The Terrine Topic

[mrbigjas]

Thank you!  I will give it a good swat on the counter, good point. 

One question, does your chef weigh down the lentil terrine? 

I have the lentils on and much of their pretty dark color is escaping into the cooking water!  I am thinking that a dark colored but translucent medium for the gelatine will work better than a clarified white stock and highlight the color of the lentils which is still pretty.  I am wondering if I add acid to the gelatine liquid that this will do anything to the gelatine effect?  i.e. a dark aged old vinegar.

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i was going to warn you about this aspect of beluga lentils, but i figured you already knew. while they do hold together better like lentils du puy do, they unfortunately do not stay that lovely shiny black color, but rather turn browner and more like regular lentils with cooking. they're still nicer than regular lentils, but it was a disappointment to me the first time i cooked them...

Edited February 9, 2006 by mrbigjas (log)

[bleudauvergne]

No mind about the lentils, I've been seduced into buying them three times now and each time I am suprised when their color melts away. This is clearly because I am an airhead. Many happy accidents can occur in the kitchen to airheads, now that I think of it. I will make due with the faded lentils. They still have a nice sheen to them and have kept their body, which is good. Suspended in a dark clear liquid they can do well. I think that I will roll the chicken with some unsmoked bacon to add some depth to the flavor in the center a bit. I do want to research that acid/jelly question a little bit more, I have seen a German recipe for a chicken in jelly where he does a wine vinegar reduction and then adds gelatine. And then there's tomato aspic coming at me from the recesses of my mind, very acidic. I want strong flavors in the medium. And something very dark colored, black even, rolled in with the chicken. But what? Black olive tapanade? Any other ideas?

[little ms foodie]

how about black truffles? I make an amuse of truffled lentils that always is so good. I love your lentil terrine idea Lucy, can't wait to see the results.

When I googled I didn't find any recipes but came up with these search results:

Ham Hock & Pickled Onion Terrine, Truffle Cream, French Bean & Shallot Salad

Duck magret and lentil terrine with cured ham

lentil terrine with fresh tomato-basil and garlic-leek mash

Pressed Chicken and Lentil Terrine with Sunblush Tomatoes

Have fun!

[wattacetti]

Black truffles sound like a great idea though it would be a serious hurt on my ingredient budget. It sure beats what I had been thinking of: tinting something with squid ink.

[bleudauvergne]

I'm afraid if I put truffles in this my husband might have a heart attack from the shock when he learns what I have spent this weeks food budget on. Wendy, your idea does make me think that mushrooms will be good, there is a dried black chinese mushroom that I sliver and add to things for color and crunch now and then. They call it the ear mushroom, I think. Or I could pick up some dried black trumpets for more flavor. Yes, that's it. I think that's what I'll use. Dried black trumpets.

[bleudauvergne]

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I have been reviewing this thread and I have to say this looks very good. Bravo, Lori.

[ianeccleston]

I'm afraid if I put truffles in this my husband might have a heart attack from the shock when he learns what I have spent this weeks food budget on.  Wendy, your idea does make me think that mushrooms will be good, there is a dried black chinese mushroom that I sliver and add to things for color and crunch now and then.  They call it the ear mushroom, I think.  Or I could pick up some dried black trumpets for more flavor.  Yes, that's it.  I think that's what I'll use.  Dried black trumpets.

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By the way, it's great to have this thread to see how people create their recipes for terrines. Having only made basic terrines is nice to see how other people put together all the component parts. Hurrah, egullet!

[FoodMan]

Lucy-

Stay away from acid in the gelatin! That's a bad idea and it will probably not set right. That is the reason fruits like Kiwi and Pineapple should not be put in gelatin dessert.

I am looking forward to see how this turns out.

[Lori in PA]

Thank you for the nice words, Lucy. That was a neat experience -- it turned out well but made me want to experiment more and time doesn't permit it at the moment.

Foodman, I don't have time to check my facts, but I think kiwi and fresh pineapple are no-no's in gelatin because of enzymes in them, not acid.

[bleudauvergne]

Lucy-

Stay away from acid in the gelatin! That's a bad idea and it will probably not set right. That is the reason fruits like Kiwi and Pineapple should not be put in gelatin dessert.

I am looking forward to see how this turns out.

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I did an experiement with gelatine and vinegar, thinking that I could get a kind of vinaigrette effect with the final dish, making the medium for the lentils acidic and then adding the other components, good olive oil, spices and herbs at serving. There were no problems at all with the gelatine setting and with the final appearance in my experiments. However - be warned that the vinager jello tastes pretty awful. My main priority is taste so that idea had to be scrapped.

