Servings: 3 .5 lbs
Ingredients
Equipment:
- Mortar & Pestle optional but recommended
- High-powered blender
For The Pâté:
- One whole fresh pork liver. Preferably from pasture-raised heritage pork and trimmed of any sinew or veins (ask your butcher)
- 2 lbs pork shoulder
- ½ pound slab bacon
- 1- pint cremini mushrooms chopped fine (or another mushroom of your choice)
- 2 large yellow onions
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup whole milk I prefer raw unpasteurized dairy
- ½ cup of port wine or any sweet dessert wine
- Spices 1 teaspoon each: mustard seed, nutmeg, sumac, black pepper, coriander seeds
- 2 tablespoons of fresh thyme
- ½ cup of any one of these berries dried: black or red currant, cherries, blueberries, or raisins
- Lard and/or butter sufficient for cooking.
For the Wild Berry Topping/Compote:
- 3 cups of wild or domestic berries of choice or a mixture of any of the following: black or red currant, saskatoon berry, raspberry, cranberry, blackberry.
- 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup of maple syrup or honey.
Instructions
- Dice your onions and allow them to slowly caramelize in lard and/or butter while you continue with the other steps. Whenever they have finished, transfer them into a bowl and store in the refrigerator until further use.
- In a medium pan on medium-high heat melt some lard and/or butter and saute your chopped mushrooms until they have released all of their liquid and are nearly dry. 10-15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 250 Fahrenheit.
- Toast your spices, allow them to cool, and then grind them to a fine powder using a pestle or other grinder.
- Finely dice the slab bacon into small pieces.
- Cut up your pork shoulder into approximately 2-inch sections and season with ½ of the toasted and ground spice mixture and a big pinch of salt.
- Place pork shoulder chunks into an oven-safe French or Dutch oven, cover the pork chunks with the diced slab bacon, put a lid on the pot and cook in the oven for 2-3 hours, or until the flesh is fork-tender and easily falls apart. (You can also do this the night before).
- Cut up your pork liver into 1-inch sections and season with the remaining ½ of the toasted and ground spice mixture and a big pinch of salt.
- In a medium pan on medium-high heat, heat up butter or lard and saute the pork liver quickly, until still pink in the center. This should take 2-3 minutes.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and add your wine or port. Cook it off for about 60 seconds, it should be bubbling and foamy. Set aside with the rest of the ingredients until further use.
- Combine your eggs and milk in a bowl, and using either a whisk or electric mixer, beat until smooth.
- Place the egg and milk mixture in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Make the wild berry compote: In a medium saucepan on medium heat, combine all of the ingredients and cook until bubbling and sufficiently thickened. About 10-15 minutes.
- Set berry mixture aside to cool.
- Once the pork shoulder has finished cooking, allow it to cool completely in its own juices.
- In a high-powered blender, combine the cooked liver, pork shoulder, egg & milk mixture, dried fruit, caramelized onions, & fresh thyme.
- Blend until it reaches your desired consistency. I prefer a slightly more rustic mixture.
- Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
- Transfer mixture to jars or bowls, top with fresh wild berry compote and enjoy.
- Freeze any leftovers after a week.
Notes
You can top your pâté with melted lard or duck or goose fat instead of the berry compote. This helps it last longer too.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!