Monday, June 14, 2010

Going French with a Pâté Challenge

Our hostesses this month, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz and Valerie of The Chocolate Bunny , chose delicious pate with freshly baked bread as their June Daring Cook’s challenge! They’ve provided us with 4 different pâté recipes to choose from and are allowing us to go wild with our homemade bread choice.

Coming up with a pâté from scratch is practically unheard of in my repetiore of baking and cooking. In fact I can definitely count with one hand the number of times I've ever eaten pâté. And even then, it would be canned pâté usually from the local supermarket shelf. So if it was not for me participating in Daring Cooks, you will never ever find pâté being posted in this blog.

Now what is pâté? In Wikipedia, it says that pâté is a mixture of ground meat and fat minced into a spreadable paste. Common additions include vegetables, herbs, spices, and wine. Pâté made of meat can be cooked in a variety of ways such as baked in a crust and this is called pâté en croûte or it can be also be baked in a terrine (or other mold), in which case it is known as pâté en terrine. Vegetarian pâtés based on tofu, mushrooms, nuts or various beans are also available. These pâtés do not require cooking and are easily made with a food processor. In Vietnam, pâté is commonly used on banh mi baguette type sandwiches.

For this month's challenge, I decided to make a pâté made of chicken which would be wrapped in proscuitto. I accompanied this with a dark German rye bread rather than the usual french baguette.

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Chicken and Sausage Pâté Terrine
Recipe Adapted from "Fresh with Anna Olson"

Ingredients:

3 cups stale white bread, crusts removed, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/3 cup whipping cream
2 large egg whites
400g fresh minced chicken meat
3 brawurst spicy sausage meat, sausage casing removed
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup diced dried apricots
3 tablespoons orange liqueur
1/2 cup roasted walnut, wholes
10-12 slices proscuitto ham
5 - 6 fresh bay leaves

Method:

1) Toss cubed bread with whipping cream and egg whites and let sit for 30 minutes. Stir to blend (bread should break down while stirring) and set aside.

2) Preheat oven to 325°F. In a food processor, blend chicken with salt, ginger, lemon zest and pepper. Add bread mixture and blend until smooth. Soak dried apricots in orange liqueur for 5 minutes. Add to chicken mixture.

3) Transfer mixture to a large bowl and stir in apricots and pecan halves.

4) Line an 8 ½-x-4 ½-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Line bottom and sides of parchment paper with prosciutto ham, so that ham hangs of the sides of the pan.

5) Spoon and spread half of the chicken filling into pan. Then spread a thin layer of sausage meat on top of the chicken. Randomly place the fresh bay leaves on top of the sausage meat. Then spoon the remain chicken filing on top. Fold prosciutto over to cover completely, adding extra prosciutto if necessary.

6) Place a piece of parchment over top of pan and cover with foil. Bake on a baking tray for about 50 minutes, until an internal temperature of 165°F is reached. Cool terrine, then chill completely before turning out and slicing.

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German Dark Rye Bread
Recipe Adapted from RecipeZaar
Makes 2 loaves


Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 tablespoon salt
1/3 cup molasses
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sugar
3 1/2 cups rye flour
cooking oil
2 cups water

Directions:

1) In large bowl, combine all-purpose flour, salt, cocoa, yeast, and caraway seed.

2) Heat and stir molasses, butter, sugar, 2 cups water and 2 Tablespoons oil until warm (about 110°-115°F).

3) Add to dry mixture.

4) Beat at low speed on electric mixer 1/2 minutes, scraping bowl. Then continue to beat for another 3 minutes

5) Then by hand, stir in enough rye flour to make a soft dough.

7) Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead till smooth (about 5 minutes).

8) Cover, and let rest 20 minutes. Uncover, and punch down the dough. Divide the dough into half. Shape into 2 round or oval loaves on greased baking sheets.

9) Brush the loaves with small amount of cooking oil. Slash tops with a sharp knife.

10) Cover the loaves and let it rise until double in size (45-60 minutes).

11) Place loaves onto tray and bake at 400C degrees for 25-30 minutes. Remove and place on racks to cool completely.

