Rabbit & prune pâté - supperclub prep begins!

First published in December - this recipe has a special place in my heart, it was my first  true recipe of the Egg a Day blog, using one of the very first eggs laid by my girls. And it was such a success I have decided to serve it at the 2nd Egg Supper this Sat. So here's the post again...

I have my rabbits, I have my lardons and a good pâté needs a few days maturing to eat it at its best. So thats tomorrows culinary job. In the meantime, here is the recipe again - rabbits are plump and good at this time of year and this is a great way of serving them,  particularly if you guests are a little bunnie phobic.

Rabbit & prune pâté  

makes 1 loaf tin

1 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, sliced

50g unsalted butter

1 fresh rabbit, skinned

250g chicken livers

100g fatty pancetta, smoked if possible

1 tbsp olive oil

100ml port

12 prunes, roughly chopped

1 egg

2 bayleaves, finely sliced

1/2 tsp ground mace

Freshly ground black pepper & sea salt

Preheat the oven to 180℃/Gas 4.

Prepare the rabbit by using a small sharp knife to remove as much of the flesh from the body and legs as possible. Set the meat aside. You can roast the bones with carrot, onion, celery and herbs to make a delicious base for a stock or gravy.

In a generous frying pan melt the butter over a low heat, add the onions and garlic and sweat until soft an translucent. The longer and more gently you cook the onions and garlic, the sweeter they become, so don't rush this step - you are not looking to colour the onions at all. Using a slotted spoon (leaving behind as much of the butter as possible), transfer the cooked onions and garlic to a food processor.

Add the olive oil to the pan - this will help stop the butter burning when you fry the meat. Turn up the heat and fry the rabbit meat, chicken livers and pancetta in batches until golden brown. Don't overcrowd the pan or the meat will sweat rather than fry and you will lose a valuable flavour opportunity. Transfer each batch of meat to the processor bowl as it is done.

Add the port to the frying pan and deglaze, taking the time to scrape the sticky caremelised bits of the bottom. Pour the juices into the processor, along with the prune, egg, bayleaves and mace and blitz to a coarse puree. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. As pâté is served cold I find you need to be quite generous with the salt despite the salty pancetta - cold things need much more vigorous seasoning than hot things, just in the same way as custard for ice cream needs to be super-sweet compared to custard for pouring.

Pour the pâté mix into a well greased loaf tin. Wrap in a double layer of greaseproof paper, and finish with a tight covering of foil. Lower into a deep roasting dish and pour in enough boiling water so it comes half way up the tin. Cook in the oven for 1 1/4 hours, after which time the pâté should be staring to come away from the edges of the tin a little. Remove from the oven and weigh down the top to press the pâté down as it cools. I find a couple of well balance tins of baked beans do this job adequately, if a little precariously! 

Once the pâté has cooled run a knife around the edge of the tin and invert onto a board. A sharp tap to the base of the tin should release the pâté.  Chill until required - the flavour will improve after a few days maturing in the fridge. Pâté also freezers really well. I cut my block into 4, put one in fridge and the other 3, well wrapped in greaseproof, went into the freezer for delicious savoury treat at a later date.

Cheddar & wholegrain mustard croquetas

These croquetas started out as a germ of an idea for the next supperclub, planned as a luscious early autumn feast of fruit, cheese and meat. I adore the Spanish Jamon Croquetas and wanted to try and create an anglicized version. Anything crisply fried and deeply savoury is a big hit in my book. In anticipation of testing the recipe I treated myself to a shiny new deep fat fryer, something I have been toying with getting for ages. Now there really is no excuse for not trying Heston’s infamous triple cooked chip. It may well be steak & chips Friday in our house tomorrow. But in the meantime, the croquetas, I’m pleased to report, worked like a dream. Rich and super cheesy thanks to Keen’s marvelous extra strong cheddar, and packed with plenty of mustard punch. Just what I imagined them to be like in my edible daydreams. What a treat you have in store supper-clubbers! And if you can’t make it, do try the recipe and let me know what you think.

You'll need:

800ml milk

1 small onion, peeled & cut into quarters

1tsp whole black peppercorns

2 sprigs rosemary to infuse in milk

100g butter

150g plain flour

200g extra mature cheddar (I used Keen’s Extra Mature), grated

2 tbsp wholegrain mustard

200g fine dried breadcrumbs

2 eggs, beaten 

Vegetable oil for deep frying

What to do:

In a heavy based plan, bring the milk up to boil along with the onion, peppercorns and rosemary.  Reduce the heat to as low as possible and simmer gently for 15 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse.

In a clean saucepan, melt the butter, then add the flour and stir together to form a roux. Strain the milk and pour onto the roux and whisk until combined. Cook until thickened, stirring all the time to prevent lumps or sticking. You will end up with a rather unappetizing thick and gloopy white sauce - have faith. Add the cheese and mustard mix throughly until combined, scrape into a flat dish and spread out to cool, pressing down a layer of cling film to prevent a skin forming. Once cool, chill in the fridge for an hour or two to firm up.

