4 recipes for perfect French pies and pates (2023)

Pie with pork, potatoes and morels
Serves 6| Active time: 3 hours | Soaking time: 15 minutes | Cooking time: 1 hour | Cooldown time: 1 hour | Cooldown time: 45 minutes | Storage: 4 days in the refrigerator

Equipment
Baking ring with a diameter of 25 cm and a depth of 10 cm
Meat grinder + large plate
Steam oven
8 inch (20 cm) baking ring, 4 inch (10 cm) deep.
8 x 12 inch (20 x 30 cm) sous vide bag + vacuum sealer (optional, see
cook's note)
Cardboard knife

Ingredients
Torta
2¼ pounds (1 kg) quick puff pastry (p. 57)

Apricot mushroom layer
7 ounces (200 g) dried morels
1¾ ounces (50 g) shallots
2 teaspoons (10 g) of butter
Half a glass (100 ml) of yellow wine

Potato layer
1 pound 2 ounces (500 g) large Charlotte potatoes
Krupna siva morska sol

Pig farce
3 ounces (80 g) shallots
3 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of flat parsley leaves
1 pound 2 ounces (500 g) top pork shoulder
7 ounces (200 g) fresh pork belly
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Wash and glaze the eggs
2½ tablespoons (40 ml) heavy cream, min. 35% fat
1¾ teaspoons (10 g) egg yolk (about ½ egg yolk)
Melted butter, for coating

method
Preparation of the dough
Roll dough 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick and cut out 2 discs with a 10 inch (25 cm) baking ring. Refrigerate until set.

Preparation of morel and potato layers
Soak apricots in lukewarm water for 15 minutes. Cut off the stems and cut the mushrooms in half lengthwise to make sure they are completely clean.
Peel and finely chop the shallot and fry it in a pan in butter on low heat. Add apricots, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Deglaze vin jaune.
Peel and rinse the potatoes and cut lengthwise into ¼ inch (5 mm) slices. Blanch in a large pot of boiling water with a pinch of gray sea salt until tender but still firm.

Preparation of pork farce
Peel and finely chop shallot and garlic. Wash and finely chop the parsley.
Cut the pork shoulder and belly into pieces and grind twice through the large plate of a meat grinder into a bowl.
Add shallot, garlic and parsley, season with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until well combined.

Assembling the cake
Preheat the steam oven to 185°F (85°C/gas on the lowest possible setting). Cover the base of a 20 cm baking mold with potato slices. Cover with half of the farce, then half of the mushroom mixture. Repeat the layers, finish with the mushrooms.
Slide the ring into a sous vide bag, if using, and vacuum seal. Cook in a steam oven for 50 minutes, then cool in a bag for 1 hour. Remove the bag and wipe off excess moisture with a paper towel.
Place one of the puff pastry discs on a baking tray or tray lined with baking paper and place the filled ring on top. Remove the ring and cover with another disc of puff pastry. Using your hands, gently smooth the dough over the filling to remove air bubbles, moisten the edges with a little water and press them to seal. Cut off the excess dough with a larger baking ring and make a clean circle.
10 Using a box cutter, cut equal-sized triangles around the perimeter, then make a small slit in the center of each end. Cool for about 30 minutes.

Cake baking
11 Preheat a conventional oven to 350°F (180°C/gas mark 4). Mix sour cream and egg yolk to make a wash.
12 Take the cake out of the fridge and draw decorative lines on top from the middle to the edges and make a hole in the middle. Brush two layers of egg wash, then cool for another 15 minutes. Brush again with the beaten egg and bake for 35 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 285°F (140°C/Gas Mark 1) and bake for a further 15 minutes. As soon as you take the cake out of the oven, brush it lightly with a little melted butter to coat it.

