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This game terrine is a game changer with full flavoured, earthy notes from the rich minerally meat of pheasant, venison, wild duck breast and liver alongside the familiar tastes and textures of a comforting cut of pork. This classic ensemble of rich meat that regularly meet up in a game terrine is given a makeover by infusing it with the powerhouse accompaniment to steak that is peppercorn sauce.
Whilst maximising on flavour, we also minimise on preparation time with no need for hours of marinating. The intense flavours of a beefy peppercorn sauce enriched with cognac are blitzed down with half the meat to create a smooth and intense parfait in which the rest of the meaty morsels are combined before being encased in rashers of smokey bacon and then gently cooked in a bain marie / water bath.
The result is a decadent game terrine that is not only full of both intense and subtle flavours, it showcases course and silky smooth textures within a crispy bacon shell. A wonderful fusion of steak au poivre and classic game terrine. Enjoy with crisp sourdough toast, bright, tangy cornichons and sweet and savoury chutneys and preserves.
What's a terrine?
Traditional terrines, French dishes with similarities to pâté, were typically meat delicacies under the domain of professional Charcutiers alongside pâté, sausages, cured meats and confits. They generally consist of meat or vegetables suspended in either force meat or aspic (meat jelly) and cooked in a ceramic dish with a lid (also known as a terrine) in a bain maire.
Nowadays, meat isn’t essential for the dish with many vegetable and vegan options available. The common differentiation from a pâté, with which there too are many vegetarian and vegan options available, is that the terrine, even though is sliced and presented in a very similar way to a pâté, and at room temperature, the make-up is different. It contains either one ingredient a mix of ingredients, which traditionally were pork or other meats such as game, but altogether in differing forms. Sometimes whole, sometimes cut into slithers or pureed (forced). The result is a layered, multi-textured multi-patterned product highlighting the more individualistic characteristics of each form of an ingredient in one dish. In other words, not all blitzed up, set and served like pâté.
Terrines are striking, attractive dishes and often served in high-end establishments as they more often than not, contain luxury ingredients such as foie gras and truffle for example and, or are presented with a high degree of artistry. These characteristics of a terrine’s preparation potentially inhibit recipes being more widespread with the preparation techniques considered advanced with too lengthy a timescale for the home cook. Looking at many recipes, other than sourcing the ingredients such as game, which refreshingly are more available in supermarkets and butchers all year round, most tend to instruct that the meat, protein or star of the show needs to marinate in liquor overnight to impregnate it with more flavour and to tenderise it as well as cooking it with unfamiliar techniques.
No need for liquor marinating
With this game terrine recipe, we have nullified the reason to macerate the meat in liquor. The sauce we create provides this added flavour, and the fact that we have made a sauce in the first place means that the alcohol profile is cooked off, which would have been too intense had we only added it with terrine mix before baking. This substantially cuts down the preparation time.
It also opens up this recipe technique to using other incredible sauces that require cooking or reducing to create other terrine fusions. This technique could easily see a Thai chicken green curry or satay terrine created or even a Mexican pork mole or al pastor terrine for example. You don’t even need to use meat, you can explore fish or crustaceans or any vegetable you like.
A game terrine inspired by steak au poivre
This recipe has been inspired by a steak au poivre, whereby we often substitute a plump duck breast in place of a nice fillet of steak to pair with the rich beefy and creamy green peppercorn sauce, hence the track of thought to combine a duck terrine with the sauce in the first place. A beef steak and peppercorn sauce terrine would work well too but the textures of duck and game are well established and more traditional flavours and textures for a terrine.
The mix of meat can ultimately change depending on what game meat is available but generally, a butcher is likely to have a medley available for game pies and terrines consisting of duck, venison, pheasant and partridge. You may find mixes that have rabbit as well or wild boar which would only add to the richness of flavours.
For this game terrine recipe, we use approximately 250g of this game mix and pad it out with either more duck in the form of easily available duck breasts from a supermarket or an equally easily available loin of pork of the same weight. These meats will both be made into forcemeat and kept whole in the terrine to showcase their flavour and texture attributes. The contrasting texture required for this terrine comes from the liver. You can use either chicken liver for a softer flavour or duck liver for a more mineral flavour. This liver is also made into forcemeat and kept whole as well. When processed, the liver becomes beautifully smooth which creates a parfait for the rest of the ingredients to be suspended. The whole pieces left are firm yet creamy and add a wonderful lusciousness to the terrine.
How to make game terrine
To start making the terrine, we cut the livers in half and sear them off in a hot pan for no more then thirty seconds then take them out to rest. By doing this the livers will lose a little blood which will make the terrine less pink when we blend the livers and meat down. In the same pan we then add some diced shallots and saute until they are softened. The juices left from the livers will have caramelised, darkening the mix. Next, we deglaze the pan by pouring in a couple of tablespoons of brandy. This will bubble up immediately so stirring it through the shallots will help it absorb the flavour as much as possible and stir out the darker colours. The brandy reduces quickly so before it reduces entirely, add a good quality veal or beef stock to retain some of the raw flavour of the brandy which will essentially give the terrine a rich boozy flavour that is so nice in a pâté or terrine. Once the sauce has reduced by a third, the cream is added along with a teaspoon of ground and whole green or pink peppercorns, seasoned with sea salt then simmered until it coats the back of a spoon. Take the sauce off the heat to cool down.
