The Terrine Topic

[MobyP]

Thanks chaps.

As to scale, well, it's a whole duck, so the roll was 3 to 4 inches across.

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?

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Sure. Koffman had a famous recipe back in the 80's of stuffed pig's feet which I've done a couple of times. There's also one in the French Laundry book. Open up and debone the main shank, leaving just the toes. Braise with extra hock for 3-5 hours. Cut the meat into cubes, and fopld this into a chicken mousseline with some sauteed morels, and use that to stuff the trotters. Koffman would wrap this in foil and steam it until the mousseline was just cooked. Gordon Ramsay takes almost the same recipe and cuts it into rounds (once cold) and fries them until crispy. He serves this with in a salad with truffles.

Edited May 15, 2006 by MobyP (log)

[Joisey]

I've recently started making terrines and galantines for the restaurant I work at, haven't done it since school 15 years ago. I'm using the Polcyn/Ruhlman book "Charcuterie" as my reference point. My question is about fat loss while cooking. In the book it states that if your farce gets too warm, it could result in the fat emulsion breaking while cooking, which results in shrinkage and a noticeable difference in texture if not flavor. I've been religious in keeping my equipment and raw product as cold as possible. In the two times I've done the Pork/Pork tenderloin inlay recipe I've noticed melted fat both in the water bath and inside the saran wrap. Shrinkage has been negligible, about what you would expect, and I haven't noticed a graininess in texture of the finished product. Is some fat loss like this normal and/or acceptable? Thanks for help and any other tips you guys might have.

[bleudauvergne]

Lets see. When I press my terrines before chilling, I usually press out a good bit of liquid runoff which does contain a significant amount of melted fat. I do not notice, however, fat in the bain marie. Is your terrine bubbling over the sides? The texture of my terrines never seems to suffer at all from the loss of fat when pressed.

[Joisey]

I think I'm noticing the fat in the bain marie because I'm using one of those "drop side" molds that are more appropriate for pate en croute..the fat is obviously leaking from the wrapped pate into the water bath. I've got a real mold on order, I guess when it comes I'll know for sure.

[Abra]

When I made this pate

earlier in the summer, I saved the delicious-looking liquid that pressed out. It's been in the freezer for a while now, and I'd like to do something with it. Any suggestions?

[bleudauvergne]

Abra, my first thought would be to warm it and use is as a base in a vinaigrette. The juice is going to be pretty salty, so whatever you finally do with it will have to take the saltiness into account. Beautiful pate.

Looking back on your pigs foot idea, I had an idea about 4 years ago to do a terrine with them. Pigs feet have a great gelatenous quality that really makes for great shape and texture. However I must warn you that the flavor of pigs feet does not, in my opinion, stand on its own in a cold dish like a terrine. Being a cold dish the actual pigs trotters should acutally be one interesting element in an otherwise complete palette of flavors that you make up with, as Moby suggests, mushrooms in season, spices, a liberal addition of chopped poitrine, Maybe another meat to round out the flavor. I would love to see the results of your experiment!

[MobyP]

Here are a couple of quail pate en croute that I made for a picnic this summer. You can't see the gelee in the pics, but it's there, and was really delicious. Also, I didn't have proper en croute molds so had to use pottery terrine ones instead, which meant I didn't get the colours I wanted. Other than that, it tasted really, really good.

Edited September 5, 2006 by MobyP (log)

[Daniel]

Moby,

Is there are recipe for this anywhere on the web? Looks awesome..

[MobyP]

Daniel, there's a really great book that's worth buying, even if you never use it. It has amazing stuff on charcuterie.

This base recipe came from Culinary Bear, and I made some substitutions.

[NOTE: The first recipe I posted had the wrong salt amount. I've corrected it.]

580g chicken livers

480g belly pork, inch cubes

25g salt

2tsp ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

sprig thyme

15g butter

30g shallots in fine dice

30ml brandy

1tbsp chopped parsely

75g crustless bread, small cubes

150g milk

2 eggs

90g double cream

pinch nutmeg

So I had four quail which I deboned. I substituted the thigh and leg meat for an equal amount of chx livers. As I was using belly pork, I added 20% of meat weight in back fat, and reduced the bread and cream by about a third.

Otherwise, I followed his recipe.

Mix salt, livers, pork, pepper, bay leaves and thyme. Refrigerate overnight. Remove thyme and leaves.

Sear livers in pan with butter, remove. Soften shallots in same pan, deglaze with brandy, add to livers, refrigerate.

Mince pork, liver mix through a fine mincer.

Mix bread and milk, let it soak up for a few minutes. Add egg, cream, nutmeg, mix with minced meats. Adjust seasoning.

I used a simple short crust recipe (450g flour, 125g butter, 100g lard, 1 teaspoon of salt). Rolled it out, lined the two molds. Put a layer of farce along the bottom. Pan seared the breasts, then covered them up with another layer of farce, and a pastry lid. Cut a steam and aspic vent, and baked at medium temp until an internal temp of - hmm I don't remember. Probably 150 or 155.

I made aspic from the quail bones and trotters, with white wine.

Edited September 6, 2006 by MobyP (log)

[bleudauvergne]

Game season is coming up...

Wow Moby I agree those look amazing. The color looks great if you ask me!

[Daniel]

Thanks Moby.. The book is on its way!!!! Your word is good enough for me.. You always make such beautiful things, thanks for sharing it with all of us..

[Abra]

That's lovely, Moby. I need to do something en croute soon.

