Pâté Poulet de Campagne aux Canneberges

The other day I put together a pâté based on the pâté de campagne recipe from Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing — a great book, I heartily recommend it. Country style pâtés are quite easy to make. ecause of their mild liver flavor they're a good way to introduce people to pâté.

The original recipe is for a traditional pork pâté, but I had chicken and chicken livers, so I decided to go with what was on hand. Since it was my first time with the recipe, and because I was modifying it, I decided to halve the amounts. I used two indivual loaf pans to bake it in, since it would have filled less than half a terrine or a loaf pan.   I also omitted the brandy.  The (dried) cranberries were thrown in as a garnish because they seemed like a natural fit for poultry.


1 pound chicken, ground
2 oz chicken liver
4 Tbs coarsely chopped parsley
6 green onions  chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbs kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tsp flour
1 large egg
1/4 cup cream
1/2 cup cranberries

Preheat oven to 300F/150C

Load liver, parsley, onions, and garlic in a blender or food processor and puree.  Combine with the ground chicken in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl mix together the  salt, spices, flour, egg, and cream. Stir this mixture into the meat and work together until it becomes a bit sticky. Finally, add the cranberries and mix them lightly into the mixture.

Line two mini loaf pans with plastic wrap, leaving enough wrap the pâtés.  Load the pâté mixture into pans, packing them down.  Fold the plastic wrap over the top, and cover the pans with foil.  (I stuck a thermometer into one of them so I could watch the temperature.

Place the pans in a casserole, and fill with hot water to 1/2 the height of the loaf pans, then bake untie the  pâté reaches 165 degrees.  (I got distracted and overcooked mine, but it turned out just fine.)

Remove the pâtés from the loaf pans, place a weight on them (I used a heavy dinner plate), and cool them overnight in the refrigerator.

They should be keep in the fridge for about a week — mine didn't last nearly that long.