Chef's note
Pie filling can be steamed without the use of a sous vide bag and a vacuum cleaner. This additional step is to concentrate the aromas

Zec Rilette

Serves 10| Active time: 2 hours | Cooking time: 1½ hours | Cooling time: 24-36 hours | Storage: 8 days in the refrigerator

Equipment
Sieve with a fine mesh
A mold for terrines of your choice of size and capacity or a small cast iron oven

Ingredients
Zec Rilette
1 carrot
1 luk
5¼ ounces (150 g) smoked bacon
Less than 1/3 cup (70 ml) olive oil
9 lb (4 kg) rabbit, preferably Rex du Poitou, skinned and cut into 8 pieces
3 tablespoons of whole grain mustard
1½ cups (350 ml) Sauvignon Blanc
About 4 cups (1 liter) white chicken stock ½ leg of veal
2 sprigs of thyme + 1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons of finely chopped garlic
1 tablespoon of finely chopped tarragon
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Serve
10 slices of toasted village bread
2 ounces (50 g) lightly beaten mesclun vegetables

method
Preparation of rabbit rillettes
Preheat the oven to 340°F (170°C/gas mark 3).
Peel and dice the carrots. Peel and finely chop the onion. Cut the bacon into slices.
Heat the olive oil in the oven on high heat and when it is hot, fry the whole pieces of rabbit. Add the carrots, onions and lard, reduce the heat and cook until the vegetables are soft. Add mustard and fry until lightly browned. Deglaze with wine and reduce by a third. Add enough chicken broth to just cover the meat and vegetables and bring to a boil. Add the veal leg, thyme and bay leaf. Cover and bake in the oven for 1.5 hours.
Carefully transfer the pieces of rabbit to a plate and discard the aromatics and the veal leg. Strain the pan juices through a fine sieve into a bowl and scrape the fat off the surface (see cook's note). Taste, reduce the amount of juice if necessary and season with salt and pepper.
Separate the rabbit meat from the bones, then chop it twice, making sure to remove all the small bones. Place in a bowl and toss with the parsley, chervil and tarragon until well combined. Taste and season as desired.
Place the mixture in the terrine and pour over the sauce from the pan. Cover and refrigerate for 24-36 hours.

Serve
Serve on toasted country bread, sprinkled with lightly seasoned mesclun greens.

Chef's note
To make it easier to remove the fat, refrigerate the sauce to allow the fat to solidify on the surface, then scoop it up with a spoon.

Pork liver pâté
Serves 12| Active time: 1 hour | Marinating time: 24 hours Cooking time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 2¼ hours | Cooldown time: 2 hours | Storage: 10 days in the refrigerator

Equipment
Meat grinder + plate with 1/8 inch (3 mm) holes.
Instant reading thermometer
Food processor
Free-form terrine mold with a capacity of approximately 5 cups (1.2 liters)

Ingredients
14 ounces (400 g) pork liver
1½ tablespoons (22 g) of fine salt
1¾ teaspoons (4 g) ground white pepper
1½ teaspoons (6.5 g) muscovado sugar
¾ teaspoon (2 g) of smoked paprika
Less than ½ teaspoon (1 g) of allspice mixture
Half a teaspoon (1 g) of ground nutmeg
Less than ½ teaspoon (1.5 g) of ascorbic acid
2½ tablespoons (40 ml) Madeira wine
1¾ oz (50 g) onion
Just under 2½ cups (600 ml) of whole milk
1 bouquet of decorations
2 pounds (900 g) of tender pork belly fat
2/3 cup (5 oz/150 g) lightly beaten eggs (about 3 eggs)
Mast
7 ounces (200 g) jelly stock (optional)

method
Prepare the pâté (start 1 day earlier)
Remove the veins and connective tissue from the liver and cut into approximately 1½ inch (4 cm) pieces. Season with salt, pepper, sugar, smoked paprika, quatre-épices, nutmeg and ascorbic acid. Add the Madeira, press the foil on the surface and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
The next day, peel and finely chop the onion. Place in a large pot with the milk and garnet and bring to a boil, stirring to prevent the milk from sticking to the pot. Immediately remove from heat, cover and let stand for 20 minutes.
Cut the pork belly into 4-5 cm thick pieces and blanch in a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and grind through a meat grinder fitted with a plate with 1/8 inch (3 mm) holes.
Remove the garni bouquet from the milk and allow to cool or reheat to 140°F (60°C) if necessary.
Place the liver and eggs in a multicooker and cook for 2 minutes. Add pork belly fat and stir for 1 minute. Add the milk and onion and mix until you have a smooth foamy consistency, making sure the temperature of the mixture does not exceed 113°F (45°C).

