For this recipe you will need:

500 gr of shortcrust pastry (1.1 lb)
1 Duck breast 
300 gr of Veal shoulder (0.66 lb)
400 gr of Pork shoulder (0.88 lb)
300 gr of Cooked Ham (0.66 lb)

30 cl of Riesling (1 and 1/4 cup)
5 cl of Cognac (you can also use oak aged tequila) (1 1/4 cup)
2 Onions
2 Branches of Thyme
2 Bay leaves
4 cloves
4 Eggs
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp Ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground cloves
About 10 Peppercorns
1 bag of gelatine powder 
Salt and Pepper

You will also need a mincer (or you can buy your Pork shoulder and Cooked ham already minced) and a terrine or a loaf pan.

The day before…

…slice your veal in 5 mm slices (0.2 inches) mix the veal with the onions, finely chopped. Add the wine, the Cognac (or Tequila), the thyme, the bay leaves, the cloves. Season well and leave in the fridge overnight.

 

TIP: to cut any meat (appart from some rare recipes) you should alway cut against the grain.

The next day…

… remove the veal from the marinade,throw away the bay leaves, the cloves, the thyme. Drain the onions and keep aside the marinade. Mince your pork shoulder and your ham and put in a large bowl. Add the drained onions, the Nutmeg, the cinnamon, the cloves powder and the ginger. Mix well and add three eggs and one egg white (keep one egg yolk for later). Mix well again.

Remove the fat and the skin from the duck breast and slice in 0.5 inch thick slices.

Cover the inside of the pan with shortcrust pastry. Make sure there is no hole. inside alternate layers of minced meat, Veal, Minced meat, Duck (More or less in the middle), through in the peppercorns on different levels. Continue layering until you reach the top.  In the middle of the pan you can go a bit higher than the top but make sure the dough is still visible all around the pan.

Preheat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 celsius)

With a brush, apply a mix of egg yolk and 1/2 a tbsp of cold water (the one we saved earlier) on the dough around the pan and cover the paté with another rectangular layer of shortcrust pastry. press on the edges to connect the dough and to seal the pastry. With the brush, apply egg yolk all over the pastry. If you have some pastry left overs, you can create some decoration in the shape of leaves, or animals (use cookie cutters). Use egg yolk to glue them to the top of pastry and brush with egg yolk to make sure they will be golden brown.

In the center of the terrine, make a 0.5 inch hole so that the steam can go out. place a little tube made from parchment baking paper in the hole.

Place in the oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

TIP: Place a dish underneath you terrine as some juice may overflow.

Take out of the oven and leave it to cool down.

Bring to the boil 1 pint of marinade in witch you have poured the content of on bag of gelatine powder. Remove from te heat and let it cool down, but do not let it set….

Once your liquid gelatine is cold, pour it inside the terrine through the small hole in the center. Use a funnel.

ok, we are almost there…. now place in the fridge for 24 hours.

The day in question…

… There you go, you can slice and enjoy cold with some pickled gherkins and a glass of Riesling or two….

Bon appetit!