Wild Game Pate
Submitted by jembb
French-style wild game pate layered with cognac-marinated duck and seasoned pork, wrapped in blanched bacon, and baked in a water bath. Slice it cold and serve with crackers.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
60 minREADY
80 minThis wild game pate is the kind of project that turns a weekend afternoon into something genuinely impressive.
Strips of boneless duck marinate in cognac with thyme, allspice, and green onions while you build the forcemeat from seasoned ground pork, softened onions, garlic, and beaten eggs.
Everything gets layered into a bacon-lined loaf pan, crowned with a bay leaf, then baked gently in a water bath until set.
Weighted down overnight and served cold in thick slices with crackers or crusty bread, it’s the kind of charcuterie that makes people ask, “You made this yourself?"
Variations
- Swap the duck for rabbit, venison, or a mix of whatever wild game you have on hand
- Fold in a handful of toasted pistachios or dried cranberries for color and texture
- Add a splash of port or Madeira to the marinade instead of cognac for a sweeter, rounder note
Chef Tips
- Blanch the bacon just long enough to make it pliable; overdone bacon tears when you try to line the pan
- Beat the stuffing vigorously with a wooden spoon so the forcemeat binds properly and holds together when sliced
- The water bath is essential; it keeps the pate from drying out or cracking during the bake
- Weight the pate while it cools to compress the layers and create that dense, sliceable texture
- It keeps in the fridge for up to a week and the flavor only gets better after a day or two
Ingredients
Directions
First, marinate the strips of game.
In a non-reactive bowl, mix together the marinade ingredients, the cognac, salt and pepper, thyme, allspice and green onions.
Add strips of game and marinate while preparing stuffing. For stuffing, cook onions slowly in the butter until tender. Scrape into large mixing bowl. Pour cognac into same skillet and boil until reduced by half, scraping bottom of skillet to loosen any pan drippings. Scrape into bowl with onions. Add pork and veal, beaten eggs, salt, pepper, allspice, thyme and garlic. Beat vigorously with wooden spoon until thoroughly blended. To assemble pate, line bottom and sides of laof pan with blanched bacon (to blanch plunge bacon into boiling water, remove immediately and drain briefly under cold running water), reserving a few strips for top of pate. Drain game strips, reserving marinade. Beat marinade into stuffing. Divide stuffing into three parts. Dip hands in cold water and arrange first third of the stuffing in bottom of loaf pan. COver with half the strips of game. Repeat layers, another third of stuffing and remaining half of game strips. SPread remaining thrid of stuffing on top. Place bay leaf on top and cover with remaining blanched bacon. COver top of pan with aluminum foil and set in larger pan of boiling water (water should come about halfway up the outside of loaf pan). Bake in oven preheated to 350℉ (180℃) for 1½ hours. Remove loaf pan from water and place another loaf pan (preferably glass so it’s heavy enough to weight down the pate) on top of foil-wrapped pate. Cool pate at room temperature several hours or overnight. Chill, still weighted. Serve in slices with crackers. NOTE: A “pinch” is about ⅛ ts.
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