Wrapped in bacon
With the rest of the meat, simply cut it all up into differing bite-sized pieces and divide it into two, keeping the better pieces in one pile which will be kept whole for the terrine and one pile to be turned into forcemeat with the peppercorn sauce. If you are using duck breast, remove the skin before chopping up the breast meat and finely dice the skin to be added to the pile of meat that will be processed.
When the peppercorn sauce has cooled, place it into a food processor or high-speed blender and add half the chopped meat and process to a smooth paste. Use a spatula to remove all of the paste and place it in a bowl and combine it with the rest of the chopped meat.
Next, we lightly butter a terrine or 1-litre loaf tin and layer over rashers of smoked streaky bacon so that there is a little overhang on each side. Twelve or so rashers will work. Then, add the terrine mix and smooth it into all the corners to avoid gaps of air. Once packed in, fold back the extra bacon rashers into the middle and tightly wrap the terrine in foil or baking paper.
It would be at this point in a regular recipe that the mix would then need to rest in a fridge overnight. With this game terrine recipe, because we have created this flavoursome sauce with the alcohol cooked off already we are ready to just go to the next stage and bake the terrine.
How to bake game terrine
To do this, pre-heat the oven to 160℃ and find a roasting dish large enough for the terrine/loaf tin to fit in. Make sure the roasting dish is not too large as this is the bain marie / water bath that you will need to fill up with hot water. If it is too large, you would require much more water and it would become too heavy and cumbersome to put in the oven. Place the covered terrine in the middle of the roasting dish and pour in hot water so the level just sits below the lip of the terrine. Then simply place it in the oven for one and a half hours. Once the one and a half hours is up, take the terrine, still in the bain marie / water bath, out of the oven and leave it on the side to cool down for another hour. This way the meat inside rests and firms up and retains the juices that would otherwise run out. Then place it in the fridge until completely cooled. You can place a heavy bottle or a couple of tins on top of the terrine to weigh the meat down if desired.
How to serve
When you are ready to serve, remove the baking paper or foil and turn the tin over on a plate or board to remove the terrine. Carefully wipe the terrine clean with a damp cloth. You can cut the terrine up at this point and serve, but for an extra special finish, it is nice to crisp up the bacon and glaze it. Firstly, the crispy bacon is tastier to eat and it looks more appealing too. Simply use a frying pan large enough to fit the entire terrine in and drizzle in some olive oil and redcurrant jelly. Once the jelly has dissolved, gently place the terrine inside the pan and fry each side covered in bacon for about a minute or so until nicely browned and glazed. Take it out of the pan and serve. Alternatively, you can keep the terrine in the fridge for up to four or five days.
This game and peppercorn sauce terrine looks great and is perfect for Sunday lunch or a Christmas day starter. It’s meaty, smooth, peppery and creamy all at the same time. Simply serve with toasted sliced sourdough, crispy cornichons and a sweet and savoury preserve such as onion or fig jam.
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Game terrine with peppercorn sauce recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g of mixed game venison, pheasant, wild duck
- 250 g of pork loin or duck breast
- 400 g of duck or chicken livers
- 230 g rashers of smoked streaky bacon
- 200 ml or ⅚ cup of beef stock
- 60 ml or ¼ cup 2 finely diced shallots
- 80 ml or ⅓ cup of double cream
- 2 tablespoon of brandy
- 1 teaspoon of whole green or pink peppercorns or ½ teaspoon of crushed peppercorns
Instructions
For the peppercorn sauce
- Add a little olive oil to a frying pan and place on a medium heat. Slice the chicken or duck livers in half and add them to the pan and quickly sear on all sides for 30 seconds. Take out the livers and set aside on a board to rest.
- In the same pan, add the finely diced shallots and saute for 4-5 minutes until soft and translucent. Pour in the brandy to deglaze the pan and stir into the shallots, reduce by half.
- Add the beef stock and reduce by a third then add the cream and green peppercorns and stir until the sauce thickens so that it coats the back of a spoon. Take off the heat and set aside.
For the meat
- Cut the mixed game meat and pork or duck into 2cm bite sized pieces. If you are using duck, remove the skin from the breast and finely chop the skin and set it aside from the meat.
- Reserve half the game mix, duck or pork loin and livers. Place the rest into a food processor or high speed blender along with the peppercorn sauce and finely diced duck skin and process to a smooth paste.
- Grease a 1 litre loaf tin or terrine mould with butter and line it with the rashers of streaky bacon leaving a little over hanging on either side. Combine the smooth paste with the whole pieces of game, pork /duck and livers and firmly spread the mix into the tin and fold the overhanging bacon back over the mix.
- Wrap the tin tightly with baking paper and place it into a larger roasting tin. Pour hot water into the roasting tin so that the water just comes below the rim of the terrine to make a bain marie.
- Place in a pre-heated 160℃/320°F oven for 1½ hours. Remove from the oven but keep the terrine in the bain marie for a further hour. Remove the terrine still in the baking paper and place in the fridge until completely cooled.
- Carefully remove the terrine from the tin and carefully wipe clean with kitchen paper. To crisp up the bacon sides and to glaze the terrine, put a little olive oil (and optionally some redcurrent jelly) in a frying pan large enough to fit the entire terrine. Carefully place the terrine in the pan and fry each side for a minute or so until browned. Remove and serve sliced with toast, cornichons, chutneys and preserves.
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