The Terrine Topic

[J Acord]

J Acord and I have discussed the possiblity of using the enzyme discussed in this thread to create some interesting geometric forms, without too much difficulty.

Meat Glue

Indeed, meat glue would simplify the whole process greatly - but welded meat may not have the same mouthfeel as a terrine

Edited April 20, 2005 by J Acord (log)

[SethG]

Last night I was channel surfing through my DirecTV stations and I happened on a program on the Discovery Home channel called Great Chefs of the World. This particular show featured a stunning terrine of summer vegetables and guinea fowl, served in colorful layered slices, with some kind of tomato-based sauce and vegetable chips as a garnish. The show airs twice more today (follow the above link) if anyone wants to catch it. I wish I'd set my VCR to record-- I wouldn't mind tryng that one out! It doesn't seem the recipe is on-line.

EDIT: No, wait, I found it! Terrine of Summer Vegetables and Guinea Fowl.

Edited April 20, 2005 by SethG (log)

[bleudauvergne]

Looks like an interesting recette. Who's going to try it first?

A guinea fowl is a pintade, I think.

[MichBill]

I'm surprised with cookbooks on every topic you can think of there aren't any new updated ones on terrines & pates. They also would have been perfect for the low carb craze. I would love to see a cookbook that focuses on the beauty of them with fresh, bright colored vegetable ones where the design is also important when you cut slices, and see the patterns and colors. Ones that would be uncomplicated and easy to make with seasonal ingredients. Actually they could be the perfect one dish meal with meat and veggies combined. I think it's the complexity of the traditional ones that have kept these from everyday fare. Any cookbook authors here want to give it a shot?

←

I know that Brian Polcyn (a chef/owner of Five Lakes Grill in Milford, MI) who serves terrines almost every night in his restaurant and teaches charcuterie at a culinary school (Schoolcraft College) is writing a book on charcuterie with Michael Ruhlman. The last I heard it will be published this fall. I have taken some classes with him and he is a very good teacher. Based upon his knowledge and Michael Ruhlman's previous cook books, I'm predicting that it will be a very good.

[bleudauvergne]

We could not wait any longer.

[FoodMan]

Lucy, this looks perfect and delicious. So, how was it? details please. I like how nice the "round" looks in the center.

Elie

[SethG]

Beautiful! Wow.

[bleudauvergne]

Well, it did not turn out too salty, despite my fears. Now I have to remember all the places I added salt. The herbs were really wonderful, and although the sage is just fabulous, I am also imagining that this same terrine with fresh spring shoots of thyme could possibly take this terrine to sublimity. Sometimes my imagination runs wild, however. I had been a bit discouraged because the initial marinade did not smell as alluring as I thought it should. I used an alsacian wine (its what we had in the fridge) when I was thinking a macon would have been better. But once the thing was together it was the addition of the cognac that really got me excited. It stayed together well in serving although I think I was not patient enough with the weighing down bit and could have gotten it a bit more compact. When I served it, Loic said it was good a few times. He kept repeating himself. This recipe is a keeper. I will remember the salt and put it in the gullet.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Lucy, that is stunning... and I am so proud that YOU have cornichons.

Okay, I've been sick with the flu for a week or so and am finally feeling better. However, lying on my couch, watching movies, and sipping tea, I have been reading my much-beloved terrine book and am hoping to feel better enough this weekend to make one myself. Hoping to post pictures within a week or so!

[FoodMan]

Lucy, that is stunning... and I am so proud that YOU have cornichons.

Okay, I've been sick with the flu for a week or so and am finally feeling better. However, lying on my couch, watching movies, and sipping tea, I have been reading my much-beloved terrine book and am hoping to feel better enough this weekend to make one myself. Hoping to post pictures within a week or so!

←

Looking forward to seeing your terrine, and DON'T forget the little sour pickled cucumbers...what are they called again....

[MobyP]

I was just trying to find details on this book. It is one of the best I have seen on the subject. The funny think is that I also have my eye on the stuffed boars head. I even have access to the boar. Now all I have to do is get a different set of less squeamish friends then I can do it....

