TheShaun
Bejeweled
In another thread a forum member had showed a photo of their homemade pâté and it got me craving it and thinking about making it. Who else makes their own or terrine or rillette?
Pâté, Terrine, Rillette
- Thread starter TheShaun
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I once did some Foie gras (good but a lot of work over a few days), this year I’d like to do some Rillettes.
I do. A country pate is pretty easy.
I tend not to adore liver. I can eat it without whining, but given my choice, to misquote Mark Twain, "...given the honor, I'd druther have [a hamburger]."
But I do like a good meaty pate. I tend not to make Pate grandmere style with lots of liver. I also like to add an inclusion such as a seared pork tenderloin if I remember to get one at the butcher's. Their organic pastured pork tenderloins are quite small, therefore the perfect size for what I want.
O.H
Chef455
Head Cheese Head Chef
No longer. Mrs. Chef doesn't dig the offal, so I'd be cooking for one. If I get the hankering I'll just cook up some calf or chicken liver. Also, I no longer have access to a Robot Coupe and my little processor just doesn't compare.
Mine are usually various bits on pork and ham. I can eat liver in a pate if someone else does the work and it is all that is offered.
If you are ever in need of a food processor, the Magimix is basically home use sized Robot Coupe. Plus, real Robot Coupes do not have all the frills of the Magimix. It is basically the twenty-first century version of the original MIF Cuisinart.
Chef455
Head Cheese Head Chef
I appreciate the recommendation, but my Cuisinart is hanging in there just fine. My point was that there is a big difference in the results from a home processor and a Robot Coupe. Alas, there is a big difference in the price tag as well and I'm not about to fork over a grand for something I use once a month or so.
As far a the attachments are concerned I find it easier to break out and clean the mandolin, spirarlizer, whatever (ok the juicer is just as much work) than working with the food processor. YMMV
Back to the rilettes. I have been thinking about playing with some trotters potting them lately. Spring is upon us and I need to get a few wintery things out of my system soon.
Yeah, a Robot Coupe is amazing. I have a Magimix for my wife. I use big knives, whisks, mandolines, etc. just as quickly.
A while back I read about cruibini and thought it seemed a good idea. So I made some. Hmm. Not what I was looking for.
O.H.
Chef455
Head Cheese Head Chef
We seem, frequently, to have similar taste O.H. Why were they not to your liking? I ask because crubini is similar to what I mentioned. I've never played with pig feet, but I'm always interested in "lesser" cuts. It gets more difficult to find less expensive proteins that can shine as home cooks get more and more savvy. I just saw veal sweet breads for almost $30 a pound... I mean c'mon, I doubt most folks know how to prepare them much less are willing to eat them.A while back I read about cruibini and thought it seemed a good idea. So I made some. Hmm. Not what I was looking for.
O.H.
My apologies, I am afraid I might be to blame for this ...
Like must thing your limitation will be on what you got to cook with and what your wallet will allow you to spend to get there.
Liver pate is as cheap and easy to do as it gets, in an hour I can get a terrine done for well under $10 might even be under $5.
As a french man I often miss my pate rillette and what's not but I do lack a serious meat grinder to get there. Now if you have what you need to get going , be extra naughty and get you some rabbit for some rabbit pate, does not get much better than that.
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Dang my step brother that lives in Duck country in south west France get there done in an afternoon every year for Xmas. Granted they got better and faster at it now that they have cooked one every year for 25 years at this point.
Obviously all in French, but the second one might be the next on tap
Fromage de tete or Pate de tete aka boar head cheese , this with some fries and mustard is to die for for a hearty lunch.
Liver pate but with a much different recipe than what I do ...
Fromage de tete or Pate de tete aka boar head cheese , this with some fries and mustard is to die for for a hearty lunch.
Liver pate but with a much different recipe than what I do ...
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- #15
TheShaun
Bejeweled
Yes, you are the offender!
The recipe called for 3 days including curing and rest time. At some point I had to wrap the pieces in gauze like a mummy to shape them…
So I have a simple meat grinder (coarse&fine plates) for the KitchenAid and a slow cooker as well as some ceramic/enameled iron forms plus this one:
Anything crucial on hardware that I’m missing?
Anything crucial on hardware that I’m missing?
I've got that book by Ruhlman and Polcyn, also their book on Italian dry curing. Both have lots of bookmarks stuffed in them.
Depending on which meat grinder attachment you have for your KitchenAid, you may need to compromise on the fineness of the grind. I have one from the 1970's and it has a 1/4-inch plate and a 1/8-inch plate. I had one of the plastic ones until I blew it up trying to press some pasta, and it had 3/16-inch and 1/8-inch plates. I bought one of the new metal ones, and it has what my calipers measure at 3/8, 1/8 and 1/16-inch plates.
I'm guessing that you'll probably want to run your meat at 1/4-inch or around that. Experience tells me to run about a quarter of the meat, then open up the grinder and check for tendon and such packing up at the end of the screw. You'll get a cleaner grind if you keep an eye on that, otherwise you're just pumping meat mush out the plate.
I usually make such things in the oven. I seem to recall that P&R recommend a water bath. I do that with a steam-table pan large enough to hold my mould (a glass loaf pan).
Looks like you're good to go! I don't remember exactly what I started out with but it wasn't more complicated than that. I found some ways to improve the process as I learned; no doubt you will, too. Enjoy!
O.H.
It was kind of an impulse. We were getting a hog butchered and I thought to ask for the feet. The prep wasn't hard (but seemed rather fiddly to me) and the taste was fine, but after all that I basically had some bundles of bones with a nice crispy crust. For the amount I actually got to swallow, it seemed like a lot of work. That was my experience, anyway.
The lesser cuts I like to play with are jowl for guanciale and belly for pancetta. Back fat goes for lard and also for lardo. When I make lardo some of it gets cool alder-smoked and then ground and rendered for smoked lard, which I use in making refritos. Some of the lard gets further processed as asiento, for slathering on tortillas.
Mrs. Hippie occasionally stokes up her Arkansas genes by fixing sweetbreads. For herself.
One trick here is going in with some friends to get a whole animal. Before you go to the abbatoir have a group conversation about what happens to the cuts, including the offal. The butcher I visit in town knows that some people want the stuff that usually gets tossed, so they keep it clean and it's another revenue stream. But unlike 50 years ago, now you have to ask for it special; but they have it and most of it's not that expensive. After all, it's gotta sell before it goes bad.
O.H.
I do have metal plates but I’m a metric guy so I’ll measure the sizes to be sure.I've got that book by Ruhlman and Polcyn, also their book on Italian dry curing. Both have lots of bookmarks stuffed in them.
Depending on which meat grinder attachment you have for your KitchenAid, you may need to compromise on the fineness of the grind. I have one from the 1970's and it has a 1/4-inch plate and a 1/8-inch plate. I had one of the plastic ones until I blew it up trying to press some pasta, and it had 3/16-inch and 1/8-inch plates. I bought one of the new metal ones, and it has what my calipers measure at 3/8, 1/8 and 1/16-inch plates.
I'm guessing that you'll probably want to run your meat at 1/4-inch or around that. Experience tells me to run about a quarter of the meat, then open up the grinder and check for tendon and such packing up at the end of the screw. You'll get a cleaner grind if you keep an eye on that, otherwise you're just pumping meat mush out the plate.
I usually make such things in the oven. I seem to recall that P&R recommend a water bath. I do that with a steam-table pan large enough to hold my mould (a glass loaf pan).
Looks like you're good to go! I don't remember exactly what I started out with but it wasn't more complicated than that. I found some ways to improve the process as I learned; no doubt you will, too. Enjoy!
O.H.
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