Bostonist Locavore: Pâté de Campagne en Croûte from Scratch

In late winter, Bostonist Locavores notice, charcuterie frequently gets some action in the media. People like to play with the bits of the animals that get slaughtered right before it gets too cold to feed them the things that are growing in the farms.

There isn't much growing that is worthy of notice anyway.

Lionettes, a South End meat market, gets a whole pig in once a week. They render the leaf lard, so you don't have to. If you understood anything that I just said, then this recipe is for you. Get your offal at Lionettes, and feel free to be creative. This is country cooking, so you use what you have and make it work.

Bon appetit!

Pastry:
2 1/4 c flour
3/4 c local butter
1 large local egg
3 T local sour cream or creme fraiche
1/2 t salt
up to 1/3 c ice water

• Place flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor, or mix by hand.


• Cut in cold butter, egg and sour cream and pulse or cut to a soft ball.


• Divide and wrap and place in fridge for at least one hour before rolling.

Filling:
3/4 lb each, local beef, pork and veal
1/3 c cognac or sherry
1/3 c white wine or sake
2 bay leaves or 1 T juniper berries
1/2 cup parsley
1 small white onion
1/4 c chestnuts or other nuts (optional)
1 cup chopped mushrooms (optional)
4 large egg yolks
1/2 c bread crumbs (or oatmeal)
1 t pate spice (recipe below)

• Cut the meat into 2 in chunks, and place in a bowl with the cognac, wine and bay leaves over night in the refrigerator.
• Run everything in the bowl through the large grind of your meat grinder along with everything else.
• Saute a pinch of the mix in a pan and then season the whole batch with salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble:

• Roll out dough into a rectangle and place on a baking sheet lined with foil.


• Form meat mixture into a log and pull dough up around the edges. Decorate with pastry scraps, if you wish (photo above shows scraps cut into stars for the holidays).


• Bake at 350 for 40 minutes and check internal temperature.


• Finish baking until the internal temp. reads 145.


• Serve hot or cold.

Pate Spice:
In a spice grinder, or mortar and pestle, grind until fine powder:

1 1/2 oz white peppercorn
3 oz ground coriander
1 3/4 oz dried thyme
1 3/4 oz dried basil
3 oz cloves
1 1/2 oz grated nutmeg
1/2 oz bay leaf
3/4 oz mace
1 oz dried porcini mushrooms

Save extra spice mix in an airtight bottle to use again!

Post contributed by JJ Gonson, a locavore and personal chef. Read her blog at Cuisine en Locale.