Rustic French Pork And Chicken Pâté Food

RUSTIC FRENCH PORK AND CHICKEN PâTé

Steps:

• Make sure the meat is quite cold, then cut it in 1-inch strips. Grind .75 of the pork shoulder and chicken, plus half the pancetta, to a medium grind. (Or have your butcher do the grinding for you.)
• Grind the remaining pork, chicken and pancetta to a coarse grind, or cut by hand with a sharp knife into small cubes about 1/8 inch.
• Combine all the meat in a large bowl. Add the salt, garlic, sage and thyme. Pour the wine and Cognac over it, then knead seasonings into the mixture with a wooden spoon, your hands or the paddle attachment of a stand mixer.
• In a spice mill or mortar, grind the peppercorns, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and cloves to a fine powder. Add to the mixture, along with nutmeg, cinnamon and cayenne. Mix again.
• Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Pat the seasoned pate; mixture into a 2.5-quart loaf pan. Press the bay leaf on the surface, then cover the pan tightly with foil. (Refrigerate overnight if desired; bring to room temperature before baking.) Place in a deep-sided roasting pan and add hot water to reach half way up the dish. Bake on the middle shelf for about an hour, or until the internal temperature of the pate is 160 degrees.
• Carefully remove from the oven and cool in the loaf pan, then wrap well and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving. Keeps a week or more.

GORDON'S RUSTIC PâTé

Steps:

• Prepare duck and chicken breasts and the pork fillet by trimming off any sinews and fat. Smash the garlic with the back of a knife to crush roughly. Mix the meats in a bowl with the garlic, thyme, Armagnac, oil and pepper (no salt at this stage). Cover and marinate in the fridge for 1-24 hrs, depending on depth of flavour that's required.
• Drain the meats from the marinade, which can be discarded, and cut into chunks of about 1.5cm. Heat the goose fat or butter in a large frying pan and fry the meats for 2 mins on each side to brown. Discard the garlic and thyme sprigs. Season and cool.
• Grease a 1kg terrine or loaf tin well. Arrange strips of bacon on the base and up both sides with enough overhanging to fold over. You will have a double layer of bacon on the base. Set aside.
• Soften the sausagemeat in a big bowl with a wooden spoon, then work in the cream and chopped herbs. To check the seasoning, shape a tbsp of the mixture into a patty and fry in a little oil for 2-3 mins, then taste and add more salt and pepper to the bowl, if needed.
• Mix the marinated meats into the sausagemeat. Scoop the mixture into the terrine, pressing down well and mounding up on the top. Pull the overhanging bacon strips up and over to cover.
• Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Double-wrap the terrine top in foil, pressing well into the sides and twisting the ends to seal. Place in a large, deep-sided roasting pan and pour in boiling water to reach halfway up the sides. Bake for 1 hr, until the meat feels firm on top when pressed. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, then chill overnight.
• To serve, place the terrine in a pan of just-boiled water and leave for 3 mins to soften the bacon. Loosen the sides with a flat knife and ease the terrine out onto a board. Serve in slices with pear compote, some winter salad leaves and chunks of crusty bread.

RUSTIC CHICKEN LIVER AND MOREL PATE

Steps:

• Combine milk, cognac, and morel mushrooms in a bowl; soak for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease a terrine mold.
• Combine chicken livers, ham, and garlic in a food processor. Process until mixture is smooth and well combined. Add ground pork, egg, pepper, and salt. Process again until smooth and well combined.
• Drain morel mushrooms and and chop; stir mushrooms into the meat mixture. Tip pate mixture into the prepared terrine mould. Smooth out mixture with the back of a spoon and gently press bay leaf on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pate has set, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours before serving

RUSTIC FRENCH MEATLOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475°F with rack in middle.
• Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl.
• Cook onion, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper in oil in a small skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Cool slightly.
• Purée livers in a blender, then transfer to a large bowl. Add pork, veal, prunes, pistachios, thyme, eggs, bread-crumb mixture, onion mixture, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and gently mix with your hands until just combined.
• Transfer meatloaf mixture to an 81/2- by 41/2-inch glass loaf pan (see cooks' note, below) and bake, covered with foil, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 165°F, 50 to 55 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes. Cover top of meatloaf with parsley before slicing.
• Serve with:
• buttered boiled potatoes