Think of meat loaf, hot dogs, head cheese, etc. These are "meats" that are made of individual meat pieces, either ground or cut up, that are cooked together. In the cooking process (especially in the head cheese) the collagen that melts our of connecting tissue, and cartilage form bonds with the meat tissue, gluing it together, so to speak.
And no, I didn't have to weight anything down when making my pate'. It was simply baked until well done all the way through. It sliced very nicely. But your knife does have to be very sharp.
The beauty of this method is that it allows versatility. If yo wanted, you could cut the meat pieces short, and layer 1/3 of it with pork, 1/3 of it with beef, and 1/3 of it as beef, all laid end to end. Add small bits of veggies and seasonings as required by each part. Make sure there are no gaps in the loaf, and bake. You then have three different luncheon meats from one loaf.
You can be extremely creative, using cracked pepper in your loaf, or minced garlic, or onion, whatever you want.
Oh, and another addition to your oaf recipe that will help hold everything together is a raw egg mixed into the meat. You won't be able to tell it's there. Try to cut the meat strips with the meat grain. That way, they are layered with the meat grain oriented on the long axis. You will be slicing against the grain, which will make your meat slices tender and delectable.
oh, and just so's you knows, the loaf I made was comprised of chicken and pork, layered in a buttered loaf pan and seasoned with salt, pepper, sage, and thyme. It was very good.
Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North