Note, I also did not tap the air bubbles out of this experiment. I sliced my experimental specimens and realized that with the firmer lentils also the idea of a long terrine to be sliced was not a good idea, since the lentils are more firm than the gelatine, and it makes for an uneven cut, even with a very sharp knife.

The first thing I did was to soften my gelatine, and then take a little of it to make a clear layer with a ladle or two of some chicken stock I had going. I poured a layer of clear jelly into individual ramekins and put them in the fridge to set.

In the meantime, I rolled up and tied chicken breasts with tree ear mushroom (could not find the trumpets) and tarragon. I braised that in wine for about 15 minutes in a hot oven and then sliced them to layer on top of the clear layer of gelatine.

In order to pack more flavor into the medium for the lentils, I added some ham to the veal reduction I had on the back burner. After about 15 minutes of simmering, I pureed and strained the ham/veal reduction and added my gelatine.

The slices of the rolled chicken went into the individual ramekins over the set clear chicken broth layer, then they were covered with lentils, and topped off with the enriched veal reduction.

Lessons learned:

1) Aged vinegar and gelatine make a pretty result but the gelatine robs the vinegar of a certain edge and you're left with a dulled flavor. Something to consider this for are thin layers for color that won't interfere with the overall taste of the dish.

2) For lentils, individual ramekins are probably better because the different textures make it hard to make an even cut.

3) When preparing a gelatine medium for a terrine containing vegetables, remember to use something really flavourful and don't skimp on the salt. The more pronounced the flavor of the broth, the better, because the geltaine can dull the flavor, and being served cold, it needs to be saltier than if would be if served hot.

4) Roll the chicken as tight as possible. I could have done better to flatten the chicken breasts more thinly and to roll more tightly. Tarragon is nice to season the chicken. I will do that again.

5) Make the clear layer at least 1/8" thick. Be gentle when tapping to remove air bubbles, but by all means do tap it down to get air bubbles out.

5) Rocket (Arugula) goes really well with this lentil terrine.

I will do this one again and pay more attention to the final effect in the rolls. There are possibilities there.

[little ms foodie]

those look beautiful Lucy.

I have really learned about using a heavy hand with seasoning when making these cold terrines, or anything being served cold really.

[Lori in PA]

Gorgeous, Lucy. They look like the kind of funky, retro patterns so in style right now in fabrics and papers, etc.

Seasoning ends up being about the hardest part, doesn't it? Or, perhaps more correctly, it ends up being the most uncertain thing.

[bleudauvergne]

I was rather horrified with the result (visual, they tasted great!) mainly because I know I can do much better. But these were experiments anyway... Thanks for the comments in any case!

Wendy's right, when you are seasoning a terrine you just have to pull out all the stops. Not so much unpredictable, Lori, but different. Cold terrines and especially those with gelatine need salt salt and good sturdy reductions. Loic eventually gave me a nice lecture on the teachings of Herve This on this topic, he's the French version of H. McGee. He had a lot to say about gelatine. I got my husband the books because it keeps him updated on the technologies and he can participate...

Something else that comes in handy when you do something with gelatine is to grease your mould. It helps keep things in tact coming out.

[nocturnalsunshine]

Ok all, Ive been reading and digging through the internets and generally hyping myself up to do this.

Tuesday I took 1 lb of chicken breasts, 1 lb of pork sausage

Garlic, Ginger, Paprika, shallots and merlot.

No food processor big enough to handle the chicken before it got to warm, so I used a cleaver and chopped the chicken into oblivion. Minced the Garlic, shallots, ginger, basil, thyme , added paprika and the merlot. Mixed them with a combination of my un-sliced left hand and a potatoe masher. Let sit till Wednesday, last night. Blanched some asparagaus and thin slices of zucchinni and set aside. Took a loaf dish and lined with bacon and in bottom layer placed asparaguas spear that I sliced in half with pairing knife and thin slices of zucchinni then some of the meat and repeated till top layer which i topped with asparagus spears. covered with bacon and placed in water bath of another glass dish and cooked at 375 for 1 hour 55 minutes. Covered with two layers of foil. Internal temp was at 160 when I took it out and let cool on counter. Covered again and weighted down with big can of peaches on bottom of frigde. Scolded dog for looking for bacon scraps in kitchen and went to sleep.

This morning before work I peeked at it and there is a lot of liquid some of it solidifying.

It didnt shrink like others I have read or crack or anything. Before cooking I cooked a small amount of the mix and let it cool and tasted it. It was nice would taste better on rounds of french sourdough.

