Terrine - Voilà!

If you want to impress your dinner guests, you could make something French and fancy that looks like

it's really complicated. The Terrine is just such a recipe. You don't need any skills, really, its' made in advance and will basically cook itself so you have your hands free to prepare other things at the same time. The Terrine has many variations and can be made with fish, vegetables, or as in this case minced meat. Yes, it's basically a fancy meatloaf. It's served cold as a starter, and to spice it up a little I made a wasabi mayonnaise to go with it. Here's how you make it:

Terrine:

400 g. minced beef

400 g. pork sausages (casings removed)

1 small onion, shredded

1 clove of garlic

2 tbsp. cognac (or Brandy)

2 tsp. herbes de provence

A small handful of peeled pistachios 

1 pack of smoked bacon (to cover your mold)

2-3 large carrots, boiled for 12 minutes, cut in long sticks

Strips of meat of your liking (duck breast, pork tenderloin etc.)

Wasabi Maynaise:

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

Wasabi to taste (start with a little, as some is very strong)

A few drops of green food coloring (Optional)

Served with:

Pickled cucumber

Raspberry vinagaitte reduction (or a bit of jam will do)

Toasted sesame seeds

Toasted bread

 Start by mixing all the ingredients for the terrine except the bacon, strips of meat and carrots.

 Line your bread form with oven paper and a overlapping layer of bacon that goes up the side. 

 Fill about one 1/3 of the mince into the base. Press it well so you don't have any air pockets. Press a layer of carrots and strips of meat lengthwise into the mince. Put another layer of mince on top. Add some more carrots and meat strips lengthwise, but in opposite pattern of the previous (i.e. meat on the outside/carrots in the centre). Add the last third of mince, Fold the bacon over. Again, make sure everything is well pressed together.

Wrap the whole thing in tinfoil. Place it in bain marie in a 180ºC oven for 1.5 hour or until the centre reaches a temperature of 72º. Take it out and let it cool down while placing some kind of pressure on top (I used some folded cardboard with a pot full of water on top). Once it's cooled down a bit, put it in the fridge for at least 12 hours.

 Once refrigerated, and you cut into it, it should look something like this. Slice it to the thickness you like.

Mix the ingredients for the wasabi mayo and plate up with some pickled cucumber, a drizzle of some raspberry vinaigrette reduction and sprinkle it with some sesame seeds. Serve with a good loaf of bread.