Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I made my first pate yesterday, as part of my exploration of Charcuterie. I made a half recipe, because there are only two of us, but otherwise followed the recipe explicitly.

A few oddities that I am not sure are normal:
1) It took more than an additional half hour of cooking to get one side of the pate up to 160 (I used chicken livers - I didn't want to buy calf liver for 2 oz). The other end, which had lagged the entire time despite me rotating the pan, only got to 156 before I gave up. Is such an overage in cooking time to be occasionally expected?
2) I had a stable emulsion. At least, it seems like I did, and I didn't have anything like the "dried out block of meat swimming in fat that Rulman warns about. It was luscious and moist. But I did have some jellied fat/stock on the outside of the pate when I unmolded it. Normal?
3) Even after cooking to 160, it was slightly pink inside and and there were some small bubbles in the texture. We ate it anyway, and I'll let you know if that was a mistake tomorrow.

Thanks, all!

--Lisa

What kind of mold are you using?

Yes, some jellied fat (not too much, but enough to kind of dust it from the surface isn't abnormal.) And, yes, it should still be pink inside. The small bubbles are not normal. How did you weight it? Your answer to what you cooked it in and how weighted will be telling to a combination of your questions.

Amy

Lisa, this is getting freaky. Over the past few months, you and I have been exploring the same projects at the same time (pasta, sous vide, charcuterie,etc.) Is it the weather? Power of suggestion? Or are we somehow connected by the Tamiami Trail? Maybe all these other folks are just a bad (or good) influence on us.

What are we doing next?

Amy,

Thanks for the confirmation on the fat. It was just enough that it was unsightly and I scraped it off with a knife. Probably no more than a tablespoon in total.

The weight may be the cause of the small bubbles. I didn't weight it particularly well, because I cooked it in a mini loaf pan (it was a perfect fit) and I didn't have anything that fit inside it perfectly. I ended up putting a bottle of wine on it laying down. I figured even if it was slightly rounded by the bottle shape at least it was heavy. I will get a piece of wood cut so that I can wrap it and fit it in the pan to put some weight on it more evenly.

SS,

That is freaky! I am still working through Charcuterie but may be coming up against my limits without a curing chamber. I really enjoyed making homemade sausage last weekend though. We should plan a cooking day - we can't be more than 3 or 4 hours apart. I think foams will be next on my list since I got a iSi for Christmas.

--Lisa

Lisa,

I have a piece of wood that fits my terrine exactly (Andy cut it for me), and then I weight it with three big cans of tomatoes. I let it cool to room temp that way, then refrigerate. You'll likely see even less fat on the pâté when you weight it this way.

Amy

Amy,

That is what I was thinking - I'll get Asher to cut a piece of wood and wrap it in some foil to weight it properly next time.

What are your favorite internal garnishes? I liked the idea but I didn't love any of the ideas in the book. Pistachios in creamy meat was ... squicky... to me. I was thinking maybe diced pork or maybe hardboiled quail eggs.

--Lisa

I typically do pistachios and brined green peppercorns (both traditional), but I've also love sauteed mushrooms. Diced pork would also be good.

Don't diss the pistachios...they're beautiful and tasty!

Amy