When you are ready to begin shaping the croquetas, set yourself up a production line with the beaten egg in a small bowl and the breadcrumbs on a large plate. Take a generous dessertspoonful of the chilled mixture and shape into a little rugby ball. I found it easiest to do this with a combination of the scoop of the spoon and the palm of my hand. Drop gently into the egg then lift out and roll in the breadcrumbs until coated all over. Transfer to a clean plate. Repeat with the remaining mixture then chill again for at least 30 minutes. They will rest quite happily in the fridge for 24 hours making it a good fiddly job to do ahead of time. 

To cook, heat a deep fat fryer to 180°C and fry in batches for 3 minutes until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper. Alternatively heat a litre of oil in a large saucepan. When a cube of bread dropped in takes 60 seconds to turn a deep golden brown the oil is hot enough to cook. Cook in batches, taking care not to overcrowd the pan as this will result in a dramatic drop in temperature.

These croquetas are really rich and great served with something a little crisp and sharp, like a watercress salad. 

As an added bonus, the croquetas, shaped and rolled, freeze really well. Cooked from frozen - they will take a little extra time to fry - they make a gorgeous & indulgent quick supper. Lovely with a glass of chilled dry sherry, or even an icy cold beer straight from the fridge.

Makes 28-30, enough for 4-6 generous helpings.

Egg No. 5, and a festive Rabbit & Prune pâté

We are getting there with these eggs, not loads but a few. Despite almost continuous sub-zero temperatures in Bristol, the Mild Mild West (to steal a glorious line from Banksy), the girls are continuing to flourish and to make us all happy.  

Egg No 5 arrived yesterday morning and I used it to make a delicious pâté with rabbit, prunes & port. Not the obvious recipe for a blog about egg cookery I hear you cry, but it only uses one egg, which was luckily all I had! And that is partly the point of this blog - to explore not only recipes that recognisably eggy - custards, quiches and cakes - but also ways of using eggs in less obvious way. Eggs, whether you produce your own or buy them from the shops, are an amazing food. A relatively cheap source of protein, packed full of great vitamins and beautifully neatly packaged in their own shell - I really feel that eggs should be part of everyones daily cooking and eating repertoire. 

And so here is the recipe. Seasonal, supremely savoury and delicious. And using one (of many, I hope) of my glorious home produced eggs.  Enjoy! 

And Happy Christmas!

x

Rabbit & prune pâté  

makes 1 loaf tin

1 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, sliced

50g unsalted butter

1 fresh rabbit, skinned

250g chicken livers

100g fatty pancetta, smoked if possible

1 tbsp olive oil

100ml port

12 prunes, roughly chopped

1 egg

2 bayleaves, finely sliced

1/2 tsp ground mace

Freshly ground black pepper & sea salt

Preheat the oven to 180℃/Gas 4.

Prepare the rabbit by using a small sharp knife to remove as much of the flesh from the body and legs as possible. Set the meat aside. You can roast the bones with carrot, onion, celery and herbs to make a delicious base for a stock or gravy.

In a generous frying pan melt the butter over a low heat, add the onions and garlic and sweat until soft an translucent. The longer and more gently you cook the onions and garlic, the sweeter they become, so don't rush this step - you are not looking to colour the onions at all. Using a slotted spoon (leaving behind as much of the butter as possible), transfer the cooked onions and garlic to a food processor.

Add the olive oil to the pan - this will help stop the butter burning when you fry the meat. Turn up the heat and fry the rabbit meat, chicken livers and pancetta in batches until golden brown. Don't overcrowd the pan or the meat will sweat rather than fry and you will lose a valuable flavour opportunity. Transfer each batch of meat to the processor bowl as it is done.

Add the port to the frying pan and deglaze, taking the time to scrape the sticky caremelised bits of the bottom. Pour the juices into the processor, along with the prune, egg, bayleaves and mace and blitz to a coarse puree. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. As pâté is served cold I find you need to be quite generous with the salt despite the salty pancetta - cold things need much more vigorous seasoning than hot things, just in the same way as custard for ice cream needs to be super-sweet compared to custard for pouring.

Pour the pâté mix into a well greased loaf tin. Wrap in a double layer of greaseproof paper, and finish with a tight covering of foil. Lower into a deep roasting dish and pour in enough boiling water so it comes half way up the tin. Cook in the oven for 1 1/4 hours, after which time the pâté should be staring to come away from the edges of the tin a little. Remove from the oven and weigh down the top to press the pâté down as it cools. I find a couple of well balance tins of baked beans do this job adequately, if a little precariously! 

Once the pâté has cooled run a knife around the edge of the tin and invert onto a board. A sharp tap to the base of the tin should release the pâté.  Chill until required - the flavour will improve after a few days maturing in the fridge. Pâté also freezers really well. I cut my block into 4, put one in fridge and the other 3, well wrapped in greaseproof, went into the freezer for delicious savoury treat at a later date.