When my professional organization, Les Dames d’Escoffier, wanted to raise money for charity, a couple of members came up with the idea to have a Culinary Yard Sale. The night before the sale, members were asked to drop off gently used culinary items including: cooking equipment, cookbooks, tabletop items and any other food & wine related items.
Since we were stopping at one member’s home at around the same time, we just couldn’t resist having dinner together. We all brought a dish to share but with this group (all members are food professionals) our food wasn't ordinary. We got to taste a watermelon salad with feta cheese, dried apricots stuffed with cream cheese, an Asian brown rice and chicken salad and shrimp deviled eggs. I did my part by making Pâté Maison Andi, using a recipe by Jinx and Jefferson Morgan that I found in a Bon Appétit magazine, some years ago.
I made the pâté the night before because it needs to refrigerate overnight for easier slicing and the best flavor. At our host home, I unmolded it onto a serving plate and sliced it into very thin slices and served it with slices of baguette bread and those tiny little French pickles called, cornichons. Everyone seemed to like it and I noticed some going back for seconds. That’s always good news to me but the best news of all is that we made a lot of money at our sale the next day that we will use for culinary scholarships and for the Community Design Center Garden Corp.
Pãté Maison Andi
(Cold and Deliciously Seasoned Meatloaf Made at Andi’s House)
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, minced
1 cup brandy
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
½ teaspoon ground pepper
½ teaspoon allspice
¾ lb ground pork
½ lb ground veal or beef
2 eggs
½ cup finely chopped pistachio nuts
1 bay leaf
8 thin slices bacon
1 baguettes, thinly sliced
Heat oven to 350°F. Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Add brandy to skillet; simmer until reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Pour brandy over onion. Mix in garlic, salt, thyme, pepper and allspice. Add meats, eggs and pistachios to mixture; mix well.
Place bay leaf in center of 81/2x41/2x2 ½-inch loaf pan. Line pan with bacon slices, arranging crosswise and allowing ends to overhang sides of pan. Spoon pâté mixture into pan; smooth top. Fold bacon slices over pâté.
Place loaf pan in 13x9-inch baking pan. Add enough hot water to baking pan to come 1 ½ inches up sides of loaf pan. Bake until meat thermometer inserted into center of pâté registers 180°F, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
Remove loaf pan from water. Pour off any liquid from pâté. Place a piece of foil on top; gently push down to compact loaf for easier slicing; drain again. Chill over night. Invert pan on serving plate to remove pâté for serving. Slice into thin slices using serrated knife. Serve with slices of baguette bread.
At least 20 servings