Charcuterie_ The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing - Michael Ruhlman [99]
Pâtés must be cooked gently in a water bath, or they’ll “break”—the fat will separate from the meat and the pâté may be dry and rubbery. The water bath prevents the temperature of the mold from going much above the boiling point. The filled, covered terrine mold is placed in a large roasting pan and the roasting pan filled with enough very hot tap water to reach two-thirds to three-quarters of the way up the mold. Then the roasting pan is carefully placed in the hot oven.
The cooked pâté should be weighted down while it cools to compact it and give it a smooth and uniform final texture, as well as to remove any remaining air pockets.
PRESSING
A cooked terrine should be pressed, weighted down, to ensure a perfectly even texture and density. Some terrine molds come with their own press, but most don’t. To make your own, cut a piece of thick cardboard (or better, something stiffer, such as Plexiglas or wood) to the interior dimensions of the top of your mold. Wrap it in foil, place it on the terrine, and set a weight, about 2 pounds/1 kilogram on it (a brick wrapped in foil works well). When the terrine is cool enough to handle, refrigerate it overnight, brick on top.
SERVING
How you serve a terrine depends on the type and the occasion, but when you’re ready to serve it, whether as part of a winter holiday buffet or as a first course on a hot summer night, simply pop it out of the mold and carefully unwrap it. Place it on a cutting board. With a very sharp knife (preferably a slicing knife; don’t use a serrated bread knife), cut it into uniform slices, about 3⁄8 inch/0.75 centimeter thick. It usually helps to run the knife under hot water, then dry it, before each slice, and a warm knife is mandatory for very delicate mixtures such as seafood mousselines or vegetable terrines.
Left on the cutting board, a sliced terrine can be served as an hors d’oeuvre. If you’ve made a beautiful terrine with an interior inlay of, say, a seared pork tenderloin and an interior garnish of green pistachios and shiitake mushrooms, you are probably going to feature it as a first course, with an appropriate sauce or condiment. In France, traditionally terrines were often served straight out of the mold (and still are), and that remains a good option for rustic dishes such as pâté grandmère (don’t line the mold with plastic wrap, though!). Pâtés can also be the focal point of an elegant composed salad (a good vinaigrette is perfectly suited to most terrines). If you’ve made extra forcemeat, it can be wrapped in plastic, poached, and used in a composed salad.
Well wrapped in plastic, a terrine will keep for a week to ten days in the refrigerator.
Country Pâtés
Country pâtés (or country forcemeats) are distinguished by their coarse texture. The meat is ground but not pureed.
PÂTÈ DE CAMPAGNE
A pâté de campagne, or country terrine, is a rustic preparation, slightly more refined than a pâté grandmère (see page 214) mainly in that it uses only a small amount of liver—liver is a seasoning device here rather than the dominant flavor. Also unlike the pâté grandmère, some internal garnish, such as fresh herbs and chunks of smoked ham or duck confit, go a long way. The panade (notice that it’s made with flour, not bread) helps to retain moisture and to enrich and bind the pâté.
Most of the meat is ground through a large die, and none of it is pureed, to achieve the charactistic coarse texture of a country terrine. Although only a small amount of liver is used, try to use pork liver if possible rather than chicken liver, because it will allow you to cook the terrine to a lower final temperature and therefore produce a moister pâté.
A pâté de campagne is the easiest terrine to make, and in the spirit of its origins—a humble but delicious dish made from trimmings or inexpensive cuts of meat—should be made with whatever garnish is on hand and eaten simply, with a good baguette and French Dijon. Add a salad of fresh greens, and you’ve got a simple midweek meal. It’s also a fabulous make-ahead dish for a weekend dinner party.
2 pounds/1