Duck pâté with prunes and Armagnac

It's always good to have some really good pâté to hand at Christmas, as all you need is some pickles and salad and you've got lunch or supper. And if you've made the pâté yourself you know exactly what has or hasn't gone into it. So many of those supermarket pâtés seem to have the same sort of plastic texture as if they have been mass-produced in a factory. Funny that, as that's exactly where they come from. It isn't necessarily cheaper to make your own pâté but you will produce something very luxurious.

If you can't find saltpetre or sel rosé preserving salt, then just use sea salt. If you're determined to do it properly, www.naturalcasing.co.uk (01252 713545) sells saltpetre along with sausage skins and fillers and other charcuterie essentials.

1 duck, boned and skinned by your butcher if possible, or as much meat as you can cut off the carcass, saving the bones for stock
100ml port
500g fatty pork, like the belly, coarsely minced
250g duck or chicken livers, cleaned and finely chopped or minced
6 thick rashers of streaky bacon, cut into rough 1/2cm dice
2tsp thyme leaves, chopped
1tsp saltpetre or sel rosé (optional, though it keeps the pâté nice and pink)
1tsp salt and 1tsp freshly ground black pepper
100ml Armagnac, or Brandy
10 prunes, stoned and chopped

Chop the duck meat into rough 1/2-1cm pieces and marinade with the port in a non-reactive bowl overnight. Put the prunes in a bowl with the Armagnac and leave overnight too.

Pre-heat the oven to 175C/gas mark 4. Thoroughly mix the duck and marinade with the soaked prunes and their liquid and the rest of the ingredients. Season with the salts and the pepper. Pack the mixture into a terrine mould, or round oven proof dish then sit in a deep roasting tray. Pour boiling water into the tray about two-thirds of the way up the terrine, or dish.

Cook for 1 hour then remove from the tray and leave to cool. Remove the pâté from the terrine by running a sharp knife around the edge and turning it upside down. The pâté should keep for a couple weeks. If you have a domestic vac pac machine then cut it into useable pieces, vac pac it and it will keep for another week or so.