AND PISTACHIO TERRINE

Steps:

• Put the pork, garlic, 1 thyme sprig and the brandy in a bowl, cover and leave to marinate overnight in the fridge.
• Heat the oven to 180c/fan 160c/gas 4. Butter a 1kg terrine mould or loaf tin, put the remaining sprig of thyme in the bottom and line it with overlapping strips of bacon, leaving any extra hanging over the edge. Loosen the sausage meat with a fork, add it to the bowl with the marinated pork and mix well. Stir through the parsley, chives and pistachios and season well. Pinch off a small amount and fry until cooked. Taste and add more seasoning to the mix if needed.
• Pack the terrine with half of the pork mixture and lay the apricots in a row down the centre. Pack the remaining pork on top, flatten and stretch over the bacon. Cover with buttered foil and wrap the whole terrine in a double layer of clingfilm.
• Put the terrine in a roasting tin half filled with boiling water and bake for 1 hour. Cool and chill overnight. You can press the terrine as it cools in the fridge using a board with a couple of tins on top. This will give a firmer texture. release the terrine by dipping it briefly in hot water and turning it out onto a plate. There will be some jelly around the terrine, which you can either leave on or scrape off. Serve with cornichons.

PATE WITH PISTACHIOS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Cut pork and veal into cubes and set aside.
• Cut ham into 1/2-inch cubes. There should be about 2 cups. Set aside.
• Carefully trim chicken livers. Cut off and discard any connecting membranes.
• Heat butter in a heavy skillet and add shallots. Cook briefly, stirring. Add chicken livers and sprinkle with thyme and bay leaf. Cook about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Put cubed veal into the container of a food processor or electric blender and blend slightly finer than store-bought hamburger. Empty veal into a mixing bowl.
• Put pork into the container of a food processor or electric blender and blend a little coarser than store-bought hamburger. Add pork to veal.
• Put liver mixture into the container of a food processor or electric blender and blend as finely as possible. Pour and scrape this into the bowl with ham and veal. Add the reserved two cups of cubed ham and the pistachios. Add allspice, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne, wine, salt and pepper and blend well with fingers. To test mixture for seasoning, shape a small portion of the mixture into a patty and cook, turning once, in nonstick skillet until cooked through. Taste the patty and add more seasonings as desired.
• Pack the mixture into a 5- or 6-cup loaf pan. Smooth over the top, rounding it slightly. Place bacon slices on top. Cover closely with foil and place pate in a heatproof baking dish. Set the dish on the stove and pour boiling water around loaf pan. Bring the water to the boil. Place the pate in the water bath in the oven and bake 45 minutes or to an internal temperature (using meat thermometer) of 150 degrees. Remove pate from oven and let stand until ready to serve.
• This pate is excellent hot or cold. Cut it crosswise into slices and serve.

PORK AND PISTACHIO PATE

Steps:

• Place all ingredients except salt and pistachio nuts in bowl of food processor and process until smooth. Wrap 1 teaspoon of mixture in microwave plastic wrap. Cook at 100 percent power in a 650- to 700- watt oven for 45 seconds. Remove from oven and uncover. Taste for saltiness and add salt to mixture if desired.
• Scrape pate mixture into a bowl and stir in pistachio nuts. Transfer to a glass or ceramic loaf pan, 9 by 5 by 3 inches, that either has a nonstick surface or has been sprayed with nonstick vegetable spray. Smooth out surface with a spatula. Cover pan with microwave plastic wrap. Cook at 100 percent power for 12 minutes. Prick plastic to release steam.
• Remove from oven and uncover. Cut a piece of cardboard to just fit the loaf pan and cover with aluminum foil. Place over pate in pan. Refrigerate with 2 or 3 heavy cans on top overnight.
• Run a thin knife around the inside edge of pan to loosen pate. Invert onto a serving plate.

HERBED PORK PATE

Steps:

• Cut pork and bacon into 1/2-inch pieces. In a large saucepan combine pork, bacon, water, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until only about 1/4 cup liquid remains, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard bay leaf. Let meat mixture cool for 20 minutes. Transfer to a food processor bowl or meat grinder and add cognac. Process until mixture is the consistency of coarse cornmeal, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Pack mixture into a small crock. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours. Serve with melba rounds or assorted crackers.

PORK AND PISTACHIO PATE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Cook onion in butter until tender but not browned.
• In large mixing bowl combine eggs, wine, vinegar, salt, basil, thyme and onion mixture.
• Add ground pork; mix well.
• Press half pork mixture into a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan; arrange whole pistachio nuts atop.
• Lightly press in remaining pork mixture.
• Top with the bay leaves; cover with foil and place in a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.
• Pour boiling water in pan around loaf to a depth of 1 inch.
• Bake for 1 1/2 hours.
• Remove from oven; drain off fat.
• Replace foil; chill overnight.
• Remove bay leaves.
• Loosen loaf and turn out onto serving platter.
• Stir together sour cream and mayonnaise; spread atop pate.
• Sprinkle the chopped pistachio nuts around edges of loaf.
• Serve with party rye bread.