So my question is when I goto slice it tonight, do I take the bacon off? do I get rid of the jelly that has formed? Not totally sure. It smelled really nice.

Edited February 16, 2006 by nocturnalsunshine (log)

[wattacetti]

I was rather horrified with the result (visual, they tasted great!) mainly because I know I can do much better.  But these were experiments anyway...  Thanks for the comments in any case! 

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Visually I think your two gelatine terrines look great.

A recent asparagus disaster makes me concur with you on having individual servings rather than whole bricks when it comes to aspic. Looking forward to your next one.

[bleudauvergne]

So my question is when I goto slice it tonight, do I take the bacon off? do I get rid of the jelly that has formed? Not totally sure. It smelled really nice. 

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You can leave the bacon and jelly on, they're part of it too! Next time weight it just out of the oven and pour off the liquid (which you can use in something else), this will make it more compact and not fall apart when you slice it. Use a nice sharp knife to slice it.

Sounds delicious. I have never marinated with red wine, I'd love to know how yours turns out! No doubt it's delicious.

btw, what gave you the idea for the ginger?

[nocturnalsunshine]

You can leave the bacon and jelly on, they're part of it too!  Next time weight it just out of the oven and pour off the liquid (which you can use in something else), this will make it more compact and not fall apart when you slice it.  Use a nice sharp knife to slice it. 

Sounds delicious.  I have never marinated with red wine, I'd love to know how yours turns out!  No doubt it's delicious. 

btw, what gave you the idea for the ginger?

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Straight from the Oven, It turned out nice the next day when we ate it. It needed more salt on each slice, I forgot to salt each layer as I added them and banged the bubbles out. I didn't have any sweet pickles so I didn't want the zuchinni to goto waste so I baked it with olive oil and white pepper then roasted some walnuts blended together in the food processer with some cream cheese and served it as a dip on the side with some nice rounds of a baguette. Im still getting those pics resized I will post those later.

I pickd ginger because I wanted a nice "ahhh" feel after each bite and clean taste in the mouth and I think ginger makes that happen.

I will make more terrines in the future just with meat that im not going to use this time I bought meat specifically for the dish.

It did however feel like a little peice of the French Country side eating it at my desk today.

[A Patric]

Hell all,

I am going to make a pâté de campagne soon and the only thing that I still need is pork liver. I can't find any around where I live. Does anyone know of some sources for pork liver online?

Thanks in advance,

Alan

[A Patric]

Hell all,

I am going to make a pâté de campagne soon and the only thing that I still need is pork liver.  I can't find any around where I live.  Does anyone know of some sources for pork liver online?

Thanks in advance,

Alan

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Never mind. I ended up driving to a pork processing/retail place about 40 minutes away and they had some pork liver. They didn't have caul fat, but I have found that online.

I do have one question though. What is the difference between using caul fat to wrap a pâté as opposed to using sheets of fat from fat back? Is there a flavor difference?

Alan

[A Patric]

Hell all,

I am going to make a pâté de campagne soon and the only thing that I still need is pork liver.  I can't find any around where I live.  Does anyone know of some sources for pork liver online?

Thanks in advance,

Alan

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Never mind. I ended up driving to a pork processing/retail place about 40 minutes away and they had some pork liver. They didn't have caul fat, but I have found that online.

I do have one question though. What is the difference between using caul fat to wrap a pâté as opposed to using sheets of fat from fat back? Is there a flavor difference?

Alan

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Hello,

Not getting an answer here I asked in the general section. They were very helpful:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=84274

Alan

[FoodMan]

Bump!

I made this terrine this past weekend from the Charcuterie cookbook,

It's called "Veal Terrine Gratin", the gratin refers to the seared pork pieces that are ground along with the raw veal. It is flavored with a Madeira reduction, shallots, garlic and spices. I also folded in a good dose of chopped chives for good measure. It is so satisfying to make and eat a good terrine or pate that I always wonder how come I never make it more often! I need to change that.

[MobyP]

Duck galantine with pistachios and foie gras.

Served with red onion marmalade and rocket.

[little ms foodie]

Moby that looks just fantastic!!

[bleudauvergne]

oooh. What a delectible idea. It's gorgeous! Give me some notes on scale. That's about the size of a saucisson, yes? I'm starting to get that urge again... Guest coming Friday, let's see...

[Abra]

THis beautiful thread is really inspiring me. I have some gorgeous pigs feet, with long shanks. I'm wondering whether they could be used as the basis for a terrine, making a roll that could be sliced into small-diameter rounds. Has anyone tried that, or seen it done?