Assembling the pate
Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C/gas mark 3). Grease the inside of the mold with a thin layer of fat and fill with pâté. Bake in a water bath for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 185°F (85°C/gas on lowest) and continue baking for about 2 hours or until the center of the patty reaches 167°F (75°C). ).
Allow to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. If you like, you can pour jelly soup heated to 167°F (75°C) over the pâté before chilling.

Beef Wellington
Serves 5| Active time: 45 minutes | Cooking time: 40 minutes | Cooling time: 15-20 minutes | Cooldown time: 2 hours | Freezing time: 15 minutes | Storage: 3 days in the refrigerator

Equipment
Krug
Sieve with a fine mesh
Lattice cake cutter
Instant reading thermometer

Ingredients
Roast beef
1 tablespoon (20 g) of butter
1½ pounds (750 g) beef tenderloin inside

Duxelles with mushrooms
2¾ ounces (75 g) shallots
1/5 ounce (5 g) garlic
1½ pounds (750 g) mushrooms
2 tablespoons (1 oz/30 g) butter
A generous ¾ cup (200 ml) of white chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground pepper

to fold
800 g quick puff pastry (SEE RIGHT)
3 ounces (90 g) thinly sliced ​​cured ham
7 oz (200 g) duxelle with mushrooms
1 egg + 2 yolks
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Serve
Fresh basil leaves
Fleur de sel and ground black pepper

method
Preparation of beef
In a pan, fry the beef fillet in butter until well browned on all sides. Add salt and pepper. Let cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until assembled.

Preparation of Duxelles with mushrooms
Peel and finely chop the shallot. Peel the garlic, remove the sprouts and finely chop. Wash the mushrooms, cut off the stalks, finely chop the top.
Sauté shallots and garlic in butter in a pan, then add mushrooms and soup, season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low heat for 15 minutes.
Drain in a fine sieve, pressing gently to remove excess liquid.

Assembling and roasting beef wellington
Divide the dough into 3 parts by making one large, one medium and one smaller rectangle. Roll the largest portion into a rectangle approximately 14 x 17¾ inches (35 x 45 cm) and 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick at the top. Roll the center into a rectangle approximately 8 x 12 inches (20 x 30 cm) and 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick as a base. From the smallest piece, shape a rectangle of approx. 15 × 30 cm and the same thickness for decoration. Cover all three with foil and refrigerate.
Spread transparent foil on the work surface and cover with slices of dried ham for the beef rolls. Spread the duxelles with mushrooms in a thin layer 1 cm thick on the ham. Remove the foil from the beef and place over the duxelles. Roll the beef tightly with plastic wrap. Seal the ends and freeze for 15 minutes to roll the roll.
Mix the egg and yolks to make an egg mixture. Place a medium-sized rectangle of dough (bottom) on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Brush the edges with beaten egg to make a 1½-inch (4 cm) border.
Remove the foil from the beef roll and place it in the middle of the dough. Cover with the largest rectangle of dough and flatten it to follow the contours of the beef. Press lightly around the edges to seal. Trim the edges to make a clean rectangle with no more than a 1¼-inch (3 cm) edge. Coat everything with beaten egg. Slide the lattice cutter over the last rectangle of dough, carefully open it to reveal the lattice pattern, and place it on top of the Wellington. Brush with beaten egg and prick the edges with a wooden toothpick. Cool for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C/gas mark 6). Remove the Wellington from the fridge and brush again with egg. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (180°C/Gas Mark 4) and continue baking for an additional 30 minutes until the core temperature reaches 113°F (45°C).

Serve
Slice, garnish with basil leaves and sprinkle serving plates with fleur de sel and ground black pepper