Bacon-Wrapped Country Pâté Recipe

Servings: 10
Prep time: 40 minutes
Total time: 24 hours

Ingredients

3 shallots, sliced
1 ¾ ounces|50 grams parsley stems
1 ¾ ounces|50 grams mushrooms
½ ounce|12 grams cognac
1 pint|475 ml white wine
17 ½ ounces|500 grams lean pork
17 ½ ounces|500 grams chicken thighs, cleaned up
1 pound|450 grams bacon
17 ½ ounces|500 grams pork fat back
17 ½ ounces|50 grams foie scraps or chicken liver
4 sprigs thyme
¾ ounce|20 grams kosher salt
5 grams pink salt (optional)
4 grams sugar
5 grams quatre épices
1 large egg
1 cup|135 ml heavy cream

Directions

1. Day One: Sauté shallots, mushrooms, and parsley stems in butter. Deglaze with cognac and white wine. Cool on the countertop.
2. Cut meats into grinder-sized cubes. Mix with the shallot mix, thyme, salts, and spices.
3. Marinate overnight in refrigerator. Put the grinder gear and the paddle attachment for the Kitchen Aid in the freezer overnight.
4. Day Two: Heat the oven to 300° F. Line a terrine mold with thin strips of bacon. Remove the thyme and grind the meat on a medium die into a bowl set in a larger bowl on ice. It is very important that everything remains very cold throughout the entire process. Beat the egg into cold cream. In the Kitchen Aid mixer, paddle the egg/cream mixture into the ground meat and form an emulsion. When the mixture is properly emulsified, it will become homogenous and have a fuzzy appearance. Wet your hands with a little cognac and pack the mix into the bacon-lined terrine, pushing out air bubbles without disturbing the bacon lining.
5. Wrap the bacon over the top of the terrine and cook in a water bath to 140° F (it will rest up considerably), keeping in mind that the oven temperature should be 300° F. To make the water bath, you can use a roasting pan, or go buy one of the cheap aluminum roasting pans people use on Thanksgiving. You cook in a water bath until the center of the pate reaches 135°-140° F— approximately 1 hour—but will vary from oven to oven. I recommend using a probe thermometer that you can leave in the terrine while it is cooking. Take it out of the bath, let cool for a bit on the counter, and then press it overnight in the fridge with something heavy, like a gallon of milk or a case of beer. It’s best to let it come up to room temp before serving.

From Chef's Night Out: Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin of Ovenly

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