Rabbit & Pigeon Pate.

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Rabbit & Pigeon Pate.

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Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 05 9:24 pm Post subject: Rabbit & Pigeon Pate.

Ok, here’s my recipe for pigeon & rabbit pate. I was really impressed with its taste although it could have been a bit more ‘set’. That said it was very tasty and not overly runny. Far better than the stuff you get in the supermarket.

I was made out of the offal from one pigeon and one rabbit, the ingredients are tailored accordingly.

Offal from one rabbit (liver, kidneys and heart)
Offal from one pigeon (liver and heart)
½ clove of garlic
¼ onion
A few sprigs of thyme.
Butter
Seasoning
1 egg yolk
Splash of brandy, port, etc.

Melt a large knob of butter in a frying pan, fry off the onion gently for a few minutes until softened.

Add the finely chopped garlic and the chopped thyme,

Chop the offal up into small pieces and add to the pan, fry until nicely browned on the outside, it should still be juicy on the inside.

Chuck the lot into a food processor.

Quickly add a small slug of whatever alcohol you have to hand (don’t blame me if you use WKD) to the pan, de glaze and add to the processor.

Season and add one egg yolk, a dollop of butter and then blitz until you reach the required consistency, I like mine on the rough side.

Pour/scrape into individual ramekins. Stick a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary in the top if you are feeling fancy.

Put into the fridge for an hour to cool, and then pour on some clarified butter to seal.

Couple of discussion points

The clarified butter is a traditional way of preserving pate; it should keep for a good while in the fridge this way.

In hindsight, I’m not at all convinced that the egg yolk was required.

Any suggestions/improvements gratefully received!

Final point, this was made with a small amount of ingredients, you can obviously vary this but I would recommend no more than ¼ onion to ¾ offal.

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 05 10:08 pm Post subject:
It looks great! The only thing I might suggest is some fatty meat, as I think it could be quite dry. Traditionally people use pork belly I believe, but I usually I just empty a couple of really good sausages into the mixture. Also you might find fresh breadcrumbs improve the texture and make it more "set". I shall give it a try!

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 05 12:17 pm Post subject:
More pork fat and less butter may be a good idea.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 05 9:04 pm Post subject:

A bit of decent sausage meat would suffice.

I tend to save all of my offal from little beasties till I have enough for a terrine; I freeze it till I have plenty. So sometimes it's hare, rabbit and goodness knows whatever else there is in there.

Might I humbly suggest that the amount of onion you used was a little much for the offal from a couple of small beasts (although sometimes I wonder how the smeg an older rabbit managed to move with such a big liver), and that with pigeon offal a couple of broken up juniper berries make a great flavouring.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 05 9:13 pm Post subject:
I think I would use a shallot instead of the onion, not only because that's what we grow rather than onions, but because they seem a little more delicate. Might give it a try when I have a few rabbits.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 05 9:46 pm Post subject:
Didn't overly taste the onion but shallots and a good sausage seems the way to go. The only thing is that would require me to cook it in the oven, bain marie for 30-40mins? Juniper berries sounds nice, Juniper berries soaked in brandy sounds nice as well. Rabbit livers never cease to amaze me, conversely their hearts seem tiny.

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 05 10:59 pm Post subject:
Yep the bain marie thing works a treat. Try popping in some finely chopped sage too

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 05 8:01 am Post subject:
I doubt that the onion would adversely affect the flavour, but it's awfully watery. Too much and the pate can go a bit runny.

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