Pheasant, Pork Belly & Foie Gras Terrine + Artisan Bread in 5 minutes
Arrghh… My internet connection hasn’t been working for days. I almost feel like a normal human being again except that the real life is not as much exciting as this blogging world. I much rather be here with you and talk about how to make a terrine from scratch or about wrestling matches between pigs versus humans.
Imagine coming face to face with Conan the Barbarian in a narrow hallway… That’s how the pheasant, the duck and the pig felt when they met me. Poor things! Why did they have to be born so delicious? What a curse… Oh well, get over it!!
It’s really not hard to make a delicious terrine from scratch, all you need is a good butcher, a little patience and of course… a serious dose of pork love. If you don’t know what pork love is you haven’t been looking hard enough.
The meat for the terrine is cubed, tossed in garlic, thyme, four spice, cognac and pink salt on the first day, then left to marinate and cure overnight. The next day the fragrant mixture is ground (that’s where it helps to have a good butcher, he can do this for you), then packed into a terrine and cooked at low temperature in a bain-marie for 2 hours. The hardest part is giving the terrine a rest in the refrigerator for the next 2 or 3 days before cutting a slice, it helps develop the flavor, but when you finally do.. oh wow. It’s a valse of flavors.
I thought this terrine would be a great opportunity to try to make ZoeBakes bread after reading the great reviews it got everywhere on the internet. So i went ahead and bought her book (with co-author Jeff Hertzberg) Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and jumped right in the flour bin. I was rescued and revived a few hours later… that will teach me not to read a recipe to the end. I started a batch… It took me exactly 3 minutes and 12 seconds. Zoe and Jeff clearly didn’t take into consideration the 10 cups of coffee I drink everyday when they named the book. It was fantastic! Great crust and all. I was really impressed. No no.. don’t count on me to reveal a blogger’s secret. Go ahead and buy the book and you’ll be making breads like this one in no time at all.
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Pheasant, Pork Belly & Foie Gras Terrine
Recipe adapted from Daniel Boulud -
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Serves a bunch
- 1 whole pheasant, boneless, skinless, meat cut into strips. (you can have your butcher do this for you)
- 14 ounces pork belly, cubed
- 6 ounces fresh foie gras, denerved and deveined, cut in chunks
- 5 ounces chicken livers
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon cognac
- 1 sprig of thyme, leaves chopped
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pink salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon four-spice (ground black pepper, ground cinnamon, ground
- nutmeg and ground cloves in equal parts)
- 3 ounces country bacon, cut into chunks
- 3 ounces smoked bacon, cut into chunks
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- In a large bowl, combine the pheasant meat with the pork belly, foie gras, chicken livers, garlic, white wine, brandy, thyme, pink salt, pepper and four-spice. Cover with plastic wrap and let meat marinate overnight in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 250’F. Pass the meat mixture and bacons through a meat grinder set on medium (you can have a butcher do this for you)
- Place the meat in the bowl of a stand-up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat the mixture on medium-high speed for 15-20 seconds. Don’t overdo-it or there will be spanking! That step is important in creating an ’emulsion’ between the fat and the meat and in distributing the seasoning evenly.
- Pack the mixture into a terrine mold. Even the top with wet fingers, yes it’s just like play-doh. And if it’s pork fat, it’s gotta be fun! Don’t lick your fingers though. Wrap the terrine in aluminum foil and place in a shallow dish, pour warm water to come halfway up the sides.
- Place in the oven and cook until the temperature inside the terrine reaches 165’F. I know, i screwed up. Mine reached 166.3F… I was too busy chatting on twitter.
- Remove the terrine from the water bath and let it rest for a few minutes. Remove the foil. Cut a piece of cardboard the size of the top of the terrine and wrap it in aluminum foil. Wrap the terrine in plastic wrap, place the cardboard on top and weight it down with cans, weights.. whatever!
- Place the whole thing in the refrigerator and forget about it for at least 2 or 3 days before cutting the first slice. I know it’s hard, but you can do it! Enjoy with Zoebakes’s bread!