Pheasant Pate

Photo: flickr user Daniel Panev

Ingredients

12 ounces pheasant meat

2 pheasant breasts (approx. 6 oz)

6 lard strips

1 large piece caul fat

1 pheasant liver

1 chicken liver

1 black truffle, coarsely chopped

pound pork butt, chopped fine

tablespoon finely chopped shallots

1 teaspoon thyme leaves very finely chopped

1 bay leaf, crumbled

teaspoon salt

fresh black pepper

1 tablespoon Cognac

3 tablespoons dry white wine

5 cups pheasant stock or chicken stock

1 leek, finely chopped

1 tablespoon parsley

Preparation

In a food processor, mix the pheasant meat, (put aside the breasts), the pork butt, the shallots, thyme, bay leaves, leeks, parsley, salt, pepper, cognac and white wine. Put the mixture into a bowl and put the breast meat, livers and the truffle on top. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator for 4 days.

When you are ready to fill the terrine, chop the liver, truffles and the pheasant breasts to make it easier to spread them out into a layer in the pate.

Line the mould you have chosen for the pate with a piece of plastic wrap. Press it down into the corners of the mould. Then lay your caul fat over the inside of the wrap. Fill one third of the mould with the forcemeat. Then arrange half the lard, breast meat, livers and truffle in the middle. Add one third more forcemeat, then the remainder of the lard, breast meat, livers and truffles. Cover with the remainder of the forcemeat.

Fold the caul fat back over onto the pate. Cover the pate with tin foil and bake it in a Bain Marie in the oven for 2 hours, or until the internal temperature has reached 150 degrees Fahrenheit and a knife inserted in the middle comes out very hot.

When the pate has cooked, remove it from the oven, place a foil-covered brick or kitchen weights on top and allow it to cool overnight. Flavours develop after a day, so if you can leave it for a day it will be even better.

Remove the pate from the mould. Slice and serve with toast, pickles and chutney.

Preparation time is 1 hour, 5 days including cooking and resting

Preheat the oven to 330 degrees Fahrenheit