January 2024
This recipe is meant to accompany an article I wrote for Wisconsin Outdoor News in December 2023, Major The Wonder Dog Brings Home Pheasant Pasztet. It is loosely based upon a recipe from polish housewife.com. Pasztet is a Polish version of paté. Some people put chicken or other livers in it. I am not a liver kind of person...so I skipped the liver. This recipe makes a sliceable or spreadable light mixture that has a delicate central European aura about it.
Ingredients
Makes 1 large loaf or 2 smaller ones
2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 LB ground pork
2 pheasant breasts cut in 1 inch cubes
1/3 turkey breast cut in 1 inch cubes
6 slices of bacon
The meat proportions can vary, as well as the meats. You are looking for about 2.5 pounds total.
1-2 sweet onions chopped.
2 stalks of celery chopped
2 large carrots chopped
8 oz of cremini mushrooms
3 bay leaves
8 whole allspice
10 black peppercorns
5 juniper berries
1 quart chicken stock ( I use homemade)
1 cup of dry white wine
4 cups of left over torn bread pieces (I use frozen scraps of homemade breads)
2 beaten eggs
2 tsp ground marjoram or dried marjoram leaves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
panic bread crumbs
Heat the olive in a Dutch oven. Brown the pheasant and wild turkey. Note, the second time I made this, I used only pheasant and used 4 breasts instead of 2. This due to the fact I did not have turkey left in the freezer.
Remove the browned meat from the pan and add and brown the ground pork. Then remove the pork and cook chopped bacon, just until the fat begins to render. Then add the other meats back to the pan along with all the vegetables, the bay leaves, allspice, juniper berries, and peppercorns. Add the stock and wine. Bring all this to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Let this stew for 2-3 hours or everything is tender. Then remove the pan from the heat.
Add the bread cubes to the cooked mixture and stir. Let it sit off heat until the mixture cools enough to handle comfortably.
When the bread and stew mixture has cooled, drain the liquid through a colander, and remove the bay leaves. Save that cooking liquid for soup or gravy. It is really yummy. Run the solids through your food grinder twice, or run it in your food processor until well blended. You may need to fish out the peppercorns. Add eggs, marjoram, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste.
Grease two 8x4 loaf pans. Alternatively, you could line the pans with parchment paper. Divide the mixture between the pans and sprinkle panko bread crumbs on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. When the loaves cool, remove them from the pans, wrap tightly and refrigerate over night.
I made deviled eggs and challah to go with this. This tasted wonderful spread on the challah with a little Dijon mustard and homemade cherry jam for garnish. Dill pickles and fresh veggies rounded out the spread.
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