Terrine

Wikipedia's description of a terrine: A terrine (French pronunciation: [tɛ.ʁin]) is a French forcemeat loaf similar to a pâté, made with more coarsely chopped ingredients.
Terrines are usually served cold or at room temperature

How bland a description! Honestly, we're talking about a fine slice of deli here; one that is carefully sliced, flourishly served on a plate with gherkins, baby tomatoes and gourmet bread, then reverently served on the nicest bread you can lay your hands onto. Only to be devoured by the nearest four-year-old without so much as a passing thought as to how much labour went into making it.

How much labour do you ask?

Not much. It's actually surprisingly quick and easy. The ingredients are also pretty affordable and easy to obtain from supermarkets, making terrine a dish that would be best homemade than purchased.

The recipe below is adapted from Simon and Alison Holst.

What you need:

• 350 g chicken livers, rinsed & halved
• 1 egg
• 2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1/4 ts ground cloves
• 1/2 to 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp sage leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 Tbsp thyme leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 c sherry or 1 Tbsp brandy or cognac
• 500 g sausage meat
• 250 g thinly sliced bacon

There are two ways to do it. The original recipe was designed for slow cookers, which appealed to me for various reasons. If you'd like to go down this route, an often-overlooked but essential step is to ensure that your terrine pan fits inside the slow cooker insert. As I learnt - the hard way.
So now I'm using my oven.

1. Discard the fibrous bits from the chicken livers. An evil but necessary step if you want a smooth terrine. An easy and utterly disgusting way to do it is to lightly pinch one vein between your thumb and index, then slide through the lobes. Transfer to a food processor and add the egg, garlic and spices. Process until smooth, then add the sausage meat in golf ball-sized pieces and process again until smooth.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
3. Coat the inside of the loaf tin with non-stick spray if you're not using silicone, and line the long sides with bacon strips, leaving long ends to fold over the top of the terrine if you like. Spoon the processed mixture onto the bacon in the loaf tin. Fold the bacon ends over the top, then cover tightly with foil. Place a weight on the terrine.
4. If using a slow cooker: place the terrine on 2 metal lids in the slow cooker, pour in enough bath-temperature water to come halfway up the sides, then cover and cook on HIGH For 2-3 hrs or until the centre of the terrine feels firm when pressed through the foil.If using an oven: sit terrine a hot water bath and bake for about 1 hour.
5. Remove from the slow cooker or oven.
6. Cover with a piece of heavy, foil-covered card, then stand several cans on top to flatten the surface. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, unmould the terrine so its bottom is uppermost, and slice as required.
7. Serve sliced, on a platter, garnished with baby tomatoes, gherkins and rabbit food lettuce leaves. Accompany with slices of interesting crusty bread.

Terrines, being made from liver, are rich in iron and vitamin A.

(photos of the process to be posted next week-end. Or the week-end after.)