A Quick and Easy Terrine

Hill Sprints

I did 9 of theses starting at 8.7mph and finishing at 9.5mph all at 8% grades for ~10 seconds.  Total miles for the day was 5.

Terrine

Nine out of ten times if you ask me to pick between French and Italian cuisine, I'm going Italian.  However, my one weak spot is a French terrine or pate.  Normally, I'll break out the pork trimmings, heart, and liver from our free range pork to make this divine dish.  I grind it and carefully process with my own seasonings...

This time I had some hamburger from grass fed beef thawed and some partially thawed Johnsonville "hot" sausage. 

I was planning on ragu using the beef and my altered recipe that I had acquired while taking a cooking lesson in Balogna, Italy.  I changed my mind at the last minute, really Jonesing for terrine and took out the sausage and threw it in the microwave for a partial thaw.

Why the partial thaw?  I want to keep the meat really cold for the Cuisinart so that it doesn't "break."  If the fat gets too warm, it melts and the whole mess separates.

So I threw the meat (1 pound of hamburger, and 1 pound of sausage) into the food processor with:

1 cup cold milk

2 Tablespoons flour

2 Eggs

10 grams of salt

A finely processed mixture of black peppercorns, white peppercorns, red peppercorns, fennel and oregano (maybe half a teaspoon).  I have a blade coffer grinder dedicated for making my spice blends like this.

The whole thing is processed for about a minute until it is "sticky."

I then fold into this mixture:

Half an onion finely diced

A celery stick also ""

Three cloves of garlic (see above)

And a small can of sliced black olives (Lindseys 3.8 oz)

This was done in a steel bowl on ice to keep the fat from "breaking."

I slapped the mixture into a loaf pan, stuck a temperature probe in, cooked at 350 Fahrenheit until internal temperature was 145 Fahrenheit.  The water bath for cooking was in the oven pre-heated and ready to go.

I crashed cooled the finished terrine in a cold water bath.  I placed a similar pan on top with cans in it for weight to press the terrine.

I then prepared a pasta primavera.  My wife offered up some frozen pesto she had made last summer.  I cut zucchini, red peppers, carrots, celery, onions and garlic.  This got cooked in olive oil while I boiled some Penne pasta.   I mixed all of this together (not the terrine) with a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste.  The pasta really stole the show for this culinary episode.

For the second night of serving this terrine (now properly aged and cooled), I made pressure cooker mashed potatoes using:

1 large sweet potato

2 Red potatoes

3 Yukon golds

2 Russets

2 cloves of garlic

half an onion finely minced

After pressure cooking, the potatoes were mixed with a cup of preheated milk and 1/2 cup of melted butter.  I added 2 table spoons of sour cream, sprinkle of salt and Parmesan cheese to taste.  Oh, I had some drippings from the terrine that I added in at this point.  For greens, I served broccolini.

The terrine had a much better texture and flavor the for this meal.  You can never really rush a good terrine.  It is like soup in this way.

The mashed potato was also really awesome - one of the best I ever made.