Venison Terrine..

I only make this strongly-flavoured terrine at Christmas. It’s perfect winter eating, and is one of Mr Sat. Night’s favourites. As we’re a fully ‘grown-up’ house now we serve this as a starter on Christmas Day, and then have it as various lunches, snacks etc. after that. I’d say that kids would absolutely hate it – it’s probably too rich for them.

It’s loosely based on Delia Smith’s Venison and Pistachio terrine, from her ‘Winter’ book. I’ve changed, added and subtracted to  it over the years. I serve it, in fairly thin slices, with some of its own jelly alongside, with Sourdough toast, or homemade wheaten bread, https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/jonnys-nannys-wheaten-bread/, and some Cranberry Compote https://eatingforireland.com/2017/12/04/homemade-cranberry-compote/, or Red Onion Marmalade. https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/red-onion-marmalade-with-wine-and-port/

The other reason I like it is because it gives my lovely French terrine dish (which I bought years ago, at a market in France) its annual outing – that’s it in the pictures 

EQUIPMENT:

• A deep terrine (ok, I’m just showing off here) or a 2lb loaf tin
• A large bowl, to mix everything together
• Grease-proof paper and tin foil
• string
• A roasting tray that will hold your terrine/loaf tin.

INGREDIENTS:

For the terrine:

• 500g minced venison
• 500g minced pork
• 250 venison pieces, cut very small
• 250g rind-less streaky bacon, chopped small
• 1/2 a teaspoon of ground Mace
• 30 juniper berries, crushed – wait until you smell these!
• 2 teaspoons of mixed peppercorns, roughly crushed
• 2 decent tea spoons of salt
• 100g chicken livers, chopped small
• 2 heaped dessert spoons of Cranberry compote
• Handful of fresh Thyme leaves.
• 250mls dry white wine
• Good splash of brandy

To decorate:

• 250g rindless streaky bacon (this lines the tin)
• 250g butter, melted
• bay leaves, peppercorns, sprigs of thyme

METHOD:

• Put all the terrine ingredients, except the wine and brandy, into the bowl.
• Using a wooden spoon or a couple of forks, mix everything together until you can see that it’s all evenly distributed.
• Add the wine and brandy, and mix again.

• Put a tea towel over the bowl, and leave it in a cool spot to marinate for a couple of hours.

• Then turn your attention to the tin – stretch each slice of streaky bacon with the blade of a flat knife, and line the terrine. There should be some overhang at the sides of the bowl.

• Heat the oven to 160 fan.
• Pack the mixture into the terrine, pushing it down well, and folding over the ends of the bacon slices. I had some left over this morning, so I put it into a separate bowl to give as  a Christmas present – you could of course make individual portions to give as gifts –

• Cover the container with a double layer of grease-proof paper and top it with a double layer of the tinfoil, and tie it firmly with the string.
• Place it into the roasting tin, and add boiling water until it comes up about 2-3 cms up the side of the terrine
• Bake in the oven for 2 hours. There will be a lovely smell as it cooks, and some of the juices will drip into the water, but that’s fine.
• After the cooking time is up, remove the terrine from the oven, pour away the water, and allow to cool for about an hour on a cooling rack.

• Then weight it down with tins of beans or something similar, and leave it to cool entirely – this usually takes overnight in our house (there can be some spillage, so put a tray under the cooling rack).
• The next morning, remove the wrapping and have a look. There will be a layer of gelatine surrounding the whole thing – my advice is to leave that where it is, it keeps the terrine moist.  Some fat will have risen to the top, I tend to scrap that off with a flat knife.

Decorating –

• Arrange the leaves, peppercorns etc. on the top of the terrine. Get your artistic streak on!
• Melt the butter.
• Pour over the melted butter, avoiding the solids at the bottom of the pan.

• Make sure everything is submerged in the butter (this will preserve the toppings too)
• Allow to cool, then cover with cling film (try not to let it touch the melted butter) and chill in the fridge until needed.
• Remove from the fridge about 45 mins-1 hour before serving.
• Serve, in thin slices, with some of the gelatine on the side, as suggested in the introduction at the top of this recipe.

NOTES:

•  I  try to clean the sides of the baking dish, but I rather like the rustic look of the drips down the sides, so I don’t really try too hard! It makes sense to clean the bottom though, to save your best Christmas tablecloth.
• If you’re going to freeze this, it’s best not to decorate it. Clear off the fat and jelly, then wrap in a double layer of greaseproof paper first, then the same of tin foil, then pop it into a freezer bag. Freeze for up to a month.
• This  Terrine comes in a really handily over the Christmas period if you need to rustle up a tasty something for family or friends – may I suggest some toasted Sourdough, the terrine, some leaves if you have them, and a nice big dollop of my Cranberry Compote https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/homemade-cranberry-compote/ Your visitors will be well impressed!