I am trying for a hybrid of two styles here. I've eschewed some of the classic terrine and pate rules and ingredients, and clung to others. This is not the elegant, cultured liver pate to grace the finest salons, yet not quite the more rustic country pate ("Campanard", essentially a meat loaf, albeit a really, REALLY good one). It lands somewhere in the middle incorporating my favorite elements of both. I still kept some of the rich, defining elegant ingredients dearest to me - cream, liver, Cognac and capers, and I believe I have achieved a touch of the rustic texture by blending ground meat with the liver.
The baking dish is lined with bacon slices (as if we didn't already have enough fat in the dish) which serve both to keep the pate from drying out and add a wonderful finishing touch to the presentation. After cooling, the pate is pressed into the pan for its final shape.
Fat, Cognac, baked meat wrapped in bacon -- what's not to love? Feel free to express yourself and let me know how you interpret this dish.
THE RECIPE
2# ground pork
1/2# pork liver
1/2# chicken livers
1/2# pork fat (I used bacon ends and pieces - These add a nice smoky flavor, and you will not need to add as much salt if you go this route)
2T dried thyme leaves
2T sea salt (I used alderwood smoked salt)
1 1/2t freshly cracked pepper
1 small onion, diced
1 medium shallot, diced
3 large cloves garlic, crushed
1t capers, drained
2T cold butter
2T flat leaf Italian parsley, minced
1 large egg, beaten slightly
1T dry Sherry
3T Cognac
1/2 Cup bread crumbs
1/2 Cup heavy cream
1 1/2 pounds thickly sliced bacon
Place the ground pork in a food processor and pulse briefly, just enough to break the meat down a bit. Remove and drop in the liver and pulse again, until it is blended and smooth. Scrape all the meat into a large mixing bowl and stir in thyme, salt and pepper.
Place the onion, shallot, garlic and capers into food processor and pulse until finely minced. Add the butter and pulse. Add to the meat mixture. Add the next 6 ingredients to the bowl and fold together. Allow the mixture to rest for approximately 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Set rack one level up from the bottom rung.
Line a 9" X 5" loaf (bread) pan with the bacon slices, perpendicular to the long sides of the pan (FLUB on my part, in that as often happens the volume of the product got away from me and I had to stretch the bacon between two pans. This has been corrected in the ingredients listed above).
Scoop the pate into the loaf pan and smooth down with a spatula. Cover with the ends of the bacon and more strips if necessary. Place the pan in a deep roasting / baking dish and pour boiling water up to 2/3 the height of the loaf pan.
Cover the loaf pan tightly with foil and set the roasting pan on the lower rack of the oven. Bake for approximately 1 hour 45 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the loaf pan and cool for a bit on a rack. Re-wrap the loaf pan with a piece of plastic wrap and a piece of foil atop it. Use a heavy piece of cardboard cut to fit the top of the loaf pan OR another pan the same size to press the pate down. Add a brick or several heavy cans to increase the weight. Refrigerate overnight; you can prepare the pate up to 4 days ahead of time.
When it is time for service, remove the loaf pan from the refrigerator and place in hot water up to the 2/3 level on the pan for approximately 5 minutes. Invert the pan onto a serving plate. Remove the excess fat which has accumulated, garnish and slice into 1/2 inch thick pieces.
Serve this pate at room temperature with plenty of crackers, rustic Ciabatta bread slices, dijon and whole grain mustard and pickles (sweet and dill). Voila!
