Rabbit Pate

Our friends Corey and Franca gave us a rabbit the other day as they had managed to find a place that had them. They are dedicated food people, good friends, and really had our back on this one. We paged through our recipes for rabbit. Dedicated readers of the blog will know that I have had a few unsuccessful go arounds with rabbit, so I wanted to try something that had a better chance of succeeding.

We turned to the Bouchon cookbook, which is out of control. We've never made anything out of it that wasn't absolutely spectacular. We were kind of feeling it for something like a pate and luckily there was one in there.

Well, it didn't disappoint. That's an understatement. It was amazing and rich. Great with the little cornichons, salt and Dijon mustard. Just perfect! You need a full 24 hours for this one though. Be warned!

SPICE MIXTURE
2 tablespoons salt, plus 1 teaspoon
¼ teaspoon pink salt
1 tablespoon thyme, plus on teaspoon, minced
1 tablespoon nutmeg, plus 1 teaspoon, grated
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
3 bay leaf

PATE
13 ounces rabbit meat
1 ¼ pounds chicken livers
9 ounces white bread
1 ¼ cups milk
canola oil
5 bay leaf
1 ¼ pounds thinly sliced slab bacon
9 ounces fresh, unsalted pork fatback, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons cognac, or other brandy

ACCOMPANIMENTS
Dijon mustard
Cornichons
Radishes
Fleur de sel and black pepper

FOR THE SPICE MIXTURE: Grind the salts, thyme, nutmeg, peppercorns, and bay leaves in a coffee or spice grinder. Set aside.

FOR THE PATE: Cut the rabbit into 1-inch cubes. (You should have about 1 1/2 cups.) Place in a medium bowl. Clean any fat, sinew, or dark spots from the livers. Add to the rabbit, then add the ground spices and toss well, being sure to coat the rabbit and livers evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 6 hours.

About 30 minutes before grinding the meat, remove the crusts from the bread and tear the bread into pieces no more than an inch across. Place in a medium bowl, add the milk, and set aside to soak.

Brush a 2 1/2-by-4 1/2-by-3-inch-high lidded terrine (see Sources, page 330) with a light coating of oil. Line the terrine with plastic wrap, leaving about a 6-inch overhang on all four sides. Arrange the 5 bay leaves in a line down the bottom of the terrine (this will be the presentation side of the terrine). Line the terrine with the bacon slices, beginning with one end of a bacon slice just slightly past center and the opposite end overhanging the side of the terrine. Continue working around the terrine, overlapping the slices by 1/8 inch; they shouldn't overlap by much more or the bacon will be too thick. The ends of the bacon that overlap in the center of the terrine should overlap by about 1/4 inch. If necessary, use scissors to trim the bacon so that the overhang is 3 inches. Place the terrine in a deep roasting pan that is at least three-quarrers of the height of the terrine. Preheat the oven to 300F.

Fit a meat grinder with a large-holed die. (Be sure that it is bolted securely.) Place a stainless steel bowl set in a bowl of ice under the grinder to catch the ground mixture. First grind the marinated meat mixture, then grind the bread and milk mixture into the bowl. Mix the meat and bread together and transfer to another bowl. Return the first bowl to the ice. Change the grinder die to the smaller one and grind the mixture a second time. Then run the fatback through the grinder into the bowl. To clean any mixture trapped in the grinder, cut a piece of plastic wrap 3 to 4 inches square and run it into the machine. Once it pushes out any remaining mixture, stop the grinder. (You can remove the plastic wrap when you clean the machine.)

Mix the egg yolks and cognac together in a small bowl, then stir into the pate with a rubber spatula, making certain the the fat is evenly distributed throughout.

Pack the mixture into the terrine, being careful to avoid air pockets, especially in the corners. Fold the bacon over the terrine, beginning at the two short ends. Then use one side of the plastic wrap to lift one long side of the strips of bacon over to the center. Lift up the plastic wrap and repeat with the second side, then, over the top with the plastic wrap and the lid. Place the terrine in a roasting pan.

Add enough warm water to the roasting pan to come about two-thirds of the way up the sides of the terrine. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours, or until the center of the terrine registers 160°F on an instant-read thermometer. (The lid of most terrines has a hole through which you can place a thermometer.) Remove the roasting pan from the oven and then the terrine from the pan; place on a cooling rack set over a small baking sheet (to catch the fat later). Let stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

Cut a piece of cardboard to fit over the surface of the pate and wrap the cardboard in aluminum foil. Puncture the plastic wrap at each end of the terrine and tilt the terrine at each end to drain any fat. Place the cardboard on the terrine and top with several heavy weights, such as clean bricks. (If the weights are resting on the sides of the terrine, add an additional layer or more of cardboard so the weights are sitting on the cardboard, not on the rim of the terrine, so they can compress the pate.) Refrigerate the weighted pate for 24 hours.

TO SERVE: Remove the weights and cardboard from the terrine. Lift up the pate with the overhang of plastic wrap to release it from the mold, then replace it in the terrine. (If the pate doesn't release, fill the sink or other large container with warm water and dip the terrine in just long enough to soften the fat and release the pate.) Carefully run a knife around the edges of the pate and invert it onto a cutting board. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

Serve with a pot of Dijon mustard, cornichons, radishes, fleur de sel, and ground pepper.