Terrine : Two Ways

Terrine is a form of what is known as forcemeat.  French charcuterie sellers proudly display their forcemeat delights in their windows for the customers to purchase.  You will find alongside terrine, sausage, pate, roulades and rillettes to name a few.  A common theme is to use game meat and birds, like rabbit, wild boar and duck.  Also included would be chicken livers and the infamous foie gras, which is specially fattened duck or goose liver.  
The meat that goes into terrine is ground to a coarse minced consistency and combined together with herbs and spices to create a formed shape - usually a rectangular loaf.  Similar to meatloaf, terrine is baked in the oven slowly to amalgamate the meats and "force" them into one, the end result is a delicate charcuterie item lightly spiced with different notes of flavour deriving from its various ingredients.


To make a terrine, a reliable non-stick loaf pan is necessary, unless you are lucky enough to have a terrine mould.  The pan or mould is lined with thin bacon or prosciutto strips that will protect the base from burning and it will impart additional flavour too.  Terrine is best served cold or at room temperature.  I served it for breakfast with a poached egg on crusty bread with a couple of nicely matched sides of sauteed mushroom and a home-made Chilli Pepper Relish.  I made two types of terrine as certain breakfast diners don't take too favourably to being dished up liver of any sort - Find the recipes for both below.  These recipes have been adapted from celebrity Aussie chef Anna Gare's versions with a twist of my own flair.


Veal Pork and Chicken Terrine with Livers
Ingredients
250g x Chicken Mince
250g x Veal Mince
250g x Pork Mince
250g x Chicken Livers
1tbsp x Butter
1 x Onion, finely diced

6 cloves Garlic, finely diced

1/2 cup x Port Wine 

1tbsp x Green Peppercorns
2tbsp x Capers, rinsed and chopped
1/2 cup x Breadcrumbs
1/2 x Shelled Pistachios 
4 x Sage Leaves, finely sliced
1 x Lemon zest
2 x Eggs, lightly beaten
150g x Baby Spinach, roughly chopped
250g x thinly sliced Bacon or Proscuitto


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius
In a frypan heat the butter and gently saute the onions and garlic.
Add the liver to the pan with the port wine and saute for 1 minute stirring gently
Place liver in a large bowl allow to cool slightly
Line a terrine mould or loaf pan with the bacon or proscuitto draping the slices over the sides so that they can cover the top of the filed terrine
Combine remaining ingredients with the liver.  Do not work the mix too much as you want the mince to remain coarse
Place the mixture into the terrine mould and tap to ensure there are no air pockets
Fold overhanging proscuitto slices over the top and cover with a piece of foil or baking paper
Place terrine into a baking dish half filled with water
Bake in the oven for 1 hour until firm and set
Allow to cool before placing into the fridge to chill overnight

Chicken & Pork Terrine with Dates 

Ingredients:

500g x Chicken Mince

500g x Pork Mince

150g x Pitted Dates, chopped 

1 x Onion, finely diced

6 cloves Garlic, finely diced

1/2 cup x Port Wine 

1tbsp x Green Peppercorns

2tbsp x Capers, rinsed and chopped

1/2 cup x Breadcrumbs

4 x Sage Leaves, finely sliced

1 x Lemon zest

2 x Eggs, lightly beaten

150g x Baby Spinach, roughly chopped

Extra Baby Spinach to line & cover

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius

In a frypan heat the butter and gently saute the onions and garlic.

