Thanksgiving Pâté de Campagne

This recipe gives purpose to your turkey giblets, extra Thanksgiving spices, and all that ham. Easy to make in the morning and then refrigerate all day while everything else cooks.

Photo of giblets by Flickr user jpwbee, used under Creative Commons license by-nc-sa

Makes one terrine, 8-12 appetizer-side servings.

Ingredients:

1 turkey liver
1 turkey gizzard
1 turkey heart
1/2 cup, 1/2 cup, and 1/2 cup whole milk
1 pound ham, chopped
2 eggs
1/4 cup well-chopped celery
1/4 cup pistachios, shelled and whole
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons brandy, preferably cognac
2 sprigs fresh thyme, destemmed
1/2 cup Italian parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon clove
1/2 teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
2 teaspoons gray salt
1 tablespoon freshly-ground black pepper
about 12 slices smoked bacon

Clean the turkey liver, gizzard, and heart, removing any connective tissue. In three separate bowls, soak the turkey liver, gizzard, and heart in 1/2 cup each of whole milk for two hours. Drain, rinse, and pat dry.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Roughly chop the liver, gizzard, and heart. Combine half of the ham, liver, gizzard, and heart in a food processor. Pulse until very well chopped but not puréed. Reserve. Combine the remaining ham, liver, and gizzard in the food processor. Process until a rough purée.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all of the processed meat, eggs, celery, pistachios, garlic, brandy, thyme, parsley, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, gray salt, and black pepper. Mix well, until the ingredients become a single sticky ball.

Line the bottom and sides of a terrine with bacon. Leave enough bacon overlapping on the sides so that the bacon can be brought up and across the top of the pâté.

Fill the terrine with the pâté mixture, pressing down with a spoon to ensure a compact fit. Fold the bacon over the top of the mixture.

Place the terrine in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with hot water. Place in the oven and bake until the bacon is rendered and bubbling, the juices run clear, and the meat is cooked through to an internal temperature of 170°F, about 90 minutes.

Remove from oven. Pour off the rendered fat. Place a two pound weight on top of the terrine. Let cool to room temperature. Remove weight, cover, and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours.

To serve, cut into 1/2 inch slices and plate with toast points, wholegrain mustard, and cornichons.