Country Pâté. Your Guide To Fancy Meatloaf.

Today we are going to take a look at pâté. Specifically, we are going to look at country pâté and how to make it at home. Before you jump away from this post because you are convinced that you hate pâté at least let me explain exactly what I’m talking about.

First of all, and most importantly, let’s clear up what exactly pâté is. The easiest way to think about it is as a kind of fancy meatloaf. Really, it’s fancy only in perception. Now, there are different kinds of pâté. Some are smooth like butter, some are smooth but firm, and some like the country pâté we are going to be looking at today are more coarse in texture. There are some pâtés that are loaded with expensive ingredients like truffles or foie gras. But, at the heart of it, pâté is really just a cheap and easy way to use up scraps of meat.

Are all pâtés made of liver?

A misconception about pâté is that it is always made from liver. There are liver pâtés, and the one I am talking about today does have a little bit of liver in it, but it doesn’t have to. It is by no means made exclusively of the liver. Our pâté is mostly ground pork with a little bit of liver for flavour and texture. Other than that there are some herbs and spices, onions and garlic, egg, and a bit of flour (gluten-free for me). That’s it. Nothing scary or fancy.

Why make pâté at home?

Okay, now that you hopefully have a bit of a better understanding of what pâté is, you may be wondering why you should make it at home. Well, the simple answer is that it is delicious. Really, a well-made pâté is a very special thing. It’s great for a light breakfast or lunch with pickled eggs, gherkins, crackers, mustard, a bit of cheese, and grapes or apple. It is terrific to start a dinner party, take to a pot luck, or just serve with cocktails if you have guests coming over. It also freezes really well so you can make a batch like the one I’m going to describe below, slice it, and freeze it, then just pull out pieces when you want them. That is why you should make it at home.

But don’t you need special equipment?

Do you need special equipment? Nope. To be fair, I have a meat grinder that I use. And though I didn’t use it for this pâté I do have a small terrine or pâté dish. However, if you buy pre-ground pork, coarse if you can get it, the rest can be done by hand or in a food processor. As for baking, that can be done in any kind of loaf pan.

Isn’t it difficult?

Is it difficult to make pâté? It takes about the same level of skill to make a meatloaf or meatballs. If you can do that, you can do this. I will say that smooth pâtés are more involved and do require more skill.

Okay, let’s take a look.

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Pork

Our country pâté starts with pork. I’m using pork shoulder which was recently on sale at the grocery store. You may see it labelled as picnic roast. Pork shoulder is what is generally used to make sausage and pâté because it has the perfect ratio of fat to meat. Fat is important in these types of things because without it the final product has a gritty, dry texture which is not enjoyable at all. If you are using pre-ground pork do not buy lean. Go for medium or regular if you can. All told we want 2 lbs of ground pork.

Meat Grinder

If you are using a meat grinder, hopefully, it is better than the KitchenAid one that I have. Cut the meat into strips and put it in the freezer it for about 30 minutes. The meat shouldn’t be frozen, but very cold and slightly firm. This will make the grinding easier on your grinder and most importantly will keep the meat cold throughout the grinding process.

It is also generally recommended that you set the bowl the meat is being ground into over a bowl of ice to make sure it stays cold. However, because I generally grind such small amounts of meat I don’t find that step that crucial. Usually, after grinding I will pop the meat back in the fridge for 20 minutes or so to cool it back down. If you are doing large batches, definitely grind into a bowl set over ice. Not only does it keep the meat out of the temperature danger zone, but it also allows for a better mixture keeping the fat bound to the protein so you don’t get a lot of fat separation when cooking.

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Seasoning the meat

A good pâté is a well-seasoned one. It is important to remember that pâté is served cold. What that means is that you have to use more salt than you would if you were serving it hot. The reason for this is because of the way your taste buds interact with salt when they are cold and because the cold fat from the pâté will coat your tongue. For the 2 lbs of pork we are using, we will also be using 2 tbsp of coarse kosher salt. It is important to use either kosher or sea salt for this. DO NOT USE TABLE SALT. And, make sure that the salt is coarse not finely ground.

