Muntjac pâté en croûte
This pâté can easily be stored in the fridge for up to a week. You can use a shop-bought, good quality shortcrust pastry, too, and make your pâté truly unique by adding your favourite spices or dried fruit. Delicious served with mustard, pickle, and a light salad.
Ingredients
Pate mix
- 500 grams minced venison
- 500 grams minced pork
- 200 grams diced bacon
- 200 grams diced pork lardo
- 160 grams diced dried apricots
- 110 grams chopped walnuts
- 1 tsp ground pepper
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground mace
- 6 grams salt
Shortcrust pastry
- 300 grams plain flour
- 200 grams wholemeal flour
- 30 grams salt
- 2 eggs
- 250 grams butter
Red wine jelly
- 230 ml red wine
- 230 ml port
- 230 ml beef stock
- 6 gelatine leaves
- 0.5 tbsp red wine vinegar
Instructions
Shortcrust pastry
- Place the flour, salt and butter in a mixer and mix until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can also do this with your hands.
- Add the eggs and water and mix until combined. Leave to rest for 1 hour before rolling out.
Pâté
- Make an egg wash by lightly beating the egg yolk with a teaspoon of water.
- Grease a baking tray with butter and line with parchment paper, allowing the ends to overhang.
- On a floured surface, roll out the pastry to roughly 5mm thick. Cut a piece big enough to become the lid of the baking tray, and place that in the fridge.
- Use the rest of the rolled pastry to line your baking tray. Make sure the edges are overhanging a little.
- Keep any trimmings for decorations. Put the lined baking tin in the freezer. Combine the pâté ingredients in a bowl.
- Take the lined tin out of the freezer and fill it with the mix. Lightly brush the overhanging edges of your pastry with the egg wash.
- Lay the pastry lid on top of the pie. Once the pastry softens enough, attach it to the overhanging pastry by firmly pressing the edges together.
- Crimp the edges onto the lid. Make sure the pâté is sealed all around. Cut 3 holes in the top of the pastry to allow the steam to escape during cooking. Roll a strip of aluminium foil around your finger, then place it in one of the holes.
- Gently brush all the pastry with egg wash and decorate to your liking. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking at 180°C, with the fan, for 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 1 hour before placing it in the fridge.
Jelly
- Soak the gelatine in cold water. Bring the red wine, port and stock to the boil and whisk in the gelatine.
- Add the red wine vinegar. Slowly pour the jelly in the holes in the pastry lid, filling all the way to the top.
- Refrigerate overnight. The next morning, use the paper to ease the pâté out of the tin. Slice and serve.
Notes
Recipe supplied by Jake Leach, head chef at the Harwood Arms https://harwoodarms.com/
Working alongside Brett Graham for many years has inspired him to strive for sustainability and locality in his dishes, which is prevalent at the Harwood Arms. Jake and the team are consistently exploring ways in which they can source ingredients more sustainably, and pride themselves on having a menu that is almost purely sourced from Britain, including meat and game supplied by Brett himself.
It’s with the newly developed menu and a focus on sustainability that Jake aims to continue building the great relationships with both the local community and new faces.
