I just made some venison Pâté (pictured) with the verbal instructions of a stalking buddy. Having shot a roe doe last night (pictured), I had a go making it when I got home. Was *easy* and the wife, who is not a massive fan of game meat, thinks its spot on and very tasty. It took about 30 minutes to make.
Ingredients:
Tools:
A food processor with a bit of guts
A few terrines or pots for the product
A frying pan
A milk pan to melt butter
Main:
1 x roe liver, or a muntjac liver, it'll just make less, chopped up to smallish cubes
3-4 strips of streaky bacon, the fattier the better, chopped up to bits. (I bet lardons would work fine)
1/2 a small onion minced small
1 clove of garlic minced or crushed
2-3 mushrooms if you want, minced
A block of butter
~200ml of double cream or crème fraîche
Flavouring:
Orange zest
port or brandy, 1-2 shots
salt & cracked black pepper
ground white pepper
crushed coriander seeds (alternate or supplement to black pepper)
Instructions:
General Principle:
Don't be stingy with bacon, bacon fat, butter, cream, salt/pepper/spice... all of these horrible, unhealthy things make yumyum.
Directions:
(1) Start frying the bacon, medium frying pan, medium heat. I added butter to this process and it smelled heavenly. the bacon fat should be rendering out. After 2-3 minutes, add the onion, garlic, and mushroom (if using), cook for another 2-3 minutes until browning soft. Add the liver, and a bunch more butter, and fry until the liver looks cooked (grey, no blood evident). You can add some salt and spices at this point. Set aside and let cool.
(2) Once cooled (at least, not hot) add to your Food Pro. Add whatever spices you didn't add when frying. I used ground white pepper, some cracked black pepper, and some coarse salt. Tip in a shot of booze (brandy or port, take your pick. I bet Cointreau would be lovely too), tip in a bunch of cream or crème fraîche, and then try to whizz it. If it is too chunky, add some more liquid (cream, maybe a touch more booze) until it will spin, and gets to the consistency you want. Taste, and add more salt/pepper/crushed coriander to taste)
(3) With a spoon or spatula, move into your terrines. Smooth down, pushing it into corners. At this point, I added finely grated orange zest to the top of the pâté, a fair amount, and this was a good call. I melted a bunch of butter in a sauce-pan, then poured onto the top of the pâté until it was completely covered. I then added a bunch more black pepper and some coarse salt. The orange zest and pepper infuse the butter and its marvellous. Cover in cling-film and chill. The butter-covered pâté should last at least a week in the fridge, maybe more, can't tell you yet!
Timeline & Product:
This took 5 min of prep and 10 min of cooking, then an additional 20 min of process & packaging. My roe liver made three terrines, with a cracker in the pic for interest and scale.
Afterwards:
Alternatives:
I think you can play with this. The orange zest is a real winning flavour. I could see adding some chopped up dried apricot *after* you are done blitzing it. And/or some crushed walnut. I might see if I can get some unflavoured gelatine to flavour with port to seal the top, instead of butter.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Tools:
A food processor with a bit of guts
A few terrines or pots for the product
A frying pan
A milk pan to melt butter
Main:
1 x roe liver, or a muntjac liver, it'll just make less, chopped up to smallish cubes
3-4 strips of streaky bacon, the fattier the better, chopped up to bits. (I bet lardons would work fine)
1/2 a small onion minced small
1 clove of garlic minced or crushed
2-3 mushrooms if you want, minced
A block of butter
~200ml of double cream or crème fraîche
Flavouring:
Orange zest
port or brandy, 1-2 shots
salt & cracked black pepper
ground white pepper
crushed coriander seeds (alternate or supplement to black pepper)
Instructions:
General Principle:
Don't be stingy with bacon, bacon fat, butter, cream, salt/pepper/spice... all of these horrible, unhealthy things make yumyum.
Directions:
(1) Start frying the bacon, medium frying pan, medium heat. I added butter to this process and it smelled heavenly. the bacon fat should be rendering out. After 2-3 minutes, add the onion, garlic, and mushroom (if using), cook for another 2-3 minutes until browning soft. Add the liver, and a bunch more butter, and fry until the liver looks cooked (grey, no blood evident). You can add some salt and spices at this point. Set aside and let cool.
(2) Once cooled (at least, not hot) add to your Food Pro. Add whatever spices you didn't add when frying. I used ground white pepper, some cracked black pepper, and some coarse salt. Tip in a shot of booze (brandy or port, take your pick. I bet Cointreau would be lovely too), tip in a bunch of cream or crème fraîche, and then try to whizz it. If it is too chunky, add some more liquid (cream, maybe a touch more booze) until it will spin, and gets to the consistency you want. Taste, and add more salt/pepper/crushed coriander to taste)
(3) With a spoon or spatula, move into your terrines. Smooth down, pushing it into corners. At this point, I added finely grated orange zest to the top of the pâté, a fair amount, and this was a good call. I melted a bunch of butter in a sauce-pan, then poured onto the top of the pâté until it was completely covered. I then added a bunch more black pepper and some coarse salt. The orange zest and pepper infuse the butter and its marvellous. Cover in cling-film and chill. The butter-covered pâté should last at least a week in the fridge, maybe more, can't tell you yet!
Timeline & Product:
This took 5 min of prep and 10 min of cooking, then an additional 20 min of process & packaging. My roe liver made three terrines, with a cracker in the pic for interest and scale.
Afterwards:
Alternatives:
I think you can play with this. The orange zest is a real winning flavour. I could see adding some chopped up dried apricot *after* you are done blitzing it. And/or some crushed walnut. I might see if I can get some unflavoured gelatine to flavour with port to seal the top, instead of butter.
Enjoy!
