Meat sauce, meat sauce and potted meat: have you tried it? For some reason, they are outside the repertoire of many enthusiastic home chefs. We think of them as restaurant food, deli stuff, a bit too cooked, or reserved for the previous generation of farmer’s wives or luxurious country chefs.
Indeed, they can be a bit time-consuming and technical. For example, if you want to make classic foies de volaille parfait, you have to devote a little bit of butter clarification, brandy burning and chicken liver sieving. But my favorite pie is much simpler: thick and coarse, earthy and spine. They are also easy to make and even easier to eat: just add toast and a drop of fruit chutney. Here's the thing: because of ample sources of ingredients, the pie you make yourself (even the first pie) may be better than anything you spend money to buy.
Pâté means just to paste in French. It is equivalent to meat or fish, chopped, cooked and pressed. But what makes everything different is "nothing more": seasonings, herbs (preferably fresh), a little spice, a little wine; the remaining days are "mature" in the refrigerator-this is for the seasoning It is important to combine and merge and find their harmony.
There are many variations of the pâté theme, but they are mainly semantic; terrine makes pâté sound more gorgeous, it may be more structured or layered, but that doesn't necessarily mean that putting it together is trickier. "Potted" points in the other direction, meaning a crude mixture in which chopped or minced meat (or fish) is put in a pot and wrapped in a little fat. Of course, the country ring of "potted" things gives it a counter-snobbish cache and fashion. There are pop-up windows all over the potted things.
Like I said, easy. Not necessarily instantaneous. Some pies take time, but this is usually marinating, baking, and cooling time, rather than rolling up your sleeves to cancel all appointments. As long as you can peel the shallots, squeeze the lemon and turn on the food processor, you can laugh. In fact, as this week’s two recipes demonstrate, you don’t even need a food processor. Some meat sauces and clay pots benefit from pressing, and perhaps the biggest challenge is to find something flat that can be neatly placed in a container of your choice. (If you want to make meat sauce on a regular basis, then two identical molds are a good investment.)
So here is a simple and luxurious smoked fish sauce, a delightful farmhouse potted duck and a pork casserole, very simple and delicious, I bet you will make it a staple food.
In addition to being lighter and less creamy/cheese than many mackerel sauces, this dish is simple and full of flavor. Four people are the starters.
250 g hot smoked mackerel fillets 25 g unsalted butter ½ clove garlic, peeled and crushed a pinch of grated mace, a pinch of paprika 2 tablespoons of fresh cream, a squeeze of lemon juice, 1 freshly grated black pepper Small raw beetroot, peeled and cut into matchsticks for serving (optional)
Put the mackerel fillets in a large bowl and carefully remove any skin and bones. Put the butter in a small saucepan with garlic, nutmeg, and chili. Heat until the butter is just boiling, then pour it over the fish. Add whipped cream, season with lemon juice and black pepper, and stir well. The more you stir, the smoother the texture (of course, you can quickly stir in a food processor to make it finer, but I prefer it to be rough).
Serve with buttered whole wheat toast, rye bread or oatmeal, and beetroot matchsticks next to it.
A very simple casserole that can be cut into hard, rich-flavored slices, perfect for lunch with a large piece of bread and a piece of kimchi. Make 10-12 pieces.
300 g skinless and boneless pork belly 250 g smoked pork belly 200 g free-range chicken liver (or very fresh pork liver) 2 tablespoons chopped sage 2 large banana spring onions, peeled and chopped 1 clove of garlic, peeled Chopped 50 ml port wine 50 g white bread chopped 1-2 tablespoons salted green pepper, drained lard or oil, used to lubricate 4-5 bay leaves (optional)
Cut the pork belly into 2-3 cm cubes. Roughly chop bacon and liver. Mix all the meat with sage, shallots, and garlic, cover with a lid, and place in the refrigerator overnight.
Put the seasoned meat in a food processor and quickly stir it into a coarse paste-you may find it easiest to do this in two batches; if you leave one batch very coarse and the other finer, you will A good, firm and interesting texture is obtained in the jar.
Transfer the meat to a large bowl, add port wine, breadcrumbs and green pepper, and stir well. Break off a small piece of mixture and fry gently. Taste it to evaluate the seasoning, then add salt and pepper to the raw pork mixture as needed.
Heat the oven to 170C/335F/Vasmark 3. Use a little lard or oil to grease a bread tin (bottom size about 8 x 20 cm) or a similarly sized clay jar. If using, put some bay leaves along the bottom (that is, on the top of the clay pot). Put the meat mixture into the jar and press down firmly. Cover tightly with foil and place in a baking tray. Pour boiling water to half of the side of the bread tin, and bake for one and a half to two hours, until the earthenware can comes off the side of the can, and the metal skewer is pressed into its center for a few times to come out hot.
You now need to press the pot while it is cooling to give it a nice, firm texture. If you have used a bread tin, put another bread tin on it and fill it with heavy objects, such as canned food or even large pebbles. (Some casserole dishes have their own ceramic platform, which can cling to the casserole, and you can put heavy objects on it.) Don't be crazy about heavy objects, otherwise you will squeeze out all the lovely gravy. Place the weighted casserole until it is completely cooled, then remove the weight and refrigerate for about 24 hours to form a flavor.
Get it out, use a knife around the edge to release the earthenware pot, and then pour it on a board or plate (there will be delicious jelly juice sticking to the earthenware pot, you can eat it or not, depending on your preference) . Cut into thick slices and serve with your favorite crusty bread, cornice, delicious chutney and simple salads such as lightly packed radicchio and fennel.
Rich and delicious, this is similar to the classic duck shortbread, but with much less fat. Four people are the starters.
A little rapeseed or olive oil 2 free-range duck legs Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 sprig of fresh thyme 3 bay leaves 1 whole head garlic, cut in half horizontally 150 ml white wine, a handful of grated mixed spices A pinch of ground hammer
Heat the oven to 140C/285F/gas mark 1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium high temperature. Season the duck legs, brown them all in a hot pan, then transfer them to a small baking dish, where they will fit snugly. Add herbs and garlic, pour over wine and enough water to submerge the meat. Cover the plate with a lid or foil.
Cook for two to two and a half hours until the duck is completely soft and can be easily pulled off the bone. Remove the legs from the plate, then strain the cooking liquid into the jar and set aside.
When it is cool enough to handle, pull the duck skin apart, and then chop the meat on the bones. Put it in a bowl, add plenty of salt and pepper, a pinch of spices and enough reserved cooking liquid, just to hold the mixture together-use as much fat from the top of the juice as possible, because it’s this This helps to hold the mixture together. When your meat sauce is rough and fairly loose, taste and add more salt, pepper or spices as needed.
Put the mixture into a bowl or four ramekins and pour a little more cooking juice on top. Refrigerate for at least one day to improve the flavor and set the mixture. Serve with oatmeal cake or brown toast, with a good chutney or onion jam.
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This article was edited on October 21, 2013 to correct the incorrect instruction "Do not remove any skin and bones" in the smoked mackerel sauce.