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Pate 5

35 comments:

  1. Pate looks extraordinarily challenging but it looks like you did a great job. And the bread- divine!

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  2. Wow! You did it! I always thought it would be tough to do. It's looks good on the rye.

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  3. Your pâté is beautiful and so is that bread!! Congrats on such a successful DC challenge this month!!

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  4. Beautiful pate and bread, excellent job!

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  5. What dramatic photos of the pâté and bread and I think you did the perfect choice of dry rye bread to go with your strong flavoured pâté. Bravo on your exquisite results. Cheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.

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  6. I applaud your effort in this challenge. Pate is not a normal item most of us,Asians, would pick to try. It sounds like a Julie & Julia feat. Well done!

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  7. Your terrine looks SO delicious! What a great job - and that bread...

    Cheers! Anula.

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  8. Now THAT looks like an awesome pate. Chicken and sausage is right up my alley! Your bread loaf is beautiful as well. Nice work!

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  9. Yum - chicken and sausage sounds delicious!! And I will have to give that rye bread a try - it looks better than a bakery!

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  10. Wow! This recipe sounds fantastic! I may just have to try it.

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  11. Beautiful photos and loved the prosciutto idea!

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  12. Your chicken pate sounds and looks delicious!

    I love the addition of dried apricots and whole walnuts. This is another pate recipe to try.:)

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  13. Wow. Your pate and bread look so delicious. I love that you used prosciutto instead of the bacon some recipes call for. Great job on this challenge!

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  14. Great, great job! I'm glad this challenge allowed you to try something new in the kitchen. I love your take on the terrine, and the bread has a lovely crumb. Thanks for cooking with us!

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  15. What a beautiful pate! Not to mention the bread!! I love your photos, not just from this post but overall in the blog :-)

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  16. What a beautiful pate! It really looks so delicious. I love the idea of serving the chicken with a dark bread too - great combination.

    Yours were some of the most inviting pictures we saw this challenge.

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  17. Mmmm I love the idea of the sausage in the pate. Sounds delicious.

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  18. That bread looks wonderful!!

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  19. So unique and yummy. I am jealous of your amazing bread!

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  20. Great idea using sausages! Looks so delicious!

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  21. your pate looks fabulous. I love ones that have chunks of things going through them. The bread looks a good match too!

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  22. What a great looking pate! I love the prosciutto on the outside, as I found myself peeling the bacon off of mine. Yours seems very summery and with the bread, I bet it was perfect!

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  23. Your pate look marvelous with all the texture! I would love to try it.
    (Had an unusual one last week at a restaurant: rabbit pate with a kumquat chutney and it was wonderful.)

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  24. I cannot believe you did such a great job with the paté and it was your first time! making it with chicken is a good call too, as I bet it tastes lighter; and the bread with it is simply the best combo you could have come up with!

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  25. Chicken and Sausage Pâté Terrine with a wrap of proscuito? O..M..G. That looks divine. Got to try that one. You photos are stunning. Thanks for participating in our challenge.

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  26. Nice job on this month's challenge! Your pate looks delicious, and your bread is just beautiful. Well done. :)

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  27. I would love your pate! All the ingredients sound so delicious together and the finished product looks amazing. The dark rye bread was a great pairing.

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  28. This month I have become especially fond of the more rustic looking terrines. I like the texture and appearance of the chunkier preparations. Yours looks out of this world delicious. Great work.

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  29. Your pate' is something different and something that i'd definitely try. I like all the ingredients and your presentation is beautiful. Your bread looks good too!

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  30. Yours maybe be the prettiest pate I've seen. Great job on this challenge.

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  31. Jo..this is a pate I would love to try! Such a great idea to pair it with a dark rye (which is gorgeous!). Phenomenal job and bookmarked!

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  32. What a fantastic pate! Looks very rich and hearty!

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  33. The pâté terrine is interesting! I'd not heard of it before ... Sorta looks like regular American meatloaf to me. I heard that prosciutto tastes better than regular bacon since Mark Bittman uses it a lot!!?? Haha! I'm trying to source it in KL, will try Cold Storage.

    Man, that rye bread too! I love rye bread for its unique flavor ... Molasses is actually one of my indispensable ingredients. I think you did a great job shaping the loaves!

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