Wrote to my sister and my niece about a culinary accomplishment (from a family friend from St. Pierre et Miquelon, Mme Amandine Lalande, who gave the recipe to my mother who made pâté maison at Christmas time and passed on the recipe and instructions to us)
At long last I attempted my first pâté maison. Attached is a picture of the creation and a scan of the index card with the recipe in Mom’s handwriting.
I no longer have a meat grinder and had to finely dice the ham by hand. A nice meditative action.
Lesson for next time : don’t under salt – it affects the taste.
As you can imagine a pound of veal, a pound of pork and a half a pound of ham makes a big loaf. We froze half.
My evidence and the recipe card I worked from
Elsewhere in a post called 1846 I muse about an other piece of handwritten ephemera from my mother and note “Never undervalue the impact of the hand written note.” or in this day and age a personal message that reminds oneself and others not to forget to salt adequately.
And so for day 2043
17.07.2012
The recipe translated into English:
Pâté Maison
Fresh meat
Ground pork 1 pound
Ground Veal 1 pound
Ground ham 1/2 pound
from 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt per pound of meat and a 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.
Ground pork fat 1/4 pound
1/2 cup of consommé
a pinch of thyme and a bit of parsley
1 beaten egg
Mix everything. Line a casserole with strips of fat, layer part of the meat over the
strips followed by a layer of sliced pickles (gherkins) and top with the remainder of the meat. Place a bay leaf on top and add a final layer of fat strips. Place casserole in a tray of water and bake in an oven at 400˚F for about two and half hours. Allow to cool and unmould.
[I used bacon since I didn’t have any lardons. The cold pâté is very good on warm toast.]