Chicken Terrine With Sage And Pistachio Food

CHICKEN TERRINE WITH SAGE AND PISTACHIO

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
• Line a 21 cm x 14 cm loaf pan (or ceramic terrine pot) with bacon slices, leaving excess hanging over the sides.
• Heat olive oil in a pan. Add chopped onion and sauté for 4-5 minutes, until translucent and soft.
• Add crushed garlic and dry sherry. Cook for 1-1,5 minutes. Put onion mixture into a bowl.
• Grind the skinless chicken breast fillet in a food processor for 2-3 minutes. Add to the onion mixture and mix by hands. Add 1 tsp salt (add less if the bacon is salted) and ¾ tsp freshly ground pepper. Mix them.
• Put half of the chicken mixture to separate bowl. Add 2 tbsp finely sliced sage leaves and mix them. Taste and season if it's necessary. Be careful if the bacon is salted, add less salt to the mixture. Press half of this sage leaves-chicken mixture into the lined loaf pan. Smooth the top. Set aside the other half.
• Add pistachio and orange zest to the other half of the onion-chicken mixture and combine them. Spoon this mixture to the top of the sage leaves-chicken mixture in the loaf pan. Then spoon the remaining sage leaves-chicken mixture to the top of the pistachio-chicken mixture. Press 3 levels to push the air out.
• Fold overhanging bacon slices over the top of the filling, cover with bacon perfectly.
• Press down the surface again to make it smooth.
• Grease a sheet of foil and press it on the top of the bacon covered filling, with oily side down.
• Wrap the whole loaf pan well in foil and place into a roasting tin.
• Fill the half part of the roasting tin with hot, boiled water.
• Place the roasting tin to the preheated oven very carefully. Cook for 1 hour 15 minutes, until the terrine feels solid when you press it gently.
• Lift the loaf pan out of the water. Unwrap the loaf pan from the foil but leave the oily foil on the top of the terrine.
• Pour out the unnecessary liquid from the terrine. Set aside to cool. Chill overnight, that's the best.
• Before serving, turn the terrine out from the loaf pan on to a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 200°C and brown the bacon on the top of the terrine for 20 minutes. It's possible to serve cold also and you can skip this step.
• Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a small saucepan and throw the fresh sage leaves in it for 10 second then place fried leaves to paper towel for a minute to absorb unnecessary oil. Then decorate the top of the terrine with it. It's very delicious with onion or fig chutney also, look at my chutney recipes on the site. Enjoy!

CHICKEN TERRINE WITH LEEKS & APRICOTS

Steps:

• Put the chicken thighs into a pan with the stock and a string-tied bundle of 2 bay leaves, a few of the thyme sprigs and a little of the parsley. Add a few leek trimmings, the peppercorns and ½ tsp salt. Add water to just cover the meat, if needed. Bring to the boil, then cover and gently simmer for 30 mins.
• Meanwhile, lightly butter a 900g loaf tin (ours was 12cm x 22cm x 7cm) and line with cling film, leaving plenty of overhang. Melt the butter in a frying pan, then add the leeks, shallots and some seasoning. Cook for 10 mins over a medium heat until starting to colour. Add the bacon and garlic and cook for 2 mins more until the bacon is cooked through. Leave to cool.
• Add the chicken breast to the stock mixture and top up with hot water to cover. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for another 20 mins. When ready, the chicken breast will be cooked through and the thigh meat will pull away easily from the bones. Lift the meat from the pan, drain the stock and leave to cool until it is just warm.
• Discard the bones and any knobbly bits, then roughly chop the chicken. Stir into the leek mixture, along with 2 tsp more thyme leaves, the apricots and the brandy.
• Soak the gelatine in cold water for 5 mins until floppy. Squeeze out the excess water, stir into 300ml of the warm stock, then mix with the chicken. Put a few bay leaves in the base of the tin, then spoon the chicken mixture on top and press down well. Cover with the cling film. Leave to cool, then chill thoroughly - overnight is best. Can be made up to three days ahead.
• To serve, slice the terrine while it's still wrapped in cling film, then carefully peel the cling film off each slice. Drizzle the toast slices with olive oil and grill until golden brown and crisp, then sprinkle with a little salt. Serve the terrine with the toast and our yogurt piccalilli & crisp kale salad.