French Pork Pate Recipes

Steps:

• place pork liver, chopped garlic, ground Thyme, black pepper, salt and wine into food processor and mix until texture is similar to thick soup. Pour mixture over minced pork and combine well. Place mixture into cast iron terrine, or none stick dish and place into baking dish. Place the 2 Bay leaves and spring of Thyme on top of mixture and place the lid on top. Fill baking dish to 3/4 of the way to the top of the terrine. Bake in a 345 degree f, oven for 2 1/2 hours. Leave to cool before placing it into the fridge over night.

Steps:

• Stir the pork fat, ground pork, onions, water, cloves, and nutmeg together in a large pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the pork is tender, at least 1 1/2 hours. Use a potato masher to mash the pork mixture every 15 minutes as it cooks.
• The longer you simmer the gorton, the better the flavor will be. Add water as needed to keep the mixture from boiling dry. When you're ready to stop cooking, let the liquid reduce as much as possible without letting it burn. Refrigerate the gorton overnight. Remove and discard the fat layer, or stir it into the meat for a creamier spread.

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.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Combine the meat, liver, onion, garlic and parsley in a mixing bowl and blend well. Add the mixture, one-quarter at a time, to the container of a food processor and blend well. As each batch is processed, scrape it into a bowl. When properly blended, the mixture will be finer than hamburger. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Combine the eggs, flour, cream and Cognac in a small mixing bowl and blend well with a wire whisk. Add this to the pork mixture and blend thoroughly.
• Select a pate mold large enough to hold the pate mixture (a mold with a two-quart capacity and measuring about 11 1/2 by 4 by 3 1/2 inches is suitable). Line it with very thin slices of fatback, letting the slices overlap the upper edges of the mold.
• Pour and scrape the pate mixture into the prepared mold. Smooth it over. Fold the overlapping slices of fatback over the top of the pate. Add additional thin slices of fatback so that the top is completely but not excessively covered.
• Cover the pate with a lid and place it in a heatproof baking dish. Pour warm water around the pate mold and place it in the oven. Bake one hour and 50 minutes to two hours or to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
• Remove the pate from the oven and remove the mold from the water bath. Leave the lid on top of the pate. Let stand overnight at room temperature. When cold, serve sliced with cornichons.