The Chef’s Beef, Pork and Poultry Liver Pâté

Things have become rather pâté-heavy on Prymitywna Kuchnia. Oh well. Yesterday I suddenly felt a strong urge to make pâté. It was quite late, so I finished baking at 3 in the morning. But what else are weekends and Saturdays for? 😉

This pâté turned out rather well, although I must admit it is not quite 100% meatiness. If that is what you want, I would point you towards Dad’s pâté. This one is mine, entirely my own creation, and since I am the chef around here, it is the chef’s pâté 🙂

It is not quite so meaty-meaty, although it is very meaty, because the celeriac flavour comes through quite strongly, giving it real character. Besides, I always add more seasoning than my dad, so the experience is a little different.

Of course, my favourite pâté is the kind made at the family home for Christmas Eve or Easter, and that is probably what I will always associate it with. Meat pâté, naturally (although you can always count on Prymitywna, and there is also a recipe for lentil pâté, 100% vegetarian). Still, I must admit that mine is pretty good too.

I would not have managed to make it if I had not received a meat grinder as a gift, but that is another story entirely and probably not one to write about. I mean how that grinder came to be mine 🙂 So if you have one of these devices, all that remains is to go shopping for ingredients and arm yourself with patience for a few hours. Although the dish is not terribly demanding and is fairly easy to make, the boiling and baking take at least half the night. I recommend it!

PS

Don’t worry about the photos, of course 🙂 I’m not worrying, and 1/3 of the pâté has already disappeared 🙂

Recipe details:

Preparation time: about 30 minutes (a meat grinder is essential)

Boiling time: 2.5 hours

Baking time: 75 minutes

Baking temperature: 180 degrees Celsius

Yield: about 1.5 kg of pâté (a large baking tin)

Calories: hehehe

Ingredients for the chef’s special pâté:

• 1 kg fresh pork leg
• 30 decagrams beef saddle
• 0.5 kg poultry livers
• half a large celeriac
• 2 large carrots
• 1 sizeable parsley root (the root)
• 20 grams dried porcini
• 2 onions
• 2 bread rolls (they do not have to be stale)
• 3 hen’s eggs
• a few bay leaves
• a few allspice berries
• dried lovage leaves
• crushed coriander seeds
• nutmeg
• ground black pepper
• salt

Recipe for a thoroughly meaty pork-leg pâté:

I washed the meat, put it in a large saucepan and poured in just enough water to barely cover it. I put it on the “flame” and started cooking (the pork leg and beef saddle; I washed the livers but did not put them in the saucepan yet).

I peeled and washed the vegetables and added them to the saucepan. I also added a few bay leaves and the allspice, then the dried mushrooms. I cooked everything for 2.5 hours, adding the poultry livers after roughly an hour (below is a reference photo showing how much water there should be during cooking).

After 2.5 hours, I took the saucepan off the “flame” and added two bread rolls (they were not stale, more like “from this morning”). The rolls need to soak up the liquid from the cooked vegetables and meat.

Once the water had cooled a little, but was not cold, I took out the vegetables, meat, dried mushrooms and bread rolls (leaving out only the bay leaves) and put them through the meat grinder (1 pass through the fine plate). After 2.5 hours, the meat—even the beef—is so tender it almost falls apart, so I think grinding it once is enough.

To the bowl into which I had ground the meat, I added the seasonings: salt, pepper, crushed coriander seeds and dried lovage leaves. Fairly generously. It is worth tasting to check the flavour. Then I added three eggs and mixed very thoroughly into a uniform mixture.

I transferred the mixture to a large baking tin, about 25 x 35 cm, previously greased and coated with breadcrumbs. I put it in the oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius and baked for about 75 minutes. Then I took the pâté out and left it to cool completely (just kidding: of course I tasted it almost as soon as it stopped being hot). Once cold, it tastes wonderful 🙂 That is the end of the recipe. It is best served with bread and, definitely, horseradish. Mustard is good too. Enjoy.

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