Braunshweiger

In my last 2-4 trips up north I have checked out the local butchers and meat counters for Braunshweiger - a German liverwurst that seems popular in the northern part of the state. All of the versions I have encountered include corn syrup, which I seem to react to, so I have been unable to actually consume any. But then I got a copy of an amazing cookbook from the library: The New Midwestern Table. The cookbook is a lovely homage to midwest cooking, and includes numerous (non-paleo) delights like Michigan pasties, jello salads and an entire section of potatoes and onions. She also has recipes for wild rice/manoomin, deviled eggs (that she heats at the end?!), beet pickled eggs, cucumber salads, and pickled fish. She runs the gamut of Scandinavian, German, and Russian (Nebraskan Runza's - which are bread pies filled with meat) and they all seem to be really good looking recipes.

And - she has a recipe for Braunshweiger! With no corn syrup (or any sweetener for that matter). I followed her recipe pretty precisely, except for leaving out the garlic (I seem allergic), swapping vermouth for sherry, and using just a bit more liver than she calls for. Traditional Braunshweiger seems to be about 40% pork liver, and her recipe is only about 20%. I happened to have 3/4 pound of liver and used it all (bringing the liver total to 25%). It is important that you have fresh liver, because it gets bitter as it ages by the day. I bought frozen pork liver from the Seward, which is frozen fresh and was very easy. I just defrosted it in the fridge the day before.

I actually did not grow up eating braunshweiger, but in my recent fandom of liver in every variety, (and pork belly), I was fairly convinced that I would like this. It turned out great. I didn't wait for it to chill all the way before digging in, and it was more pate-like. But once it thoroughly chilled, it was like the braunshweiger of my imagination where you could cut slices. I ate mine on paleo crackers with some dijon mustard. Yum.

Homemade Braunshweiger
Based on the recipe from The New Midwestern Table
2 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 pounds fatty pork (I used half pork belly, half pork shoulder)
8 oz slab bacon (I used regular bacon)
12 oz fresh pork liver
1 T pork fat or ghee
2 T salted butter
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, sliced (I didn't use these!)
6 T dry sherry or vermouth
1/2 c heavy cream
1 tsp grated nutmeg
2 tsp dried marjoram
1/2 tsp ground allspice
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/3 c shelled pistachios (or pecans or walnuts)
Dijon mustard (for serving)

1. Combine the salt and pepper in a small dish.
2. Cut the pork and bacon into 1" cubes and put them in a wide bottomed 2 quart pot. (The pot should fit the meat in one layer, although a little double up is okay.) Add water just to cover and 3/4 tsp of the salt/pepper mix and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat, and cook at a slow bubbling simmer until the meat is very tender when poked with a fork, about 3 hours. *I was leaving the house, so did this step all in a crock pot on high heat for 4 hours. It worked great.
3. Uncover and drain, reserving 3/4 c of the mixed juices and fat. Cover the meat and chill. *I had A LOT of juices/fat left, which will make great soup stock. I did reduce the liquid a bit by simmering it on the stove for 30 min or so. It wouldn't be necessary, but I wanted to get extra flavor in there. It still left me with an extra 2 c or so of soup stock.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the liver. Rinse the liver and blot it dry on an old dish towel or paper towels. Cut into 1" cubes (mine from the Seward was already chopped that way?!). Heat a large cast iron skillet over med-high heat and add 1 T pork fat/ghee. Season liver with a bit of the salt/pepper mixture. When the fat is hot, add the liver and sear on all sides until browned on the outside, but pink inside - about 5 minutes. Transfer the liver to a wide bowl.
5. Add the butter and diced onion to the skillet. Season with more of the salt/pepper mixture and cook over medium heat until the onions are sweet, golden, and tender - about 20 minutes. Add the garlic slices (if using) and cook another few minutes until softened. Add the sherry and simmer until it is reduced and "clings saucily to the onions." (I found this descriptor totally accurate and compelling! It did cling saucily!) Add the cream and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes. Pour the onion mixture over the liver in the bowl, cover and chill in the fridge until very cold.

*I did the previous steps one day, and just chilled everything together in a big bowl overnight. The next stage is to grind and process the meat. She uses a grinder attachment on her stand mixer - but I don't have a stand mixer, so did everything in batches in my food processor. The goal is to really grind the ingredients to a paste - however you do that - and almost "whip" in some liquid. The food processor worked great - it's just that the mixture is quite thick and paste-like and gets a bit sticky.I use that method below.

6. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
7. To remaining salt/pepper mixture, add nutmeg, marjoram, allspice, and cayenne.
8. Grind/process the meat in 3 batches in a food processor, drizzling part of the reserved liquid and part of the spice mixture into each batch. As you process each batch, empty the paste-like product to a large bowl. Once all of the meat is processed and paste-like, but also a bit fluffy from the processing - mix it all together to incorporate all of the flavors. I used a big wooden spoon, but you could also use a hand mixer. Taste the mix (I ate mine as is - it is all cooked - but you could also fry a little up) and adjust salt and pepper as desired. I needed to add another teaspoon or so of salt.
9. Scoop the mixture into a lightly buttered glass or metal 9 x 4" loaf pan. Smooth the top and press nuts into the surface. Set the loaf pan in a larger baking pan and pour hot water into it to reach halfway up the sides of the loaf pan, making a water bath. Bake until the internal temp reaches 150 degrees, about 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Then unmold the loaf, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill deeply.

*Mine did not "unmold" super easily - I went a little too early while it was still warm. I sort of reformed it back, but was nervous it would not hold its shape as it chilled on the front porch. It mostly did. I ended up cutting it in half and just wrapping up half in parchment paper.