French Country Pâté

A wonderful tasty treat for special events

Every year in Santa Cruz, we have the Lighted Boat Parade the first Saturday in December to kickstart the Christmas holiday season. We are always invited to a party to watch this delightful show. Last year, I promised the host that I would bring pâté. Did I tell you that I love pâté—I mean I love that stuff! Whenever I'm in France, I buy  several varieties in a charcuterie and have a picnic. There are many different kinds of pâté, some are very delicate and fine and others like the country pâté have a rustic texture. I needed an easy recipe without much fuss. Most of the recipes call for grinding your own meat and will take several days to complete. I found a recipe at epicurious.com that I liked. It is easy to make and tasted fantastic. If you can make meatloaf, you can make this pâté. I reduced the amount of bacon used in the original recipe and added small red and orange petite peppers for a little kick and color.

I use less bacon than the  original recipe calls for and it is fine. I look for bacon that is thinly sliced. The next time I make this, I will add chopped pistachio nuts. This is great for a large gathering. Wrapped up, it will last for a week in the fridge. I have used it on several occasions as an appetizer. I slice my pâté very thin and sprinkle it with French truffled sea salt that my friend brought from Provence. Any coarse sea salt will do. I served it with Bavarian-style coarse mustard (but Dijon is fine), cornichons (small pickles) and crispy rye crackers. I also serve it with a baguette.

Sautéeing the onions and peppers.

Covering the inside of the loaf with bacon slices.

Chopping the bacon.

Combine the mixture well

Arranging the ham slices

Putting the weight on the páté

The finished product

I sprinkled pomegranate seeds and coarse sea salt over the pate.

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

(Yields 20 - 30 servings) 

3/4 cup brandy

3 Tbs. butter 

1 cup minced red onions

2 1/2 pounds ground pork

3 Tbs. petite sweet red peppers

1 pound or more lightly smoked bacon

3 garlic cloves, pressed

2 1/2 tsp. salt

3 tsp. fresh thyme

1 1/2 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. freshly ground pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup whipping cream 

1 6-ounce ham steak, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick strips

coarse sea salt

Directions:

Set rack at lowest position in oven and preheat to 350° Fahrenheit. 
Boil brandy until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 2 minutes. Cool. 
Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and peppers and sauté until soft and translucent ( but not brown) about 8 minutes.
 
Leave 8-10 slices of bacon to line the pan for the pâté, and chop the rest of the bacon. Combine ground pork and chopped bacon in large bowl. Using your fingertips, mix it all together until well blended. Add sautéed onion,  garlic,  2 1/2 tsp. salt, thyme, allspice, and pepper to the pork mixture and stir until blended. Add the eggs, cream, and reduced brandy. Mix until well blended. I use my hands. 

Line 9x5x3-inch metal loaf pan with bacon slices, arranging 6-7 slices across the width of the pan and 3 slices cut in half on each short side of pan, overlapping pan on all sides. Using your hands, lightly and evenly press half of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the pan on top of the bacon slices. Arrange ham strips over in a single layer. Top with remaining meat mixture. Fold bacon slices over, covering most of the pâté. Cover pan tightly with foil. Place pan in a larger 13x9x2-inch baking dish and transfer to oven. Pour boiling water into baking dish to come halfway up the sides of the pan. Bake pâté until a thermometer inserted through the foil into center registers 155° Fahrenheit, which takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Remove loaf pan from baking dish and transfer to rimmed baking sheet. Place heavy skillet or something heavy (I use a container of broth with 5-pound weights on top). Chill overnight. The recipe says you can do this four days ahead, I did it one night ahead.

Place loaf pan with pâté in larger pan of hot water for about three minutes. Invert pâté onto a platter, discarding any fat from the platter and wipe it clean. Cut pâté crosswise into 1/2 inch (or less) slices. Wrap whatever you don't use in foil and a plastic bag and store it in the fridge. Serve with mustard, pickles and bread.

Guten Appetit!
Recipe from Epicurious.com
by © sunnycovechef.com
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