Pâtés, forcemeats and terrines; notes from a demo class at Formaggio Annex

This past Sunday, January 23rd, saw Formaggio Kitchen's charcutier extraordinaire, Julie Biggs, give a demo/tasting about three types of pâtés: chicken liver mousse, Pâté de Campagne and a rabbit pâté, all of which she regularly makes and sells at Formaggio Kitchen.

Left to right: Chicken liver mousse, Pâté de Campagne, Rabbit Pâté

The main thing to keep in mind when making any charcuterie (pâtés, sausages, aged meats) is to begin with high quality meat. Your results can only be as good as what you begin with, so make sure to go the extra distance to track down free-range chicken livers, humanely-raised pork products, sustainably-farmed game and make sure that everything is F-R-E-S-H!

The event was held at Formaggio's Annex, which is where they do all of their mail order and sometimes hold demos like this. The front half of the warehouse looks like a set from a television show on gourmet food preparation, complete with the stainless-steel table with a slanted mirror above it so that everyone can get a bird's-eye view without crowding around the work area. It's a nice set-up, but on this cold, cold evening it was a bit frigid.

We began with a nice glass of mulled wine, which at least took the chill off, and a Gruyère puff, which was a nice complement. Then it was down to business. The chicken liver mousse is a relatively simple affair, combining butter, rendered duck fat, chicken livers, white pepper, salt, cream, brandy and egg yolks.

Blend softened butter and duck fat (1/4 lb of each) until creamy. Then add the cleaned chicken livers (8oz) one at a time until combined. Then add the egg yolks (4) one at a time until combined. Separately, make a slurry of 3/4T kosher salt, 1/2 t white pepper, 1T cornstarch (for binding, this is optional, but if you're putting out of it's cooking dish to stand on its own, it is helpful), and 1T brandy, then add to the liver combo and mix. Bring 1c heavy cream to a scald then let it cool until it's warm enough to touch. Transfer the liver mixture into a large bowl and blend in the cream. Strain this through a fine mesh chinois.

Everything is put into a cooking dish (usually a loaf pan or terrine) and placed into a water bath, covered with foil and cooked at 325ºF for about 40m, or until they lightly set (it should still have a little bit of a jiggle to it, but it shouldn't be too liquid-y). If it's cooked too long it will begin to rise. This will add air into the mousse and give it a non-mousse consistency.

Julie made four mousses (or is it just mousse?) and put them in the oven so that we would be able to see from beginning to end the process of cooking this pâté. Then we were passed out a plate with samples of the three pâtés that we were learning how to make along with some white wine and three kinds of mustard (a whole-grain, a tomato and a grape must - all of them quite nice). While we were enjoying these, Julie moved on to discussing the makings of the Pâté de Campagne.

This pâté is essentially a meat loaf and while it, too, is not very difficult, there are some steps that need to be followed fairly closely in order for it to come together properly. The meat needs to have a good amount of fat when grinding down, so fat back, bacon and pancetta are added for both flavor and fat content. The fat helps the meat to bind properly, whether your making sausages or terrines you always want to have at least 30% fat to the total amount of meat. Julie's Pâté de Campagne calls for 2lbs port butt (because this will be a well treated pig that you're getting your meat from, there is likely to be a good amount of fat already included in this cut, but you still need more), 1/2 lb fat back, 1/4 lb bacon, 1/4 lb pancetta. When grinding your own meat, the key is to keep everything cold or else the meat won't so much grind as it will emulsify in the grinder and not come out properly. When chilling your meat, it is best to have it already cut into cubes and then salt it all with about 3/4T salt.

After the meat is ground, keep the mixture cold while preparing the binder: combine 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped, with 2 shallots (same), 2T chopped parsley, 2t fresh thyme, a pinch of oregano, 1T pâté spice (a mixture of sweet paprika with some allspice, black pepper, garlic, ginger, etc.), 1/2T black pepper, 1/4c brandy, 1/4c red wine, 1/8c dry sherry (not sweet!), 1T tawny port. Blend this mixture together until the shallots and herbs are finely mixed. Add 4oz of cleaned chicken livers, 1 egg and 1 3/4 c light cream and blend well to emulsify. When you add the livers and egg in with the alcohol mixture, make sure to blend it together quickly because if you leave it unblended too long, the alcohol will actually cook the liver and egg, which you do not want to happen.

Combine the meat mixture with the emulsified binder. Finely dice 1c jambon de paris (or other ham) and stir into the mix. Add 1/4c blanched peppercorns as well. These are interior garnishes. (One can add all sorts of interior garnishes to terrines depending on what the flavor profile is. For the rabbit pâté there are pistachios added, you could do dried fruits, other meats, other vegetables, just be sure to make it appetizing.) Pack all of this into a terrine, making sure that there are no air pockets, and top with caul fat. Bake @ 325ºF, covered with foil, in a waterbath until the internal temp reads 135º. Remove foil and continue to bake until the internal temp is at 155º (total, about 2hrs).

Top: Pâté de Campagne covered with caul fat

Bottom: Rabbit pâté covered with pancetta

I do not have a recipe for the rabbit pâté, but it shouldn't be too different from the Pâté de Campagne, just with fewer up-front spices. When spicing a terrine, you want to make sure that you are using appropriate spices and not overloading a subtler meat with a lot of forward flavors. The rabbit pâté is covered with pancetta to add some more flavor as well as give it some added fat when it cooks. It is finished off, after it has cooled and set, by pouring aspic around the entire terrine (the chicken liver mousse is also finished off by pouring aspic over top of it and garnishing with cornichons).

 Rabbit pâté covered in aspic

To make a simple aspic, without worrying about hooves and other bones, gelatin sheets are used: 25 sheets per quart of liquid. The liquid in this particular case being Madeira. Flame the Madeira and season with salt and sugar. Bloom the gelatin sheets in ice water for about 5min, then place in the warm liquor and stir until dissolved. It couldn't be simpler than that. It can keep refrigerated, to re-liquefy just place in a double boiler.

When using the aspic, pour over or on top of whatever you are wanting to encase and let sit, undisturbed, until set ~45m - 1hr, then refrigerate to set completely.

This was a really fun course to be at, quite tasty, and it certainly answered a couple of questions that I had. I hope I can answer yours....