Chicken Terrine with Herbs and Pink Peppercorns

A terrine is handy to have in the fridge over the holiday period.  Serve as a light lunch or starter with salad, or as part of a buffet.  My terrine dish is made from glazed pottery and holds 3 liters.  It has a lid and was made in France.  A metal or silicone loaf pan will do.  You can use pink peppercorns in brine or the dry ones which I buy from The Essential Ingredient.  I’ve put “About 700g of chicken mince” because if you buy it prepacked and it happens to be 100g more or less, it doesn’t matter, throw it all in.  Same with the breasts.

When you tip it out there will be a certain amount of jelly surrounding the terrine.  You will probably want to throw this away, although our golden retriever thought it was quite delicious mixed in with his boring dry biscuits for dinner!

Chicken Terrine with Herbs and Pink Peppercorns

5-8 slices of prosciutto or pancetta (enough to line your terrine)
About 700g chicken breast meat
About 700g chicken mince
1 small onion or a couple of shallots, very finely chopped
1 cup cream
1 egg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 Tbs pink peppercorns
3-4 Tbs finely chopped herbs (I used a mixture of parsley and marjoram)
2 Tbs brandy

Preheat oven to 200°C.  Lightly oil the terrine dish, then line it on all sides with a single layer of pancetta or prosciutto.  Trim chicken breasts of any fat, then cut into 2-3cm cubes.  Use your food processor to chop the herbs and mix with the chicken breast, stirring to coat thoroughly and adding salt and pepper to taste. Mix chicken mince with remaining ingredients, using food processor to chop the onion or shallots.  When thoroughly mixed place half the mixture in the terrine, spreading evenly, then arrange all of the chicken breast cubes on top, then the rest of the mince mixture.  Press down well, cover terrine with the lid or with a piece of foil.  Place in a large dish such as a lasagne dish or a baking pan and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the terrine dish.  Bake for an hour, then remove from the oven, cool thoroughly, then refrigerate overnight.  Some terrines need to be weighted overnight, but I found this didn’t need it.  To serve, loosen the terrine and tip out, then cut into slices.  If it’s difficult to remove, you might need to dip the bottom of the terrine into boiling water.  If liked, garnish with some extra pink peppercorns and serve with Sweet Mustard Sauce.

Cuts into about 10 thick slices.

Sweet Mustard Sauce
1 Tbs English mustard
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 Tbs grainy mustard
1 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs vinegar (white or cider)
3 Tbs cup olive oil

Place all ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake well.  Leave overnight for the sugar to dissolve.

Note: this mustard sauce goes very well with Gravlax for which I would add a couple of tablespoons of finely chopped dill and 3-4 Tbs mayonnaise (preferably home-made) to make the sauce less hot.

One thought on “Chicken Terrine with Herbs and Pink Peppercorns

  1. Can’t wait to try this as it looks and sound delicious – not to mention that I’ve never had a recipe of yours that hasn’t been superb!!! Keep up the good work.

    Mazza

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