Lori in PA

I got it. It's blue. It's just a beauty. More recipes, please.

We are celebrating Christmas with my side of the family today. We do wish lists. For 3-4 years, mine has included a request for a Le Creuset 9.5 qt. oval French Oven. I think this just may be my year. So, give me your absolute favorite thing to do with such a pot. I don't have Molly's Braising cookbook (though that's on my list, too, so maybe...). I'm really wanting to make Chufi's butter braised beef, since I read her ENTIRE thread a couple of days ago. Other ideas?

I am blessed with a second refrigerator in the basement. It is not large, but is a huge help. I confess: this is one of the most puzzling lifestyle differences to me between Americans and much of the rest of the world -- refrigerator size! We are a family of five and I cook from scratch. I depend often on planned-overs (leftovers on purpose) and also always have goodies like roasted tomatoes from last summer's garden in jars of olive oil in our fridge. I can't imagine my fellow egulleteers from around the world are terribly different than me in those two respects. And yet, they produce these amazing looking and sounding meals using under-counter fridges. WHERE ARE YOU KEEPING ALL THOSE INGREDIENTS?

I unmolded and took some slices from the second terrine yesterday for our Christmas celebration here. We'd had our large meal mid-day and had "tea" for supper, which was anglo-french in character. We had slices of terrine with fresh homemade bread and accompaniments, a very nice cheese plate, fruit, crackers, plus scones, clotted cream, and jam. I thought there was probably a greater depth of flavor with this terrine, I'm sure due to it's week of aging.

I'm of a mixed mind regarding jello. I don't like fruit jello mixed with veggies and one of my stand-out early childhood memories is sitting in our playroom at our little table and chairs with my sister and two other girls at a "get-together" my parents were hosting after evening Sunday worship services. My mom had made Shrimp Mold, with the aforementioned Campbell's Cream of Tomato Soup, and one of us had a 2 T. serving on her plate. We'd cleaned our plates otherwise and began flipping this blob of salmon-colored something from one person's plate to the next, squealing, "You eat it!" "No, you eat it!" "No, you eat it!" We laughed harder and harder at our clever badness until I threw up. That ended the hilarity fairly quickly. So, I've vomited, not from eating Shrimp Mold, but from NOT eating it. OTOH, I like the lime jello/cream cheese/marshmallow dessert as long as it doesn't have cottage cheese. And, I'm pleased to see no one has maligned another jello favorite of mine, which sounds weirder than weird, but is delicious to those smart enough to close their eyes and taste: Pretzel Salad. I'm giving you the recipe, because you MUST make it. Quit thinking what you're thinking and trust me... Pretzle Salad 1 6 oz. pkg. strawberry gelatin 2 c. boiling water 2 10 oz. pkgs. frozen sweetened strawberries with juice, thawed 2 c. coarsely crushed pretzels 3/4 c. butter or margarine, melted 3 T. plus 1 c. sugar, divided 1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened 1 8 oz. container frozen whipped topping, thawed (use real whipped cream if you must, but it won't be authentic) Combine gelatin and boiling water, stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Stir in strawberries with juice. Chill until partially set in mixing bowl. Combine crushed pretzels, melted butter, and 3 T. sugar. Pat into a 13 x 9 x 2" pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes; cool completely. Cream together cream cheese and remaining 1 c. sugar; fold in whipped topping. Spread cream cheese mixture over pretzel crust. Pour partially set gelatin mixture over all; chill several hours or overnight. Serves 12

Not thankless from Pennsylvania! I'm enjoying this so much and I appreciate it.

Mmm, lovely to see summer produce -- I will not be jealous, I will not be jealous...

Sounds great. No ideas for tonight. What do you have planned for Christmas dinner? Will it be part of the "cooking school" or will you be doing it on your own?

Fresh ham is great -- easy, serves lots of people, and inexpensive! I've made a couple lately with the following herb rub -- everyone loved it: All measurements approximate and imminently substitute-able, I'm sure: 2 T. chopped fresh rosemary 2 T. chopped fresh sage 10 garlic cloves, peeled 1 T. fennel seeds 1 1/2 T. coarse salt 1 T. cracked black pepper 1 T. dry white wine 1 T. olive oil In a food processor, buzz the dry ingredients, including garlic, until finely minced. Add wine and olive oil; process to a coarse paste. Rub on fresh ham or pork roast. Roast immediately or let marinate overnight in fridge. I found my "recipe" and see it's based on an Epicurious.com dish.

