Duck and Basil Paté

Posted by treatsandthings on March 15, 2012 · 1 Comment

My husband and I are on the move (I will fill you in on this later – it may make for some interesting blog posts!) and so we have spent this week, with the help of my awesome mum, sorting and packing and…. eating through our freezer! As we are approaching the end of the week I notice that we have eaten all the ‘normal’ things like lamb, chicken, mince and steak and I am left with the more ‘challenging’ ingredients that my hubby and brothers have brought home from their shooting & hunting trips – Venison, turkey and duck!

Tonight we are eating venison sausages (homemade by mum) and I have the ingredients to make roast duck with orange sauce, but I’m not sure I have the time! I did however find a spare half hour on the weekend to make this duck paté which we have been enjoying on crackers before our dinners throughout week. Note, the recipe calls for brandy and 1 tablespoon of cream – I didn’t have brandy in the cupboard, so, much to my hubby’s shock I used a bit of our special port! I also think it could have done with a splash more cream as my paté could have been a bit smoother, though the flavour was delicious.

Duck & Basil Paté

(Makes about 1 cup)

50g butter
2 duck breasts, sliced
1 tsp garlic, crushed
3 tsp basil chopped
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 tbsp brandy
1 tbsp cream

Melt the butter in a pan. Cook onion and garlic gently until the onion starts to soften.

Add the duck breasts and 2 tsp of basil. Cook until the duck just loses its pinkness. The onion and garlic will caramelize but make sure they do not burn.

Put the mixture into a food processor and process until nearly smooth. Add brandy, cream and extra basil and continue to process until smooth.

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