If you follow my blog, There’s a Newf in My Soup, you may notice that I am a member of The Daring Cooks and The Daring Bakers, online cooking communities of The Daring Kitchen. Each month, members are challenged to prepare a specified dish chosen by one of the members. Suggested recipes are provided, but we are permitted to use different recipes or create our own. We are also encouraged to exercise creativity in plating and photographing the final dish. The challenge of the month is announced to the members on the same day every month, and members cannot reveal it on their respective blogs until the “reveal date.” I have been a member of both groups for about a year, and love the challenges each month.
The Daring Cooks’ Challenge for June was Pâté. Our hostesses thought it would be perfect for a summer picnic in the park, because it’s light, incredibly versatile, and has the potential to be beautifully presented. I couldn’t agree more, since we’re all about summer concerts and picnics in the park this time of year!
In keeping for our theme for out second Coronado Concert in the Park Culinary Challenge, Home on the Range, and knowing John and I would be just returning from our trip to Idaho and Triple Creek Ranch in Montana, I found a recipe for Ranch House Pâté with Cognac, originally featured in Saveur #26. A ballerina named Carmeleta Maracci offered this recipe to Alan Hooker, founder of the Ranch House Restaurant in southern California’s Ojai Valley. “There are those,” Hooker once observed, “who will consider the addition of cream cheese a sacrilege, but it smooths the pâté so beautifully that we disregard the purists.”
The Ranch House serves its Pâté, which resembles a big scoop of mocha ice cream, with Ranch House Rye bread, cucumber chips, caper berries, and spanish olives. I chose to serve it as presented in Thomas Keller’s Bouchon
, as an assiette de charcutier, with a tasting of dry-cured sausages. Knight Salumi Company, in San Diego, sells rustic Sopressata and Tuscan salami at our Little Italy Farmers’ Market.
, as an assiette de charcutier, with a tasting of dry-cured sausages. Knight Salumi Company, in San Diego, sells rustic Sopressata and Tuscan salami at our Little Italy Farmers’ Market.
John and I recently attended Thomas Keller’s book signing of his latest cookbook, Ad Hoc at Home
, which now completes our Keller collection of cookbooks! This collection should keep me challenged for the rest of my life!
, which now completes our Keller collection of cookbooks! This collection should keep me challenged for the rest of my life!
Home on the Range Pâté
Adapted from Ranch House Pate
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large shallot, chopped
1 black truffle (optional), shaved
3/4 lb. chicken livers
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
4 ounces cream cheese
2 Tablespoons Armagnac or Cognac
1. Melt 2 Tablespoons of the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, if using truffle, finely chop all but 4 shavings (reserve these for garnish) and set aside.
2. Add chicken livers and cook, covered, over medium heat until just cooked through, 57 minutes.
3. Remove pan from heat and stir in salt, mustard, nutmeg, and cloves. Transfer to a food processor and purée until smooth. Continue to process, blending in remaining 4 Tablespoons butter, cream cheese, and Armagnac. Mix in chopped truffle (if using), then transfer to small bowls or well-oiled molds, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, about 24 hours.
4. Serve a generous portion of pâté on a bed of greens with bread, olives, and caper berries, if desired, and garnish with reserved truffle shavings.
The recipe I used is really a breeze to put together and is so creamy and smooth with the cream cheese. Laced with Armagnac or cognac, bits of black truffle, and presented on a platter with dry-cured sausages, olives, and cornichons, it makes a beautiful presentation for a cocktail party or, as in our case, gourmet picnic in the park!
I would love to hear what you enjoy nibbling on at the Concerts in the Park!
Denise