Here's an entry in the simple category: Savory Onion Brisket Potatoes au Gratin Provencal Carrots Steamed Broccoli Homemade Potato Bread Afternoon Tea: Pork and Pistachio Terrine with cornichons, mustard, and homemade French bread Cheese Plate Pickles Olives Scones Clotted Cream Jam Assorted homemade cookies Tea

I'm really hoping to find Molly's Braising cookbook under the tree with a Le Creuset oval oven, if I've been a good girl this year, that is. I've braised for years, but want to branch out with it. This idea dovetails nicely with my continuing quest to feed my family well but inexpensively.

I've been wondering about your project, Shalmanese -- great to hear an update. For tonight, how about doing a stir-fry and challenge yourselves to cut each veggie differently, but keep them the same relative size for even cooking? A salad will give more knife work. A fruit tart or something for dessert can give even more... Love the market challenge idea. I know you'll be busy, but it would be so cool if you could give us daily progress reports -- I'm sure I'd get ideas for my own cooking classes with kiddoes, some of whom are turning into quite respectable cooks who need challenges.

Now we get to the part of me loving my mother. SHE ATE EVERY BITE OF RAW, UNCOOKED, GREASY RICE. And said it was DELICIOUS. God, I love that woman. ←

Please! Just do what JSolomon says and then read his instructions to your dinner guests -- they'll be thrilled and delighted, I'm sure.

Making these terrines has been a fun and satisfying project, something I've been wanting to explore for some time. Most of my worries turned out to be groundless: the salt level was fine, the texture was fine, the presentation was fine. That is both the good and the bad of this experience -- it was fine. I mean, I enjoyed it very much, but at the end of the day, it wasn't an ethereal experience. In fact, someone at the party who was unfamiliar with terrines asked me to describe it. I said, "Do you like meatloaf?" "Yes." "Well, it's like a meatloaf made with pork instead of beef and served with mustard instead of ketchup." Don't get me wrong -- I'm glad to have made it and there'll probably be more terrines to come in my life. But, once again I've realized something that is important for me to keep in mind. It's easy for me to get seduced by a food from another culture and get so caught up in it as a Project that I forget that it is something thousands of everyday people from that time and/or place made as a matter of course from the ingredients at hand. The fact that I live in a different time and/or place may make it challenging for me to procure those ingredients and utensils that are so pedestrian to them, so that makes the dish seem exotic to me. I spend so much time researching and finding "authentic" ingredients that the dish begins to take on more significance than it ever demanded or deserves. By the time I make it, it isn't possible for the end result to live up to my expectations. I hope my evaluation doesn't sound depressing or sad, because I don't feel that way. I like terrines and I'm glad to know I don't have to pay a bunch of money for a slice or two at a restaurant -- I can easily put together a very nice one at home. I especially enjoyed sharing the experience here on egullet -- it makes it fun to know there are other people following my progress and cheering me on. Thanks for sharing this with me.

Please tell more about Drunken Goat cheese. Dh and I were in State College, PA for a conference he had a couple of months ago. We were getting a few provisions at the Wegman's there, a much nicer grocery than any in our area. He was so intrigued by the Drunken Goat cheese they had. The next day I went back to get a couple more things and bought a small wedge of that to try as a surprise for him. I got back to the hotel and had no cheese in my bag, though it was on my receipt. There was no opportunity to go back to the store. Now and then when we are eating cheese, dh sighs and says, "I'd have liked to taste a drunken goat..." So, tell me if he missed anything.

The terrine unmolded easily after I dipped it in hot water in the sink for about 5 seconds. Slicing was also simpler than I'd feared. ...nekid (as they say in the south) on the serving platter not-so-great closeup of the layers The finished platter -- I served homemade sliced French bread with it. I'll add my impressions later -- gotta run.

