Thursday 1 December 2011

Paté 2011



It's paté season again. Our stocks from last year are not yet depleted; a good enough sign that I make roughly about the right amount each year.

Of course everything is a little more expensive this year; but paté is paté, and never to be skimped on.

Yesterday morning I bought a huge, nearly 6 kg, whole pork belly, a large 1.5 kg lump of 'gorge de porc' (I think this is called 'hand of pork' in the UK), a 1.3 kg whole pig liver, and just under a kilo of duck foie gras.

For the paté itself I used 2 kgs of skinned and de-boned belly, all of the 'hand', about 500gms of liver, and all the foie gras. The first three ingredients were coarsely ground and mixed with Armagnac, white wine, 6 eggs, salt-n-pepper, and herbs, etc; with the foie gras being introduced later as large walnut sized lumps in the middle of each jar. If my maths is still good, we will end up with just over 4 kgs of paté, divided amongst ten 200 gm and six 350 gm jars.


The cost was a little above €26 (the foie gras alone counting for nearly €20), which is probably in the region of £22 for the lot. If that ain't a bargain; I dunno what is.... and I also had some mix left over for a large foie gras stuffed terrine, a slice of which is below!


Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention; Whilst our wood-fired cooker was blasting out heat, Lady Magnon took advantage, and made our Christmas pud's at the same time.... 7 hrs in the steamer. They look wonderful!

9 comments:

  1. How aromatic your home must have smelled(smelt?)....your pate' looks fantastic,something I love to eat but have never made,perhaps on the to do list one day..do your family raid your wonderful tasty pantry when they visit?bet the answer is yes!

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  2. I was thinking of making paté for Christmas day this year. We still have some pork left over from our pigs.
    Can you post your recipe. I have never thought of using fois gras in a pate like that, but I'm sure it would give it another dimension!
    Do you sterilise / cook the pate after you have made it?
    Sue

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  3. You need an electric mincer, or a good solid hand operated one. Coarsely mince the 2 Kgs belly pork, 1.5 Kgs hand of pork (gorge), and 500 Gms of pig liver. Add Salt-n-Pepper, Armagnac, herbs, 6 eggs, garlic, etc. Test seasoning by cooking a small amount (I under-seasoned again this year), then sterilise for 3 hours. Leave to cool in the water. The addition of foie gras just gives a little extra luxe, but isn't necessary.

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  4. Corrr! that pate looks delicious Cro.

    I haven't had any for ages.

    Too the shops!!!

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  5. I must confess that I am a semi-vegetarian. What that means is that I try to be a vegetarian but am unsuccessful. However, even if I sin, it is because there are things that I cannot pass up so I limit myself to just fish and fowl - but only certain fish and fowl and only certain parts of fish and fowl. My life is complicated but no, I will not eat pate`. However, may you enjoy...

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  6. I love Pate`! I am envious of all those wonderfully looking jars. Great job.

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