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If I could get you further South, we're less squeamish down these parts. I would love to help you with that boar's head (plus I have the book).

[bleudauvergne]

Lucy, that is stunning... and I am so proud that YOU have cornichons.

Okay, I've been sick with the flu for a week or so and am finally feeling better. However, lying on my couch, watching movies, and sipping tea, I have been reading my much-beloved terrine book and am hoping to feel better enough this weekend to make one myself. Hoping to post pictures within a week or so!

←

Looking forward to seeing your terrine, and DON'T forget the little sour pickled cucumbers...what are they called again....

←

Can't wait to see Carolyn's terrine! I have a pile of terrine material and books with pages marked on the bedside table. This kind of recipe is very interesting to study.

I went into the kitchen this morning with the thought of taking another slice to work for lunch. It looks like in the night a goblin came and took an obscenely large slice and gobbled it in secret, and there's less than half of my terrine left. I had to wrap it in goblin proof paper and mark with the magic words : DO NOT TOUCH in order to be sure to have enough to serve at least a taste to my dinner guests tomorrow.

I like this idea of soaking vegetables in the cooking juice of poultry to which gelatin has been added for the vegetable and poultry terrine. I suppose this would work well with a pied de veau (veal foot) added to the broth as well. That is what I am going to try.

On the way to work I stopped off at the traiteur and looked at their terrines for the longest time.

I'm surprised with cookbooks on every topic you can think of there aren't any new updated ones on terrines & pates. They also would have been perfect for the low carb craze. I would love to see a cookbook that focuses on the beauty of them with fresh, bright colored vegetable ones where the design is also important when you cut slices, and see the patterns and colors. Ones that would be uncomplicated and easy to make with seasonal ingredients. Actually they could be the perfect one dish meal with meat and veggies combined. I think it's the complexity of the traditional ones that have kept these from everyday fare. Any cookbook authors here want to give it a shot?

I know that Brian Polcyn (a chef/owner of Five Lakes Grill in Milford, MI) who serves terrines almost every night in his restaurant and teaches charcuterie at a culinary school (Schoolcraft College) is writing a book on charcuterie with Michael Ruhlman. The last I heard it will be published this fall. I have taken some classes with him and he is a very good teacher. Based upon his knowledge and Michael Ruhlman's previous cook books, I'm predicting that it will be a very good.

That's great news to hear! What will be the name of the book? Can it be pre-ordered?

[SethG]

I'm surprised with cookbooks on every topic you can think of there aren't any new updated ones on terrines & pates. They also would have been perfect for the low carb craze. I would love to see a cookbook that focuses on the beauty of them with fresh, bright colored vegetable ones where the design is also important when you cut slices, and see the patterns and colors. Ones that would be uncomplicated and easy to make with seasonal ingredients. Actually they could be the perfect one dish meal with meat and veggies combined. I think it's the complexity of the traditional ones that have kept these from everyday fare. Any cookbook authors here want to give it a shot?

←

I know that Brian Polcyn (a chef/owner of Five Lakes Grill in Milford, MI) who serves terrines almost every night in his restaurant and teaches charcuterie at a culinary school (Schoolcraft College) is writing a book on charcuterie with Michael Ruhlman. The last I heard it will be published this fall. I have taken some classes with him and he is a very good teacher. Based upon his knowledge and Michael Ruhlman's previous cook books, I'm predicting that it will be a very good.

←

I think that the reason there are few recent books on the subject in English is that publishers don't think there's a lot of interest.

Ruhlman posted about his forthcoming charcuterie book just the other day:

I love the specialty of charcuterie and so am finishing that book now, a love song to a great culinary craft, to salt, to animal fat, to the pig. It should be no surprise that I couldn’t lease a car from the advance I and my friend Brian Polcyn received for it from Norton. Indeed it was really hard to sell—and I’m no longer a stranger in this world; we only sold it because there was an editor out there as lunatic as we were.

