Game Terrine - Serves 8–10

From Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

When cut, this terrine has a lovely marbled cross-section, made up of the different coloured game meats. It is delicious served with Cumberland sauce or a mildly spicy fruit chutney.

Ingredients

A selection of lean game meat, about 1kg in all, which could include:
Pheasant breasts (hung for about 5 days)
Pigeon breasts
Duck or other wild fowl breasts
Saddle and hindquarters of 1 rabbit, boned
Saddle and hindquarters of 1 hare, boned
Lean strips of venison (from the leg or fillet)
Strips of venison liver

Plus
Oil or fat for frying
300g streaky bacon rashers to line the dish

For the forcemeat:
500g sausage meat
Livers from all the game (if they’re not available, use about 175g chicken livers), finely chopped
2 handfuls of fresh white breadcrumbs
1 egg
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
Leaves from a few sprigs of thyme, chopped
5–6 juniper berries, crushed in a pestle and mortar
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
A splash of red wine
A splash of brandy
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

First of all make the ‘mortar’ that will hold the ‘bricks’ of the terrine together. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sausage meat and the chopped livers. Next add the breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, thyme, juniper berries and garlic. Add the wine and brandy, season with salt and pepper and mix everything together thoroughly, preferably with your hands.

Cut the game meat into strips of roughly the same size, about 2 fingers thick. Heat some oil or fat in a heavy-based frying pan and fry the game pieces, in batches, for about 2 minutes, until nicely browned.

Remove the rind from the bacon and run the back of a knife along each rasher to stretch it. Line a ceramic terrine dish or 1kg loaf tin with the stretched rashers of bacon, overlapping them slightly and leaving the ends hanging over the edges of the dish. Arrange a layer of forcemeat in the terrine, followed by a layer of game meat, then another layer of forcemeat followed by another layer of game meat, seasoning with salt and pepper between each layer. If you like, you can put the same kind of meat in each layer – i. e. a layer of rabbit, then pigeon and then pheasant. However many layers you end up making (I usually go for 3), be sure to finish with a layer of the forcemeat.

Fold the exposed bacon over the top of the terrine and cover tightly with kitchen foil. If your terrine dish has a lid on it, so much the better. Place the dish in a roasting tin half filled with hot water and cook in a moderate oven (170°C/Gas Mark 3) for 11/2–2 hours. Test with a skewer to see if it is cooked – if the skewer does not come out of the terrine piping hot, then it is not ready.

For the best possible texture and easy slicing, your terrine should be pressed as it cools. Find a piece of wood or plastic that fits snugly inside the terrine dish and weight it down with a brick or two. (Another similar-size dish or loaf tin with a brick inside often does the trick, but wrap it in cling film if you’re using a tin.) Leave the terrine for several hours or overnight, until completely cold.

To serve the terrine, slice it thickly with a very sharp knife and put it on serving plates with a small salad of lightly dressed green leaves and a blob of good fruit chutney. Bring toast to the table.

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