Pâté de Campagne
This recipe is a beautiful and impressive rustic appetizer. Although you can serve this warm, I prefer to do mine cold with French mustard, cornichons, large capers, and sliced French baguette.
Do not let the title of this dish scare you away. It is not difficult to do but is one of those dishes that should bolster your confidence with preparing so-called sophisticated food. This recipe makes a sizeable amount of delicious pâté. It is perfect for serving as an appetizer for a large dinner party or made in mini loaf pans for holiday gifts. Because there is no liver in this recipe, it is the perfect entry-level pâté for anyone who enjoys pork.
Rustic Country Pork Terrine/Pâté de Campagne makes a wonderful gift around the holidays!
Measure out the required amount of good quality cognac.
Reduce the cognac by a quarter to intensify the flavors. This reduction does not take long (around 2 minutes) over medium-high heat. (Caution: Heating cognac or brandy can cause it to catch fire. I make this reduction in a deep pot, so the cognac will not ignite so easily. Do not reduce the liquor in a shallow pan or skillet.) However, if the cognac should ignite, it’s not the end of the world. Put a lid on the pot to extinguish the flame.
In a skillet or sauté pan, heat butter or olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until they are tender.
Cook the onions and add the herbs and seasonings. Stir and let the flavors marry for a minute or two.
Next, add the cream to the onion and spice mixture and stir. Cook for another minute or two to incorporate the flavors.
Remove the cream and spice mixture from the flame and allow to cool off for a few minutes.
Measure out the ground pork.
Next, measure out the bacon to be cut into lardons. (Lardons are just small strips of bacon.)
Start mixing the pâté by first, mixing the bacon lardons into the ground pork.
Second, add the reduced cognac and beaten eggs to the pork/bacon mixture and combine thoroughly.
Third, add the cream and spice mixture to the pork mixture and mix by hand (gloves recommended) or in a countertop mixer fitted with a paddle on low.
The pâté is now ready to be placed into its terrine or bread pan. If you have smaller bread pans or even miniature pans, those are great as well and can be used to make gifts. Simply split the pâté up among them and bake-off. The cooking times will vary with smaller amounts, but just look for the proper temperature when you take them out.
Line a bread pan with slices of bacon. Depending on which bacon you choose, you may need more or fewer slices. Notice the smaller slices on the end. The idea is to encase the pâté in bacon.
In this image, I’ve placed enough pate to come to the middle of the bread pan. At this point, add the thinly sliced smoked ham. Note: The higher the quality used for the pork, bacon, and ham, the better your pâté will be.
After adding a layer of smoked ham, the pan is now ready for the other half of the pâté mixture.
Mound the pâté high over the edge of the cooking pan to resemble the shape of a loaf of bread. Wrap the bacon back over the top of the pan. You may need to overlap some extra bacon on the top and tuck it back down into the sides of the pan.
Aluminum foil is a reactive metal, so regardless of the acidity of what I cook, I always put a layer of parchment paper between the foil and the food being cooked. I use a large enough piece of aluminum foil to cover the whole bread pan, and push it down the side and underneath to make a tight fit over the whole pâté.
Place the pâté pan inside another baking pan with at least 2 inch high walls and then place in a preheated oven at 350°F or 175°C). After the pan is in the oven, add enough water to come up halfway on the pâté pan. Cook this way for about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Check the internal temperature starting at the 2-hour mark to gauge how much time is left in order to heat all the way through.
Once the internal temperature has reached (155°F or 68°C), remove it from the oven and place it on a new cooking sheet pan. Place a heavy iron skillet on top of the pâté and refrigerate overnight. If you don’t own iron skillets, you can use a regular skillet with some heavy cans from the pantry.
The pâté can be made several days before you need it for a party, however, it is ready to use the next day if you need it. To un-mold from the bread pan or terrine, place the pâté pan in another pan with about an inch of warm water. Let the pâté sit in the water for 2-5 minutes. This will help loosen it from the pan. Remove all of the parchment and foil. Place a clean plate upside down over the top of the pâté and carefully, quickly invert the pâté and place on a cutting board. You will notice that the bacon does not look cooked. It is. The bacon was steamed along with the wrapped pâté to at least (155°F or 68°C), if not more. Some people enjoy eating the steamed bacon while some are weird-ed out by it, but it is safe and delicious to eat.
With an electric knife or very sharp slicing knife, cut straight down through the pâté into thin slices.
Arrange the pâté on a platter.
I like to serve this pâté with a selection of condiments like French gherkins or cornichons, French whole grain mustard, large capers, and sliced French baguettes. I may also offer quality olive oil and Maldon Sea Salt flakes.
Wine pairings with Pâté Campagne: try a 2015 Domaine Marcel Lapierre Morgon , 2015 Antech “Emotion” Cremant de Limoux Brut Rose , or 2011 Dal Forno Romano Valpolicella Superiore
Rustic Country Pork Terrine/Pâté de Campagne
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup cognac
- 3 tbsp butter or olive oil
- 1 whole onion, minced
- 3 large cloves garlic, minced
- 2 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 2 1/2 lbs ground pork
- 12 oz bacon, cut into lardons
- 6 oz smoked ham steak, cut into strips
- 1/3 cup cream
- 2 whole beaten eggs
- 14 slices bacon for lining pate or more
Instructions
- In a heavy pot over medium-high heat reduce the 3/4 cup of cognac by a quarter to 1/2 a cup. Remove from heat and reserve.
- In a large frying pan or sauté pan, heat the butter until melted. Add the onion, garlic, thyme, and allspice and sauté until the onion is soft. Add the cream and cook for a minute or two to allow the ingredients to marry. Remove from heat and cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the ground pork and bacon lardons. Mix thoroughly to combine.
- Add the reduced cognac and beaten eggs to the pork mixture, and mix thoroughly by hand or in an electric mixer fitted with a paddle. Add the cooled cream and herb and spice mixture, and continue to mix thoroughly.
- Line the interior of a bread pan with sliced bacon. Next, add about half of the pork pate mixture (or to half way up the bread pan). Then add a layer of the smoked ham steak strips. Add the other half of the pork pâté mixture (or as much as you think you can). The amount should be mounded over the top of the pan, similar to what a fully cooked loaf of bread would look like.
- Wrap the excess bacon over the top of the pan. Depending on the length of the bacon used, you may have to cut some additional slices to cover the top completely. Tuck the excess bacon into the sides.
- Wrap the top of the pork pâté with parchment paper. This can be loosely fitted since the larger, second layer of aluminum foil will hold it in place. The foil should be ample enough to completely cover the whole pork pâté and bread pan tightly all the way around.
- Put the sealed pâté into a larger pan with high walls and place it into a preheated (350°F or 175°C)oven. Fill the pan with cold tap water to halfway up the bread pan containing the pork pâté.
- Cook the pâté for approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes or until an internal temperature of (155°F or 65°C) is reached. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Place the loaf pan with the pâté on a clean sheet pan and place a heavy iron skillet or regular skillet with heavy cans of soup, on top of the pâté. Refrigerate overnight.
- After overnight refrigeration, un-mold the pâté by removing the parchment and foil wrapping. Place the pâté pan in a warm water bath for a few minutes. Carefully move a thin knife along the outside of the pâté to make sure it is loose on the sides. Place a large plate over the top of the pâté and carefully but quickly turn the pâté over on the plate. Remove the bread or terrine pan. It should release very easily.
- Place the pâté on a cutting board and slice thinly for serving as much as you need. Wrap the excess back up and return to the refrigerator.
Notes