Along with the salt, there have to be some other flavours in the mix. For this I used 2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme, 2 tsp dried sage, 2-3 cloves minced garlic, 1/2 medium white onion, minced or puréed, 1 tsp black pepper, 4 oz pork or chicken liver, and 1 tsp pâté spice (recipe below).

I should say that I put the liver, onions, and garlic, right through my meat grinder. If you don’t have a meat grinder (why would you?) these items can be pulsed in a food processor or cut as small as possible by hand. I will tell you that hand chopping the liver can be a messy affair.

The recipe above for Pâté Spice is taken from Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn. In fact, the Country Pâté recipe I am sharing here is adapted from the version in this book as well. Click here to find the book on Amazon. (It makes a really great gift for any foodies on your Christmas list)

In a separate bowl from the meat, we mix together 2 eggs, 2 tbsp all-purpose flour (gluten-free for me), 2 tbsp brandy or port, and 1/2 cup whipping cream. This gets whisked together then mixed into the meat and spices.

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Beat the meat

At this point, all of the ingredients for the country pâté are mixed together but there is one very important step that has to be completed before the mixture can be put in the dish and baked. The meat has to be beaten. This doesn’t take long and it can be done in the bowl of a mixer, with a wooden spoon, or by hand. The idea is that you want to vigorously beat the meat until it gets a tacky texture and appearance. This will help bind the pâté together and yield one solid, well-structured mass. I did this with a wooden spoon in about two minutes.

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Baking the Country Pâté

To bake the pâté first line a loaf pan, just a regular bread pan, with plastic wrap. I know this seems odd because it is going in the oven but it is on a low enough temperature that it will be fine. Now put the mixture in the lined loaf pan patting down as you go to fill any voids. Do your best to make sure there are no air pockets or anything like that. Cover the top of the pâté with plastic wrap and then tin foil. Firmly tap the loaf pan on your counter a few times to settle the meat mixture.

Water Bath

In order to ensure that the pâté cooks evenly and that the sides don’t brown we need to cook it in a water bath. This is easy enough. Put a damp towel in the middle of a high-sided roasting pan and put the loaf pan in on top of it. The towel will prevent the loaf pan from sliding around when moving from the oven. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the loaf pan. Put the roasting pan in the oven and bake the pâté on 300°F until a thermometer inserted into the center reaches 160°f. In my oven (which may not be working right) this took about 2 hours. It may take slightly less in your oven. It is important not to overcook this as it will become gritty and dry.

Once it’s cooked

Once the country pâté is cooked, leave it covered, remove it from the water bath, and place it on a cooling wrack. Cool at room temperature for about an hour before putting it in the fridge.

You never want to cut into a pâté right away. The flavours take time to develop. So, at the very least leave it until the next day. Ideally, leave it for two to three days before you cut into it.

Weighting

One final step that is very important is to weight the pâté. To do this simply put a loaf pan on top of the loaf pan containing the pâté and fill it with cans of soup or cans of beans, anything kind of heavy. Leave this weight on overnight in the fridge.

The idea is that the weight is going to help compress the pâté giving it a consistent texture.

As a side note, I wasn’t expecting my pâté to take as long as it did. I actually ran out of time and had to get my wife to take it out of the oven, cool it, and put it in the fridge but I forgot to ask her to weight it. By the time I got home, it was already cool so, mine isn’t the exact density I would prefer, but it is still delicious.

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Done

Okay, it’s been three days since you cooked your pâté and put it in the fridge. Now, it’s time to unmold and eat it! All you have to do is take the foil and plastic off the top, carefully lift the pâté out of the loaf pan and wipe away an exterior fat and gelatin. Then slice it up and serve it with crackers, mustard, and pickles.

As I said in the intro, this freezes really well. It is best to cut it into portions and vacuum seal it, but portions tightly wrapped in plastic then put in freezer bags will do the trick as well.

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Conclusion

There are two things that I hope you take away from this. First of all, country pâté isn’t this scary or fancy thing. It is pretty much just a meatloaf that you eat cold. Secondly, pâté isn’t hard to make. Again, it is just a meatloaf that you eat cold.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this post as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it. If you did like it please share it with someone you think will like it too. And remember to join the mailing list so you never miss a post.

Thanks for reading!