Here is the finished liver pate:
.
The yield was 16 half-pints of pate from one 3-pound pork liver. It tastes very good, but the texture is not what I expected. Its kind of crumbly, instead of a smooth pate. Adding a drop of mustard on top is also good.
I killed a food processor with this recipe, it sounded like it stripped the gears. To finish up the puree, I used an old reliable Oster stainless blender. Later today I'll crack open the food processor and see if it can be fixed.
Here is the liver pate recipe:
Pork Liver Pate
|
For whole pork liver
1 pound of pork liver | 3 lbs
1/2 pound of chopped pork fat | 1.5 lbs
1/4 pound of lean pork trimmings |
¾ lb
| = 5.25 lbs
|
= 3x recipe
For each 1-¾ pounds of the above add:
2 – shallots | 6
2 – garlic cloves | 6
1 – egg | 3
½ - cup – heavy cream | 1.5 cups
1/3 - cup – cognac | 1 cup
1 tbs - truffle oil | 3 tbs
dash – Tabasco | 3x
1 tsp – salt | 1 tbs }
6 to 8 – peppercorns | 21 } in a clean
3 or 4 – allspice berries | 10 } spice grinder
1 - small cardamom seed | 3 } powder all spices
½ tsp – Herbs de Provance | ½ tbs }
Trim the tubes & ducts and the thin “skin” off the liver.
Chop the pork meat and fat into small pieces.
Cut the liver into 3/4 inch cubes.
Puree the shallots, garlic, egg, cream, truffle oil, and Tabasco in a food processor or blender.
Gradually add the pork liver, pork fat, pork trimmings, cognac, and powdered spice mix.
Puree until smooth.
Spoon into sterile pint or half-pint canning jars, and press mixture with a non-metal spatula to remove air pockets. Leave a least 3/4 inch of headspace at the top. Clean the rims and screw on the lids & rings until just fingertip tight.
Put a rack in the bottom of the pressure cooker (PC) to keep the jars off the bottom. Stack the jars neatly and add warm water until the first layer of jars are almost covered. Put on the lid of PC on and close tightly.
Turn burner on to high heat. The steam vent (small pipe on top of the PC lid) will start to show steam as the water heats up.
Once the steam has a steady output, time it for 10 minutes before placing the weight on the vent. This replaces the air in the PC with steam. Do not skip this step. Once the weight is on the steam vent, pressure will begin to build. The pressure lock will pop up which indicates that the PC is full of pressure.
Keep PC on high heat until the weight starts to rock or jiggle. If the rocking becomes violent, turn down the heat until the weight continues with a gentle rock. You'll be able to hear it rocking.
If you have a PC with a gauge, build pressure to 15 PSI. The weight on the steam valve will rock. Turn down the heat to maintain the correct pressure.
Once at 15 PSI, begin timing for 60 minutes. When the time is up, turn off the heat, move it from the hot burner and let the PC depressurize naturally. DO NOT TOUCH IT!!!
Once the pressure lock has dropped and is flush against the PC, you can open the PC lid. Do not try to cool the PC other than just naturally.
The jars inside the PC are HOT. You'll see that the liquid inside the jars is boiling. The boiling will continue for a couple of hours. Remove the jars and cool on a cookie rack over night.
After the jars have cooled, remove the ring and wash each jar with hot soap and water. Dry and label them with what's in the jars and the month/year.