Hunter

... sadly not S. Thompson but the '... or gatherer' type. Although ... there is strong liquor involved so perhaps there is a way for me to weave some light fear and loathing into this post.


sorry, had to be done, that is just too funny.

So as you see, I am not dead. I am not even starving myself or my family. I am just a very lazy foodblogger. *repents*

But I had to share this with you because it was a first for me. I've never made pate before and a friend of mine sent me a wild boar liver, so I, of course, decided that now was as good a time as any to try.



Under the scornful gaze of my husband ('why are you making this giant amount of pate, who will eat this?') I chopped said ginormous liver up, soaked it in milk for about two hours, while quickly nipping to the store to get some very fatty meat and a bottle of brandy. I never drink brandy so I spent quite some time staring at the bottles, hugging my large lump of bacon until I finally left with a bottle that claimed oak aging and when I unscrewed the cap at home, filled the kitchen with an odd, fruity, flowery scent

Oh well.
As for the recipe, I kind of did my usual 'shaken, not stirred' thing and just took bits and pieces from various recipes. I browned equal amounts of chopped, fatty pig's meat and wild boar liver with some chopped onion, then transferred the meat to a large pot and covered with home made chicken stock. I added salt, garlic, some bay leaves, black peppercorns, cumin seeds and ground coriander seeds, orange pepper, chopped carrots and about 100 g of soaked raisins.
I let it simmer for about an hour and a half (I had about a kg of both, if not more, so it was a large pot). Basically until it was all tender.
I then let it cool a bit (although not enough as I still nearly shorted my handheld blender thingie) and blitzed it, adding a generous glug of brandy and a about a 150 grams of butter (could have gone with more). I then let it cool and scooped it into grip-packets (you have to try taking a 'mini-grip' of pate to your friend's, their expression is priceless) and jars, stuffed some in the fridge, took some for friends (and as gifts to my kid's day-care teachers at the Christmas party) and dumped the rest in the freezer.

For those cold winter days when one just needs some pate.
You know.