Here's the Shrimp and Salmon with Spinach Terrine from Charcuterie. I seasoned it with baharat and added home-preserved Meyer lemons. I should have used more lemon. This is easy as pie to make and is quite impressive to serve.

[Daniel]

Abra,

That looks so amazing!

[Dave Hatfield]

Thanks Moby.. The book is on its way!!!! Your word is good enough for me.

I have copy of that book & it really is great.

Don't know if its been mentioned on this or another Charcuterie thread, but a great book if you can find it is "American Charcuterie Recipies from Pig-By-The-Tail" by Virginia Wise.

Ah, found it, go here

Its cheap too.

Great book with lots of good stuff.

[bleudauvergne]

Abra, its gorgeous!

[maggiejiggs]

I'm planning on making a couple pâtés from the Ruhlman/Polcyn Charcuterie cookbook, for Thanksgiving. As I will also be making pies at the last minute, I'm trying to work out the best timeline.

Can anyone tell me their experience with storing pâtés, how long they can be stored and still having an excellent flavor when served?

Has anyone tried the salmon pâté in basil cornmeal crust? It requires 12 -24 hours in the fridge prior to serving. Is that window of time the best for it to be served?

Thanks!!!

[FoodMan]

It's fall, and I wanted to make a pork terrine. So, I made a recipe from Ruhlman's Charcuterie book. Well, I did modify the recipe just a tiny bit, but the mehtod, seasoning and procedure is from there.

click here for more details and more pics in the Charcuterie thread

My Pork Terrine with a Pork Tenderloin Inlay and dried Sour Cherries

I served this with onion jam, mustards, cornichons, home baked baguette and a glass of red wine. Certainly the best and best looking terrine I've made so far with a perfect taste and texture.

[Lori in PA]

Nice!

[MobyP]

Foie and ham hock.

[ronnie_suburban]

Foie and ham hock.

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Absolutely gorgeous, Moby. What is that on the outside...kale, cabbage? Please describe the preparation and recipe a bit, if you don't mind.

=R=

[MobyP]

Thanks. Yes. Savoy cabbage on the outside.

This was very simple. I soaked a couple of ham hocks over night in water, then poached them the next day until soft. I removed the meat.

Meanwhile I soaked the foie in milk, then deveined it.

After de-ribbing the cabbage leaves, I blanched them until just cooked, then shocked in ice water. After using them to line the terrine, I put in a layer of hock, then foie, repeated, and put in a bain marie until the internal temp was about 110.

After cooling, I weighed it down to compress it slightly, and placed it in the fridge for a day. We served it with toasted brioche and some 25 year balsamic.

[Lori in PA]

Moby, your terrine is lovely. I'm especially enamoured with the cabbage exterior, which I think would be more appealing to my American, unsophisticated friends than caul fat. Did the cabbage give you any troubles in the slicing/presentation?

[racheld]

I've just now devoured this thread, from beginning to end, and this is just amazing. All the different combinations, the colours, the slices which fall perfectly from the knife---I'd be SURE to put in something which was just a little stronger than the other bits and it would fight the blade and give me raggedy presentation. I've longed to make one of these since I saw Julia Child demonstrate "turning the case" on her longago PBS series.

She stuck those big hands into that hunk of pastry like a laundress turning a skirt to iron, maneuvered it a bit like a stubborn puppet, and it turned into a neatly-formed pillowcase fitted into the pan, a perfectly-behaved outer shell for a lovely terrine. I could not fathom at the time why she didn't use perfectly good air time to demonstrate a new sauce, a saute' or a braise---that too-much demonstration which would not fit into a viewer's home kitchen seemed a bit of frivolity, just at that moment. I did not reckon on the power of the appetites to come to the fore in just a few short food-years, nor those lurking in front of other screens in other places, hungry for the creating as much as for the eating.

I read too many historical novels, in which the housemistress always had a decorated pye ready for even the finickiest, most jaded of guests, who were always informed that it was from her own hand. Those pheasant molds and faded loaf-pans and lids shaped like graceful rabbits, all the arsenal of terrine-making---they're part of the special cookware, drawn down like a pudding-mold or an ice-cream shell, just for haughty occasions, and bespeaking great care and honor done a guest.

These are all just perfect, and shine like jewels on the plate. It's nice to see that some jewels can be had by anyone with the time and will, and soon that's gonna be me.

[MobyP]

Moby, your terrine is lovely. I'm especially enamoured with the cabbage exterior, which I think would be more appealing to my American, unsophisticated friends than caul fat. Did the cabbage give you any troubles in the slicing/presentation?

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No. I just pulled off the first few layers of leaves, cut out the central ribs, and blanched for about 1 - 2 minutes.

I forgot to mention, I lined the terrine mold with about three layers of cling film (saran wrap?). As the temperature was kept low, and would never go above 110, it was in no danger of melting. It makes it much easier to remove at the end.

Also, the foie has so much fat, you really don't need any caul.

[MobyP]

Those pheasant molds and faded loaf-pans and lids shaped like graceful rabbits, all the arsenal of terrine-making---they're part of the special  cookware, drawn down like a pudding-mold or an ice-cream shell, just for haughty occasions, and bespeaking great care and honor done a guest.

These are all just perfect, and shine like jewels on the plate.  It's nice to see that some jewels can be had by anyone with the time and will, and soon that's gonna be me.

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Exactly. There's something very primal, old world and satisfying about making a terrine. It's really cooking, rather than just frying or baking.

I'd love to find one of those old pate en croute molds. None of the shops seem to have them anymore; which is our loss.