If you enjoyed last week's demonstration on how to make a proper terrine, you will like this week's recipes: pâtés a-go-go! One of the most incredible pâté I've made was with monkfish livers. This happened a few years ago here in Eire. I was talking to a fisherman I knew on the pier, and being ever vigilant when food is concerned, I asked him why he didn't keep the livers from the pile of freshly caught monkfish. He answered that he didn't have a market for it and cleaned the fish out at sea, good for the seagulls et cetera. I asked him to keep them for me next time he goes out. The following week I became the recipient of a full bucket filled with the little buggers. And for free! Pic below is of the monk liver pâté.
I spent the next hour cleaning the livers and marinated them in a mix of muscat wine, a dash of raspberry vinegar and fresh herbs: lemon thyme, cilantro and chervil. A good pinch of coarse grey salt and some cracked black peppercorns added the seasoning. The following day, I placed half the livers on a baking dish (roughly 2 pounds), poured the marinade liquid and added a half pound of unsalted butter in cubes, and baked them for 1 hour in a medium heat oven (180C, 356F), took it out of the oven, added another half pound of cubed butter and baked again for half an hour. After cooling off, I blended them into a food processor, checked seasoning, and when smooth, I poured the paste into a few small terrines which were lined with cling film. When finished, I put the terrines into a refrigerator and waited for two days (mind you, I had a taste prior to refrigerating) before serving. I gave one terrine to the fisherman who was astounded at the results. The moral of the story is that one should never discard edibles, a use might be found. The other side of the coin, so to speak, is that my friend the fisherman had started to keep the livers of all the fish he caught and made some extra money in the process.
I have not made a rabbit pâté ever since one of my daughters started to keep two bunnies in the shed, with Charlie the goat. I have this recipe that I used to produce in my Sydney eatery, a good standby rabbit pâté which was served with our homemade rosemary bread and lashings of paprika butter. The idea behind it was to serve a pâté that wasn't all smooth but chunky, in a countryside fashion, a faux-terrine if you wish. Ask your butcher to bone out a rabbit and that's half the battle. This pâté will serve 8 to 10 persons, and you will have leftovers for sandwiches.
You will need a boned out rabbit, half a pound of chicken livers, half a pound of pork loin lean meat, 2 thick slices of bread, half a pint of double cream, 2 free range eggs, half a pint of dry white wine, a small glass of port, a knob of fresh ginger, grated, a teaspoon of ground allspice, a bunch of shallots, finely minced, 4 garlic cloves, also minced, a teaspoon of freshly minced rosemary, salt & pepper to taste (remember that pâtés & terrines need more seasoning if eaten cold).
This is the easy part: dice the rabbit, chicken livers and the pork loin into small cubes. Marinate overnight in a dish with the port, the white wine, the spices, the shallots, the rosemary & garlic, salt & pepper. The next day, preheat your oven to 180C/356F. Soak the 2 slices of bread in the cream, and shred, adding the eggs (this trick will absorb most of the marinade liquid) and mix the whole lot together in a bowl. When thoroughly mixed, pour the content into an oval terrine (or a bread tin for chrissake!) and bake in a bain-marie for 70 minutes. When cooked, don't forget to place a weight on the terrine to compact the meat. When cool, place in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours (the longer it spends in the fridge, the better the taste will be as it sort of matures nicely) Serve with crusty bread, cornichons, onion jam and whatever takes your fancy. A good drop of young Beaujolais is an ideal companion.
Another crowd pleaser is the trout pâté. I used half trout and half pike and made a pattern with carrots, leeks and artichoke hearts, wrapped the whole thing in young cabbage leaves and served it with a fresh tomato & basil coulis. It's not hard to make if you follow this recipe, as long as you can get some fresh trout:
for 6 to 8 persons you will need 6 good-sized trouts (around 8 ounces each), filleted, half a pint of double cream, a glass of dry vermouth, 2 ounces of butter, 1 whole egg plus 1 egg white, 4 young carrots, 1 leek, 4 or 5 artichoke hearts, sliced, half a dozen young green cabbage leaves, salt & pepper to taste, and my secret weapon, 6 anchovy fillets, finely minced.
Boil a liter of water in a pot and drop the peeled carrots, the washed leek and the cabbage leaves. Don't cook, just take the pot off the heat and let the vegetable sit for a couple of minutes, and cool off under cold water, drain and set aside. This is the only instance in which I would use a food processor for the trout flesh. Set to the lowest possible speed, and fill it with the roughly chopped up the trouts, pour the cream over it, the salt & pepper and the melted butter. I would normally use chervil but I know it's a hard herb to find so use a few sprigs of either cilantro or basil. Add the anchovies and churn for a few seconds till smooth, it shouldn't take anymore than 10, 12 seconds. Preheat your oven to 220C/428F. Check the seasoning and prepare to line your favorite terrine with the cabbage leaves. Pour some of the mix into it, and place the carrots, the leek and artichoke hearts like a terrine and build it up till it's filled up. Cover with the cabbage leaves, place a layer of foil over it and bake for 20 minutes only. Take out to cool, and don't forget to add a wright over it. When cool, refrigerate for a 3 to 4 hours before serving. Pic below is of salmon & smoked tomato terrine, stolen from a friend.
And now for my individual chicken liver & Sauternes pâté, studded with tiny cubes of chorizo: this has got to be one of the easiest pâté to make. All you need is a bunch of ramekins, some good rustic bread and a decent bottle of Burgundy or Pinot Noir from Oregon.
For 8 to 12 ramekins you will need 1 pound of fresh chicken livers, 5 ounces of finely cubed chorizo, 1 pound of butter, a glass of Sauternes (a good muscat wine will do or a late picked grape, like the gewurztraminer), 2 celery sticks, finely minced, 4 garlic cloves, also finely minced, 1 small green onion, finely minced, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (or if you have molasses it's even better as this dish needs to get a sugar hit), salt & pepper to taste but I would make sure at least 3 heaped soupspoons of coarse sea-salt end up in this concoction, and finally, a big pinch of Herbes de Provence (usually it contains thyme, rosemary, sage and sariette). Marinate the livers overnight in the Sauternes wine, with the onion, garlic, celery, sugar or molasses, and herbs plus the seasoning. It's as simple as that, as the next day all you have to do is to bake the lot with half the butter in a preset oven of 220C/428F for an hour, or until nicely caramelized. In the food processor, pour the whole lot and proceed until smooth. Add the cubed chorizo and mix well. Check the seasoning and melt the remainder of the butter. Grease the ramekins with a brush dipped in the butter and fill them 3/4 up. Pour the melted butter on each ramekins, add a little sprig of fresh herb if you have it, and refrigerate for a few hours before serving. This would stay fresh for a good 6 to 8 days in your refrigerator.
Any recipes or recollections of eaten pâtés & terrines welcome! Next week is going to be about two or three of my favorite traditional dishes, Potée Auvergnate, Canard a l'Orange and Civet de Sanglier (wild boar). Stay tuned.