If it was hard for such an established writer as Ruhlman to sell such a book, I imagine it must be pretty much impossible for anybody else.

Edited April 21, 2005 by SethG (log)

[bleudauvergne]

The book will most certainly be sold to me without question!!

[bleudauvergne]

J Acord and I have discussed the possiblity of using the enzyme discussed in this thread to create some interesting geometric forms, without too much difficulty.

Meat Glue

Indeed, meat glue would simplify the whole process greatly - but welded meat may not have the same mouthfeel as a terrine

←

I actually think that the meat glue you're talking about is aleady used in the industrial terrines we find at the grocery store, this is a pretty common ingredient in factory made sausages and terrines.

[Richard Kilgore]

Wow! Lucy, that is beautiful.

And thanks for starting this thread. I have yet to do my first terrine. I was inspired by a previous thread to get an LC mold and a couple of books. Now here I am inspired again.

[Adam Balic]

J Acord and I have discussed the possiblity of using the enzyme discussed in this thread to create some interesting geometric forms, without too much difficulty.

Meat Glue

Indeed, meat glue would simplify the whole process greatly - but welded meat may not have the same mouthfeel as a terrine

←

I actually think that the meat glue you're talking about is aleady used in the industrial terrines we find at the grocery store, this is a pretty common ingredient in factory made sausages and terrines.

←

Yes, I'm sure that it is used in all sorts of industrial stuff (those sliced meats that have clown faces comes to mind). But, it has some interesting potential and it is just a protein solution after all. But, I will do some tradiional stuff first. End of next week.

Your terrine looks great BTW, really nice and I can taste the combination of prune and rabbit in my head, Yum!

[bleudauvergne]

Actually it's ripe black olives. I have never combined sugary and salty in a terrine, except once when I prepared a fois gras terrine using maple syrup and star anise. It turned out really well. Using fruit with the meats is an idea I should try. I sometimes stuff meats with apricots, prunes, and dates, which have themselves been stuffed with fois gras, so the idea of putting dried fruit in the terrine would just be a continuation of that idea.

[PS]

Notes, must keep better notes...

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That's the secret, I think Lucy. When I was making a terrine at New Year I dug out the book I'd used for a previous effort (Jane Grigson's) and was surprised to find that I'd managed to scribble how much of everything I'd put in the first time (except the bloody salt of course, which had gone in in pinches here and there). From that info I was able to ensure that the second terrine didn't leave me tasting garlic for the next week (I'd been a little too enthusiatic about it the first time around).

[Adam Balic]

Actually it's ripe black olives.  I have never combined sugary and salty in a terrine, except once when I prepared a fois gras terrine using maple syrup and star anise. 

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Damn this new fangled intelluctual food . Good this means that I am free to use prunes then without looking like a copy-cat.

[bleudauvergne]

No it wasn't intellectual at all, the recipe called for honey and all I had was maple syrup. My husband, like many French who were raised in the South, thinks cinnamon tastes like medicine, so we avoid it when cooking with expensive ingredients because I want to make sure he gets a chance to enjoy it.

[Jensen]

DANGER AHEAD! HERESY ALERT!!!

I've been following this thread with great interest and wondering if I could possibly make something that would be compatible with my weight-loss goals. I gave it some more thought and realised that the little "chicken cups" I've been making for dinner are sort of terrines and, if I could serve them hot then I could make something similar and serve it cold.

Why not?

And so, here are photos of my ongoing attempt for a (diet-phobes avert your eyes now) "low fat" terrine.

The main ingredients (I did take a picture of all the ingredients but it didn't turn out):

The full list of ingredients (all weighed so that I can figure out the nutritional information before I eat it) is:

50 g Westfalian ham

285 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs

435 g pork tenderloin

100 g Swiss chard

30 g shiitake mushrooms

112 g onion

50 g green garlic

fresh sage

fresh parsley

white pepper

salt

I ran the chicken through the food processor and then mixed in the sage and some salt. For the pork, I ran about 2/3 of it through the food processor, coarsely chopped the rest, and mixed in the parsley and some salt.

