Venison Patee

This is from a family cookbook, very tasty

• Ready In: 2 hrs
• Serves: 20
• Yields: 1 patee

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄4 lbs  ground venison
• 1 1⁄4 lbs ground pork
• 8  ounces  venison, cut into strips
• 4  ounces  pork fatback, rind removed, blanched, and cut into strips
• 8  ounces chestnuts, crumbled
• 1  teaspoon ground cloves
• 1  teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons nutmeg, freshly grated
• 2  large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1⁄2 cup dried currant
• 1⁄2 cup red wine
• 1⁄4 cup cognac
• 2 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 2  tablespoons raspberry vinegar
•  fresh ground black pepper
• 3  eggs, slightly beaten
• 1  bay leaf
• 16  ounces  pork fatback, sliced 1/8 inch thick, simmered for 2 minutes in water, and patted dry
•  cornichon, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 °F.
2. combine the ground venison, ground pork, venison strips, fatback strips, chestnuts, ground cloves and allspice, nutmeg, garlic, currants, cooking wine, cognac, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and let the mixture stand for 1 to 2 hours.
3. Add the eggs and mix well.
4. Fry a small ball of the mixture until cooked and taste for seasonings, adjusting as necessary.
5. The pate should be spicy.
6. Line a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan with fatback slices, extending them so they can be folded back over the top of the pate.
7. Transfer the pate mixture into the mold, packing it down into the corners.
8. Fold the fatback slices over the top of the pate.
9. Cover the top of the pan tightly with three layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil, and punch 1 or 2 steam holes in the top.
10. Place the loaf pan or mold in another larger pan and fill the larger pan with enough boiling water to come halfway up the outside of the mold.
11. Bake for 1 hour and a half or until the juices run clear.
12. Remove the pate from the oven, lift the foil, and check to see if the pate has shrunk slightly from the edges.
13. Put the foil back on, place the pate on a plate, and put a flat board or another loaf pan the same size on top.
14. Weigh it with 1 1/2 pounds of cans, jars or pie weights for 2 hours, then refrigerate overnight.
15. Remove the pate from the loaf pan, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 5 to 7 days before eating.
16. Remove the pate from the refrigerator at least 1 hour before serving.
17. Cut as needed.