Cinnamon Pâté for Bánh Mì Canapés

Bánh Mì Canapés with Cinnamon Pâté
Toasted Baguette, Chili Aïoli
Pickled Daikon, Carrot & Cucumber
Sliced Jalapeño, Cilantro Garnish

“There’s no reason to be intimidated by the idea of making pâté.
You can just think of it as meat loaf.”
Julia Child

Our sage advice: Don’t wait for your next French or Vietnamese event to serve these canapés. In fact, they would most definitely be a hit at any gathering, perhaps even at your Superbowl Party?

Not only were we crazy about them as an appetizer on New Year’s Eve, we also thoroughly enjoyed them the next day at our New Year’s Day Brunch.

For our fabulous NYE French-Vietnamese Repas du Soir, we passed Bánh Mì Canapés and drank Champagne while we prepared the next five courses for dinner.

Banh Mi Canapés were the perfect introduction to our meal – a blend of French and Vietnamese cuisines. We took the wildly popular Vietnamese Baguette Sandwich and transformed it into a colorful, spicy, exotic canapé.

Cinnamon Pâté Recipe

• 1 lb. extra lean ground beef
• 1/4 lb. lean ground pork
• 2 T. fish sauce
• 2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 1 T. corn starch
• fresh ground pepper, a generous grinding

In a large bowl combine fish sauce, cinnamon, brown sugar, corn starch, and black pepper. Add ground beef and mix well. Fit beef mixture into a small loaf pan.

Take the ground pork and tuck it in along the middle of the beef mixture. This technique will give the pâté its jazzy two tone coloring. Compact and shape the meat into a smooth loaf, pressing down on the edges to form a slight dome shape. Bake uncovered at 350°F for about 45 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan, let come to room temperature before slicing.

While the pâté is cooking, thinly slice seedless cucumber and daikon. Use a vegetable peeler to slice thin strips of carrot. Place all three vegetables separately in a pickling liquid. They will be slightly crisp and perfectly pickled in less than an hour.

Mix Vietnamese chili garlic sauce with mayonnaise and extra minced garlic. Spread sauce on sliced toasted baguette. Top each slice of bread with pâté and pickled vegetables. Garnish with sliced jalapeño and cilantro.