Garlic Pate (Pasta De Alho)
"From Jean Anderson's "The Food of Portugal"
If you ate this in Portugal, it would be made with some wonderful local cheese. These recipe uses brie--a good substitute for those of us with no access to Portugese artisanal cheeses. This would be served with Pao Torrado, a kind of melba toast. Crostini from a baguette are just fine with this. Or if the brie is rich enough for you, try it on slices of cucumber."
- Ready In:
- 1hr 50mins
- Ingredients:
- 5
- Yields:
-
1 3/4 cups
ingredients
- 2 large heads of garlic (the whole heads-about 4 to 5 ounces)
- 1 lb brie cheese, ripe
- 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon hot water
directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- Bundle the heads of garlic into a double thickness of foil and twist the ends to seal the garlic inside.
- Bake the garlic for an hour, remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.
- Heat water in the bottom of a double boiler.
- Trim all the rind from the brie and cut the cheese into 1" chunks.
- Place the brie in the top of the double boiler and warm it gently (never let the water boil) for 8 to 10 minutes (too much heat and you'll have a stringy mess).
- Meanwhile, peel the garlic, clove by clove and drop it into a blender or food processor.
- Add the cayenne, the olive oil and the water and process for 30 seconds.
- Scrape down the sides and process for another 30 seconds.
- Now add the softened cheese and pulse 8 or ten times.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl and mix by hand till smooth (too much mixing the food processor can ruin it).
- Note: it can all be done hand--a good workout for it takes a good bit of mixing.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Serve in a crock or in ramekins; take the pate out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before you want to serve it.
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Reviews
-
Well F.T. you definatly have another winner theres NO doubt about that!!!! I gave this receipe a try over the wkned, and it was a total hit with my friends that I had over for Sunday Lunch. I'm a garilic love and a cheese lover, so this was a great combination for me, LOVED ITTTTTT!!!!!! Wish I had some right NOW! LOL..LOL... Thank you for the excellenct Pate. -
As a garlic lover i knew i would like this but not that i would love it as much as i did. Used a triple creme brie.. (bad for my diet but i skipped breakfast to save on calories) It is a keeper keeper keeper
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Chef Kate
Annapolis, 60
<p>I have always loved to cook. When I was little, I cooked with my Grandmother who had endless patience and extraordinary skill as a baker. And I cooked with my Mother, who had a set repertoire, but taught me many basics. Then I spent a summer with a French cousin who opened up a whole new world of cooking. And I grew up in New York City, which meant that I was surrounded by all varieties of wonderful food, from great bagels and white fish to all the wonders of Chinatown and Little Italy, from German to Spanish to Mexican to Puerto Rican to Cuban, not to mention Cuban-Chinese. And my parents loved good food, so I grew up eating things like roasted peppers, anchovies, cheeses, charcuterie, as well as burgers and the like. In my own cooking I try to use organics as much as possible; I never use canned soup or cake mix and, other than a cheese steak if I'm in Philly or pizza by the slice in New York, I don't eat fast food. So, while I think I eat and cook just about everything, I do have friends who think I'm picky--just because the only thing I've ever had from McDonald's is a diet Coke (and maybe a frie or two). I have collected literally hundreds of recipes, clipped from the Times or magazines, copied down from friends, cajoled out of restaurant chefs. Little by little, I am pulling out the ones I've made and loved and posting them here. Maybe someday, every drawer in my apartment won't crammed with recipes. (Of course, I'll always have those shelves crammed with cookbooks.) I'm still amazed and delighted by the friendliness and the incredible knowledge of the people here. 'Zaar has been a wonderful discovery for me.</p>