Back from the home education trenches. One of the things I'm really curious about is the role of caul or barding fat in the making of the modern terrine. I mean, I'm not going to be saving this for months downcellar. OTOH, I ate a serving of country pate at a restaurant recently and thought the presentation was pretty sad -- it looked like a slice of cold meatloaf laying there on its little plate -- a rim of fat would have set if off nicely, I think. I've saved the drained juices in the fridge. I have a chicken carcass that's almost picked over which I'll probably simmer in the next few days for a simple little stock -- I imagine those pork juices will find their way into that for a soup supper. Yes, I tested the internal temperature with an instant read thermometer. The terrine I cooked immediately after assembly yesterday morning took 1:20 to reach 140 degrees F (oven: 375 degrees F) and the chilled terrine I cooked this morning took 1:35-ish to reach the same temp. (I want to taste one!)

Pass me a tissue, Cayenne. Thanks very much, Jamie.

Here is yesterday's terrine, weighted. Here is the terrine after being weighted 24 hours in the fridge. Worries: the barding fat looks kinda icky to me. I've eaten several terrine/pate servings, so I'm trusting the slices will not scream "FAT" quite so much. That grey color isn't so appealing, either. I hope the inside looks nicer.

Oh, I MUST get the day going (homeschoolers here -- "Kids, Mom is too busy thinking about terrines to direct your education. I'm sure your future college professors will understand..."), but I want to talk about this more: Weighting -- I immediately began weighting yesterday's baked terrine after removing it from the oven, instead of waiting 30 minutes or so as many recipes direct. I also used 2 layers of cardboard covered with foil. Mine is somewhat smaller than the top dimensions of my terrine, but I wonder if it should have been a smidge smaller than I made it. (Pause while I went to get it out of fridge, remove 3 qts of applesauce -- the weights -- admire it, and take photos of it. Now I've just pressed some plastic wrap on top and returned it to the fridge. I'll have to wait for my daughter to walk me through posting the photos I've taken since I posted the last ones yesterday -- actually, SHE posted them for me!) Anyway, I put the terrine in the fridge after it had half-cooled (poured off the juices first), but I kept the weights on it until just now -- 24 hours. It sounds like I didn't need to bother weighting it so long, but it's not like it was any trouble. What should I do now? Should I unmold it and wrap the whole thing tightly in plastic wrap like a present? Or, should I leave it in the terrine with plastic pressed on top and not unmold it until I'm ready to slice and arrange it before going to the party? Presentation: I plan to bake French bread to serve with this. I have a big rectangular platter, so I'll place overlapping slices of terrine on it and add cornichons, a little pile of oil-cured olives, and a pot of Dijon mustard. I have kale to put under/around the terrine slices. Other suggestions are welcome...

Lucy, I see you are "tuned in" here -- if you read this, have you done any more terrines or pates since your posts above?

Did I mention (oh, it shows in the photos) I made two terrines at once yesterday morning? I only cooked one yesterday, as I only have one roasting pan. The second is cooking now. I tried to think of some variation of technique to test, but didn't really. It only occurred to me AFTER they were assembled that I should have done one without lining the terrine with fat, to see if that made any real difference. I guess I will have the change of one being cooked immediately after assembly and one marinating a day in its raw state before being cooked, which was a direction I saw in several recipes. Unfortunately, I'll be tasting them so many days apart that it'll take a striking difference in flavor for me to detect it, I expect. I'm wondering about the fat lining. I went to the only "good" meat market in the area -- 30 miles away and talked to the most experienced butcher, a very nice and helpful older man. He knew what caul was, but said the only way I could get it would be to get one from someone doing his own butchering. I asked if he had any unsmoked, unsalted hunks of fat I could get sliced thin to substitute. He asked me to wait a few minutes while he went to see what he could find. He returned with a butcher paper of a single layer of about 1/4" thick slices of fat, most around 2" x 4". He wouldn't charge me for it, which was kind. I hope they work.

Oh, my -- lovely!

I'm trying to leave it alone, which isn't easy. I did saute a small amount of the forcemeat and put it on a chilled plate before I proceeded this morning. When it was completely cool I tasted it and thought it was good. I'm resting on that comfort for now. As we speak, Mr. Terrine is reposing in the fridge under a load of three quart jars of homemade applesauce. I want to serve this Saturday evening at a Christmas party I'm attending. I think I'll unmold, slice, and arrange it at home -- I suspect I may want privacy for the moment of truth.