The onions and mushrooms were also chopped up in the food processor and then cooked in some olive oil until "dry". I add a splash of sherry and cooked them some more then seasoned with salt and pepper.

Assembly:

First the ham:

As you can see, it just covers the bottom of the pan. The rest of the pan is lined with the Swiss chard (which had been lightly steamed to soften it and then refreshed in ice water):

The chicken mixture went in first and then I added the green garlic, kind of pushing it into the meat a wee bit:

The mushroom mixture was spread on top of that and then the pork mixture was added:

And here it is, ready to go in its water bath:

I plan on nicking a brick out of the garden, wrapping it in foil for the weight.

Of course, it could turn out to be utter crap. We'll find out tomorrow!

[FoodMan]

DANGER AHEAD! HERESY ALERT!!!

I've been following this thread with great interest and wondering if I could possibly make something that would be compatible with my weight-loss goals. I gave it some more thought and realised that the little "chicken cups" I've been making for dinner are sort of terrines and, if I could serve them hot then I could make something similar and serve it cold.

Why not?

And so, here are photos of my ongoing attempt for a (diet-phobes avert your eyes now) "low fat" terrine.

The main ingredients (I did take a picture of all the ingredients but it didn't turn out):

The full list of ingredients (all weighed so that I can figure out the nutritional information before I eat it) is:

50 g Westfalian ham

285 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs

435 g pork tenderloin

100 g Swiss chard

30 g shiitake mushrooms

112 g onion

50 g green garlic

fresh sage

fresh parsley

white pepper

salt

I ran the chicken through the food processor and then mixed in the sage and some salt. For the pork, I ran about 2/3 of it through the food processor, coarsely chopped the rest, and mixed in the parsley and some salt.

The onions and mushrooms were also chopped up in the food processor and then cooked in some olive oil until "dry". I add a splash of sherry and cooked them some more then seasoned with salt and pepper.

Assembly:

First the ham:

As you can see, it just covers the bottom of the pan. The rest of the pan is lined with the Swiss chard (which had been lightly steamed to soften it and then refreshed in ice water):

The chicken mixture went in first and then I added the green garlic, kind of pushing it into the meat a wee bit:

The mushroom mixture was spread on top of that and then the pork mixture was added:

And here it is, ready to go in its water bath:

I plan on nicking a brick out of the garden, wrapping it in foil for the weight.

Of course, it could turn out to be utter crap. We'll find out tomorrow! 

←

This looks pretty nice. Great ingredients and color. Tell you the truth, it probably has more fat than most of the vegetable/fowl terrines we've discussed. I am sure it will taaste as great as it looks. I do have a small question though, shouldn't the ham (great looking marbled ham as well ) be placed right AFTER the chard not before? I would think it will just come off the way you have it. Then again, what do I know. I've only made one measily terrine so far.

Elie

[Jensen]

This looks pretty nice. Great ingredients and color. Tell you the truth, it probably has more fat than most of the vegetable/fowl terrines we've discussed. I am sure it will taaste as great as it looks.

I did consider making a vegetable terrine but I really wanted a meat-based one. The nutritional information (calculated at NutritionData) shows that 1/6 of the recipe has 5 grams of fat.

It was the big pieces of fat and/or too much bacon in the traditional recipes that was scaring me off.

I do have a small question though, shouldn't the ham (great looking marbled ham as well ) be placed right AFTER the chard not before? I would think it will just come off the way you have it. Then again, what do I know. I've only made one measily terrine so far.

Elie

←

Yikes! I didn't even think of that. I thought it might just kind of drape over the top of the terrine, rather elegantly. I guess we'll find out, won't we?

[Carolyn Tillie]

BTW, here is an added trick. As SOON as your terrine comes out of the oven, weight it down until cool. If you've got air or settling during cooking, it will compact your terrine down perfectly. In the beginning of my terrine-making, I forgot this step and had several literally fall apart in a mid-section where there was layering.

Trust me.