I will do anything to avoid accounts so when faced with end
of year accounting chores I quickly manifested a strong desire to make pate
from our delicate and richly flavoured Rose Veal Liver.

Cooks note:
This has the potential to be a very messy kitchen recipe so make sure your
kitchen is clear and clean to begin with.
Prep the pate mould with bacon and cognac then pop into the freezer to
ensure that your bacon stays put when you fill the mould. I used a large loaf
tin lined with baking paper.

Ingredients:

4-5 fresh Bay Leaves placed on bottom of pate mould.

Rindless streaky bacon to line the base and sides of your
mould.

Cognac (approx 2tsp) to dribble over bacon in base of mould.

1kg Veal Liver, raw, diced then minced

225gm Duck Liver raw, diced then minced

2 free range eggs

6 Tbsp Double Cream (90mls)

2 Tbsp Lemon Juice (30ml)

¼ tsp grated Nutmeg

3 Cloves fresh Garlic peeled and crushed

1 tsp Sea Salt and 20 grinds fresh Black Pepper coarsely
ground

1 Truffle grated.

100gms extra Duck Liver diced and sautéed in a little butter
before litely mincing.

6 slices streaky bacon for base of pate.

Preheat your oven to 170 C (slow). Line the mould with
baking paper then place the Bay leaves along the bottom. Lay slices of streaky
bacon to line the mould. Drizzle sparingly with 2 tsp good Cognac.

Pop the mould into the freezer to ensure the bacon remains
in place when you pour the pate mix inside.

Dice the Veal liver and Duck Liver before mincing finely.

Mix the minced livers, eggs, double cream, lemon juice,
crushed garlic and ground nutmeg. Season generously with Sea Salt and fresh
black pepper.

This part I found tricky.
Pour some warmed Cognac (about ½ cup) over the liver mixture then
quickly ignite and allow the flames to burn off. If it doesn’t ignite pour off
the Cognac, warm some more then try again.
The flames are barely discernible so sharp eyes are required!

Stir the mixture well with a large fork then pour half the
mixture into the mould.  Take the minced
sautéed Duck Livers and spread on top of the first pour.  Grate a whole truffle over the top. Fill the
mould with the remaining pate mixture.
Top with slices of streaky bacon.

Tie a baking paper lid over the top of the dish. Rest in a
bath of hot water to reach 2/3^rd up the side of the pate dish.

Bake in slow oven for approximately 2 hours.

Remove pate from the oven and bath and allow to cool.  Leave the cover in place.

Weight the top down and refrigerate overnight.

Turn the pate out of the mould before serving.  Pate improves with age so you may wish to
allow this to mature for a few days before you dig in!