Pate Baked In Terrine

Photo: flickr user ndrwfgg

Ingredients

1 recipe Basic Farce see * Note

1 1/2 pounds Game meat or livers (optional)

1 cup Pistachios, blanched, or almonds, slivered (optional)

1/4 cup Cognac or sherry (optional)

1 pch Ground ginger

1 pch Ground cloves

1 dsh Freshly-ground white pepper

Thin-sliced unsalted fatback as needed

Bay leaf

Fresh thyme sprig

(or a pinch of dried thyme)

Preparation

The Basic Farce can be cooked alone or it can be embellished with up to 1 1/2 pounds of strips or diced game meat or livers. For strips cut the meat 1/4 to 3/4 inch wide and thick, in 2- to 4-inch strips; for dice, make pieces 1/4 to 1/2 inch in size. Up to 1 cup blanched pistachios or slivered almonds can be added. Marinate the meat pieces in Cognac or sherry with ground ginger, cloves, and grated nutmeg, and a dash of white pepper, for 30 minutes. Farce plus meat pieces will equal 9 cups.

Line the cooking pan or pans with fatback. Cut fatback 1/4-inch thick, then pound thinner between sheets of wax paper. If you have to use salt pork, slice it 1/8-inch thick and soak in cold water for several hours to freshen. Bacon can also be used; about 1 pound will be needed for 9 cups of mixture. Line pan with fat, allowing slices to hang over the edges. Press about one-third of the farce into the bottom of the pan; top with an attractive layer of half of the meat and nuts, then top with another third of the farce; add another layer of meat and nuts, and top w

Press each layer as flat and smooth as possible. Fold the fat slices over the top, covering the filling completely. Top with bay leaf and thyme, and cover with a double layer of foil and the pan lid, if available. Set filled mold(s) into larger pan with boiling water to come halfway up the side of the mold. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the fat that rises to the top is perfectly clear. A 5-cup loaf tin will take about 1 1/2 hours. Leave mold in water pan and remove lid, if used. Weight top evenly, to make for easy

This recipe yields about 9 cups.