Pâté en Croûte Rustique
California Venison, Pork Fat, Shallots, California Walnuts, and Bay Leaf
Charcutier John Harley Richter of Verjus | San Francisco
Yield: 1 pâté en croûte
Adapted by StarChefs | june 2019
INGREDIENTS:
Forcemeat:
1 dry California bay leaf, finely ground to a powder, plus additional leaves as needed
24 grams salt
5 grams InstaCure #1
1 gram quatre épices
1.5 kilograms lean California venison, diced
500 grams pork fatback, diced
100 grams port
40 grams butter
100 grams shallots, thinly sliced
1 cup California walnuts, coarsely chopped
Pastry:
20 grams salt
180 grams lard
180 grams butter
650 grams flour
150 grams eggs
170 grams ice water
150 grams cornstarch
To Assemble and Serve:
Egg wash
Fresh bay leaves
METHOD:
For the Forcemeat:
In a bowl, combine bay, salt, Instacure, and épices. Into a hotel pan, pour a thin layer of bay mixture. Add venison, fatback, and port. Cover the meat with the remaining bay mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight. In a saucepot over medium heat, melt butter. Add shallots and walnuts and season with bay and thyme leaves. Sweat until shallots are tender and translucent; cool. Discard bay leaves. Through a chilled meat grinder fitted with a fine die, grind meat and shallot mixtures. Transfer mixture to the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle. Mix until tacky.
For the Pastry:
To a food processor, add salt, lard, butter, and 215 grams flour. Pulse to coarse crumbs. Add eggs, water, cornstarch, and remaining flour. Process until dough comes together. Flatten one-third of dough into a disk. Flatten remaining dough into a disk. Wrap both disks individually with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
To Assemble and Serve:
Heat oven to 375℉. Using a rolling pin, roll the larger Pastry disk into a large oval, about ⅕-inch thick. Line dough inside a well-greased oval pâté mold. Place Forcemeat into mold and spread evenly. Roll the remaining Pastry disk to ⅕-inch thickness. Place on top of mold. Crimp edges to seal. Brush with egg wash. Bake until internal temperature reaches 150℉. Cool. Garnish with bay leaves.
