Thursday, February 9, 2012

Freeze Pate

Pate is an elegant French dish that also freezes well.


Pate is a French specialty that can consist of either meat or fish. The meats are pressed into a terrine or loaf pan, cooked in a water bath in the oven and then chilled. If you end up making too much pate, you need to preserve it so that it doesn't spoil. Pate will freeze well without a risk of freezer burn. However, you need to follow the correct procedure to properly freeze pate.








Instructions


1. Allow the pate to chill completely. If the pate is still warm while you prep it for freezing, the condensation/steam can cause freezer burn.


2. Determine how you want to store the pate. One method is to divide the pate into 1-inch slices, wrap each slice in two layers of plastic wrap and then in a layer of aluminum foil. Alternatively, you can freeze the whole loaf of pate in the terrine pan that you prepared it in. Tightly press plastic wrap down over the top of the pate, then wrap another layer of plastic wrap over the entire terrine, and then cover it with aluminum foil.


3. Thaw in a refrigerator for six hours before consuming.


4. Consume frozen pate within one month of the date of freezing. It is a good idea to label the frozen pate with the current date when you stick it in the freezer.

Tags: plastic wrap, aluminum foil, freezer burn, frozen pate