Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 2 (142 page)

Make pastry cutouts of any shape you wish. (Illustrations are in Volume I, page 574.)
One by one, paint bottoms of cutouts with egg glaze and press in place on top of pâté, completely covering seam where edges of pastry overlap.

(*)
AHEAD-OF-TIME-NOTES
:
Pâté
mixture, garniture, and dough may be made a day or two in advance of baking, or
pâté
may be assembled (but not glazed), covered, and refrigerated for a day or two if meat is fresh. Add 20–30 minutes more to baking time if
pâté
has been chilled before going into oven.

3)
Baking—1½ to 2 hours; oven preheated to 375 degrees

Useful: A meat thermometer

A pan, spoon, and bulb baster for removing fat from pan

Place in lower middle or middle level of oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until crust begins to color, then lower thermostat to 350 degrees for rest of baking. Inspect
pâté
every 20–30 minutes: suck up fat from baking sheet with bulb baster and wipe off sheet with paper towels. An accumulation of fat can burn bottom of
pâté,
and it also smokes up the kitchen.

Pâté
is done when juices begin bubbling up into funnel; they should be clear yellow. Check temperature by removing funnel and inserting meat thermometer, which should read between 160 and 165 degrees.

3)
Cooling the pâté—the aspic

Remove
pâté
from oven, but do not attempt to slide
pâté
off baking sheet or to remove mold from
pâté
at this point, since you might tear or crack the crust, which must remain intact. Let cool completely for several hours or overnight, then chill in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

A funnel

4 cups wine-flavored aspic (2 Tb gelatin dissolved in ¼ cup port or Cognac combined with 3¾ cups beef bouillon)

A bowl of cracked ice

During baking, the meat shrinks slightly from the top and sides of the crust, and you want to fill this space with aspic, which is delicious both visually and gastronomically. When
pâté
is thoroughly chilled, and with the mold still in place, insert funnel in a chimney hole in top of
pâté.
Being sure aspic has been well tested for consistency so that it will hold its shape when cold, stir over cracked ice until almost syrupy and on the point of setting; pour through funnel into
pâté,
tilting
pâté
in all directions, allowing aspic to run all over and around it. Chill again for several hours.

4)
Serving

To serve, cut pie-shaped wedges going around circumference of
pâté.
For a rectangular
pâté,
cut straight across, as though it were a loaf of bread.

5)
Storing

Pâté en croûte
will keep a week to 10 days at 37 degrees. It is the aspic that might go off first, and then the crust with the meat juices in it. If you wish to keep leftovers a little longer, remove the crust, scrape off the aspic and the fat-covering, and wrap the meat in plastic or foil. A cooked
pâté
can be frozen, but will never have the same fresh texture again.