Country terrine or country pâté

The recipe Miriam brings us (The Winter Guest) is one of those we love: a very traditional pâté de campagne that you'll thoroughly enjoy simply served with good bread. Enjoy!

The pâté de campagne or country terrine is a classic of popular French cooking that's eaten with loads of bread and for that reason, among others, we like it so much.

This terrine, which is traditionally made with different cuts of pork—lean meat, liver, bacon, etc.—is characterized by a rather coarse texture; it is not a pâté to spread the way we usually know it, but is eaten in thick slices on rustic bread. And it is enjoyed. A lot.

This particular recipe comes from an English newspaper, look at that, because the Anglo-Saxons are the best at writing about gastronomy, I told you. Although the formula is very traditional, I took the liberty of adding some dried cranberries to provide a sweet counterpoint that in my opinion works very well with all that fat. Because it has fat by the truckload, so if you have a slice for breakfast you might as well consider yourself done for the day. Seriously.

Triana glass plates and Le Creuset rectangular terrine with press

Ingredients

• 500gr of minced pork, ideally shoulder if it's white pork (and if you use Iberian pork loin, your eyes will roll back)
• 250gr of bacon, chopped
• 250gr of pork liver, chopped
• 5 tbsp of cognac/old wine
• ¼ tsp of grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp of ground clove
• ½ tsp of freshly ground black pepper
• 2 sprigs of rosemary or the dried leaves, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 egg
• 70gr of breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp of milk
• 2 tsp of salt
• 2 tbsp of peppercorns, green or mixed colors
• 1 good handful of dried cranberries, rehydrated
• 1 good handful of nuts, to taste (optional)
• 250gr of pancetta or fresh bacon in very thin slices to line the mold

Preparation

1. Ask your trusted butcher to grind the mixture of meats and liver for you or do it with a home meat grinder, so you can leave it exactly how you like.
2. Once the mince is ready, put it in a salad bowl and add the spices, the alcohol, the rosemary and the garlic. Mix thoroughly, cover with plastic wrap and put the forcemeat in the fridge for at least four hours or up to overnight.
3. If you use any kind of dried fruit, like cranberries, rehydrate them in hot water. You can also rehydrate them with some liqueur, but bear in mind the flavor will be stronger.
4. In a bowl put the crumbled breadcrumbs with the milk and let them soak for 10 minutes. Then add the beaten egg and the salt, and blend.
5. Add this panade, as the French call it, to the meat mixture and homogenize.
6. Test the seasoning of the forcemeat by frying a bite of the mixture in the frying pan or by doing it in the microwave. Adjust salt and pepper if necessary.
7. Line the inside of the ceramic mold (terrine type) with the slices of pancetta or fresh bacon so that the pâté will be perfectly covered. Pour in one third of the forcemeat and add a handful of cranberries; add another third of meat and repeat the operation, finishing with the meat.
8. Smooth the surface and fold the remaining pancetta or bacon over it. Press a little with your hand or with the mold's press (the Le Creuset one at least comes with one) to fill gaps. Cover with the mold's lid or with aluminum foil.
9. Place a roasting pan that fits the terrine in the cold oven. Put the terrine inside; pour warm water up to about 2/3 of the height of the mold.
10. Heat the oven to 170°.
11. From the moment the oven reaches the indicated temperature, bake the terrine for 70 minutes until the interior reaches 65-70° or until when inserting a skewer in the center the juices run clear. Remove the terrine, place a weight on it (with bags of legumes, for example) and let it cool completely.
12. Before eating the pâté de campagne it is best to let it rest overnight in the fridge; the flavors settle.
13. To serve the terrine we can leave it in the mold or remove it to a platter; if we prefer to remove it, immerse the terrine for a minute in hot water so the fat that is coating it softens. Slide a spatula along the sides to detach it, lever slightly to loosen and invert the mold onto a platter.

¡Et voilà!

Sweet wine "Arrels" from Clos Mogador, Triana glass dessert plates, Pallarès knife and Le Creuset rectangular terrine with press

If we want to lighten the terrine a bit we can remove the bacon slices when cutting the slices.

This type of terrine takes a couple of days to make because of the resting times, but they are not overly laborious in themselves. Also, not only can we make them in good quantities and freeze them, but they keep very well in the fridge for three or four days, even longer, and if we add a little salad we already have several dinners sorted. There, I've organized your week.