Add the dates to the pan with the port wine and saute for 2 minutes stirring gently

Place dates in a large bowl allow to cool slightly

Line a terrine mould or loaf pan with the baby spinach leaves

Combine remaining ingredients with the liver.  Do not work the mix too much as you want the mince to remain coarse

Place the mixture into the terrine mould and tap to ensure there are no air pockets

Place a layer of spinach leaves over the top and cover with a piece of foil or baking paper

Place terrine into a baking dish half filled with water

Bake in the oven for 1 hour until firm and set

Allow to cool before placing into the fridge to chill overnight

Sauteed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

500g x Button Mushrooms, quartered

1tbsp Butter

1 x Garlic clove, crushed

Parsley to garnish

In a frypan heat the butter with the garlic being careful not to burn

Add the mushrooms and stir through to coat with the butter

Cook for about 2 minutes then garnish with the parsley 

Red Pepper Relish

3 x Red Capsicums, finely cut (juilenne)

2tbsp x Olive Oil

2tbsp x Red Wine Vinegar

2tbsp x Caster Sugar

half tsp x Cinnamon powder

half tsp x Ground Nutmeg

half tsp x Allspice

1-2 Fresh Chillies, diced

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook gently until softened

Relish is ready when it is thick and glossy 

Chilli Con Carne

I have had a surprising winter crop of capsicums that have even ripened to the crimson red shade.  I would have expected that my plants would not have fruited until spring or even summer as I know they are heat loving plants.  Perhaps, it is because the variety I have planted in my vegie patch is Californian Wonder and the fruit are on the US season mode.  Now while the capsicums harvested are not huge they are certainly flavoursome.  I found the smaller size capsicums do not grill to well in a hot oven, because by the time you remove the skin there is not much flesh left.  I needed to find a way to use my capsicums that highlighted their flavour and did them some justice.  For this I turned to the big US state of Texas where Chilli Con Carne is a staple.  While the dish has a Hispanic origin and the name is derived from the Spanish – chilli with meat – the Tex-Mex influence is where my recipe hails and it takes a sharp turn into Italian territory with a Pepperonata (Chilli Pepper Stew) style base.  My Chilli con Carne packs a punch of flavour from the fresh veg and spices and these ingredients are further resonated by the long slow cooking of the dish.  I left this recipe out for my dad (a big curry cook) and he was able to cook it perfectly (probably better than I would have…).  He even made some quick flour tortillas - whipped up with a mix of plain and wholemeal flour, a little sugar and hot water – and these went down a treat.

Ingredients

750g x Capsicum, seeds and membrane removed then diced

2 x medium onions, diced  

2 x large carrots, diced

4 x Garlic cloves, crushed

1kg x Mince Beef

1tbsp x Cumin powder

1tsp x Cayenne Pepper (or more if you like it hot…like me)

2 x Thyme sprigs, leaves removed

1tbsp x Dried oregano

½ cup White Wine

½ cup Red Wine

1tbsp x Dark Soy

1tbsp x Chilli Paste (Sambal Olek)

2tbsp x Tomato Paste

2 x Large Tomatoes diced (or ½ can Tomatoes)

1-2 cups of Chicken Stock  

400g x Kidney Beans, drained    

Directions 

Prepare a mixture of the soy sauce, chilli paste (sambal olek), tomato paste and diced tomatoes.

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot (dutch ovens are great for this)

Add the onion and brown gently then add crushed garlic, carrots and capsicum.  Cook gently, sweating down the vegetables.

Now add the mince and brown all over until there is no more pink visible. (You may want to brown the mince separately and dry up as much water as possible then add to heavy pot with vegies)

Turn the heat up slightly and sprinkle in the ground cumin, cayenne pepper, thyme and oregano and combine well, dry frying for about a minute.

Pour in the wines and allow the liquid to be reduced by a third.

The prepared soy and tomato mixture can be stirred in now.

Depending on how much liquid is in the dish at this point add stock accordingly. 

I suggest, start with 1 cup and add more if required  after a ½ hour of cooking.  You do not need an overly saucy finished dish.

Turn the heat to low and cover the pot.  Cook for at least an hour  This long slow cooking will ensure the ingredients are perfectly combined in harmony.

In the last 10 minutes of cooking stir in the drained Kidney Beans and allow to heat through.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top and guacamole and pickled jalapeños on the side.  Chilli con Carne can be eaten with rice or tortillas.  You can even go the Tex-Mex route and have a serve on a hot dog – you have a “Chilli Dawg” then.