Recipe Page

Festive Terrine

A delicious and easy terrine that looks impressive but is easy to adapt to ingredients you have available. Preparation time: 30 minutes. Cooking time: 2 hours plus chilling time. Serves: 8

Ingredients

1 tbsp. olive oil, plus extra to brush 1 onion, finely chopped 2 tbsp. brandy, (optional) 12 rashers smoked streaky bacon (optional) 2 skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces (about 1cm) 500g minced pork or turkey. 50g frozen peas OR 50g roughly chopped pistachios OR 50g chopped walnuts 50g dried cranberries OR 50g chopped dried apricots OR 50g chopped dried prunes ¾ tsp freshly grated nutmeg leaves from two sprigs of fresh thyme. Plenty of seasoning.

Method

Cook the onion gently for 10 minutes until softened and translucent. Pour in the brandy if using and cook for 30 seconds. Empty the onions into a large bowl and allow to cool. Preheat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / Gas mark 4. If using the bacon, line a 2lb loaf tin with 10 of the rashers making sure you leave part of the rashers hanging over the edge of the tin. To the cooled onion in the bowl, add the chopped chicken, minced pork or turkey, and the rest of the chosen ingredients, with the thyme leaves, nutmeg, and a generous amount of seasoning. Mix thoroughly. Press the resulting mixture into the loaf tin, levelling off the surface. If you're using bacon place the rashers over the filling. Fold any overhanging bacon back over the filling and cover with the remaining rashers. Press down again. Cover the top with a lightly oiled sheet of cooking foil and press this down on top of the loaf tin. Then wrap the tin securely in a double layer of foil and place put into a roasting tin. Boil the kettle then half-fill the roasting tin with boiling water and carefully transfer to the oven. Cook for 90 minutes until the terrine feels solid when the top is pressed. Lift tin out of the water, remove the outer layers of foil, leaving only the greased foil layer in place. Then carefully pour out any liquid from the terrine to prevent it setting as jelly. Leave to cool. Place a weight on top of the foil layer (tins of beans or even a house brick will do) and chill overnight. Remove the terrine from the fridge and release it from the tin a couple of hours before serving, to allow it to come to room temperature. Slice and serve with chutneys, and warm crusty bread.