Paté de Campagne was not something I grew up eating in south Mississippi in the seventies. I discovered the joys of country paté when I moved to New Orleans after college, and regularly indulged thanks to Martin Wine Cellar‘s deli. Then I discovered that George, most everyone’s favorite Southern Yacht Club bartender, made paté. He called all the unmarried ladies “Isabelle”, likely to avoid calling a member’s Saturday night date by his Friday night’s date’s name. He replaced your “red drink”– a slushy concoction of fruit punch and rum — with another before you’d finished your first, delivering each with a playfully suggestive remark that only you could hear. He made his patés at Christmas time, delivering delicious savory bread-loaf sized terrines wrapped tightly in foil to his customers. For years, he’d ask in his Greek accent “when you gonna come over to make paté with me, Isabelle?” everytime I saw him. As much as I wanted to learn to make paté, I got the idea that George’s wife would not be thrilled to find me in her kitchen.
That was about 30 years ago. Over the years, I’ve made many smooth chicken liver patés, but never attempted a country-style terrine. After looking at a number of recipes, I decided to use Ruhlman‘s recipe published in Charcuterie, and also available online at the Splendid Table. I was a little wary of his spice mixture, especially compared to some of the other recipes I had considered, so I did a little research and found that Ruhlman’s recipe is a variation of the traditional Quatre épices of white pepper, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. The spice mixture should be varied to suit your taste — I toned down the white pepper a bit because I am not a big fan, and limited the cinnamon to accentuate the savory. I modified the meats — substituting bacon for some of Ruhlman’s pork butt — based on availability and was very pleased with the resulting flavor and texture.
Paté de Campagne
Ingredients:
For the Paté Spice:
- 1 tablespoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
For the Paté de Campagne:
- 1 1/2 pounds pork butt, cut into 1-inch dice
- 1/2 pound bacon, sliced crossways into 1/2–inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 pound crimini mushrooms, cut into1/2-inch dice
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped onion
- 1/2 pound chicken livers
- 8 tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 heaping teaspoon Paté Spice
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons Calvados brandy
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions:
- Put the blades and all parts of your grinding attachment along with your bowls in the freezer.
- Combine the spices, mix well, and store in an airtight container.
- Spread the pork butt and bacon in a single layer on baking sheets and put them in the freezer.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter.
- Swirl the butter around the skillet, add the mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
- Assemble your meat grinder with the large die.
- Fill a large bowl with ice and set a smaller cold bowl inside.
- Grind the pork and bacon through the large die into the bowl immersed in ice.
- Take 1/3 of the mixture and move it to a separate large bowl and add the onion, liver, parsley, salt, pepper and Paté Spice. Mix the spices into the meats using your hands.
- Fit the grinder with the small die and grind the pork, liver and spice mixture into the bowl of more coarsely ground pork.
- Quickly make your panade by whisking together the flour, eggs, brandy, and cream. Using the paddle attachment on your blender, mix the panade into your meat mixture to bind it.
- Fold in the mushrooms.
- Do a quenelle test or fry a small piece of the mixture to check seasonings and adjust if needed.
- Line a 1 1/2 quart terrine mold with plastic wrap. Leave enough overlap on the two long sides to fold the plastic over the terrine after you’ve filled it.
- Put the terrine in a high-sided roasting pan. Place the pan in the oven in the oven, then add hot water until the terrine is half-submerged.
- Bake until the interior of the paté reaches 160 degrees — between 1 and 2 hours.
- Remove the terrine from the oven (and water bath). Set a 2 pound weight on top. Let cool to room temperature, the refrigerate overnight or until completely chilled.
Yield: 10-12 appetizer servings
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 1-2 hours
Total time:15 hours
I like my paté served very simply with crusty bread, grainy mustard and tart and crisp cornichons.
Carolina Bon Vivant 