Rachel Allen's Recipe
Game terrine with celeriac remoulade
Serves at least 6
I adore this kind of food for casual entertaining: thick slabs of a wonderful rustic winter terrine sitting on slices of crusty white or sourdough bread and some tangy celeriac remoulade on the side. This is great to serve for lunch when having friends staying over for the weekend. If you have a mincer, the texture will be better, however, you can mince meat in a food processor by pulsing a few times to get very small pieces.
25g (1oz) butter, plus extra for greasing
1 large onion, peeled and very finely chopped
Salt and ground black pepper
300g (11oz) boneless mixed game bird meat, minced or pulsed in a food processor
200g (7oz) minced pork (at least 20% fat)
50g (2oz) streaky bacon, minced or pulsed in a food processor
Large pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
3 juniper berries, crushed
2 tsp chopped thyme leaves
8–10 rashers of streaky bacon, rind removed
25g (1oz) shelled pistachios
2 boneless game breasts (about 200g/7oz in total), such as pheasant, pigeon, partridge or woodcock, cut into strips
Bay leaves and juniper berries, to decorate
For the celeriac remoulade
1⁄2 celeriac
250ml (9fl oz) mayonnaise
Juice of 1⁄2 lemon
2 tsp wholegrain or Dijon mustard
13x23cm(5x9in) loaf tin or casserole dish
1 Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the chopped onion with some salt and pepper, then cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for about 8–10 minutes or until the onion is softened and slightly golden. Set aside to cool.
2 Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the minced meats with the nutmeg, juniper berries and the chopped thyme and season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked onions, then fry a little bit of this mixture in a hot pan and taste for seasoning.
3 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4, and butter the loaf tin.
4 Place the bacon rashers between two sheets of cling filmand roll out with a rolling pin to make the bacon slices thinner and longer. Peel away the cling film from the bacon and linea loaf tin or small casserole by placing the rashers slices side by side along its width, making sure that each piece hangs over each side as it will be folded back over the top of the terrine.
5 Spread one-third of the minced meat mixture over the baconon the bottom of the tin, then scatter with half the pistachiosand arrange half the pieces of game on top to cover the surface. Spread out a second third of the minced meat mixture, followedby another layer of the pistachios and game fillets. Fill with theremaining minced meat mixture, level out with the back of a spoon, then fold the overlapping bacon back over the top to cover.
6 Cover with foil, place in a bain-marie (a roasting tin filled toa depth of a few centimetres with boiling water) and bake in the oven for about 11⁄2 hours or until cooked through or firm tothe touch in the centre. (To check that it’s cooked, insert a metal skewer into the centre of the terrine and leave for 10 seconds; the skewer, once removed, will then feel too hot to hold against the inside of your wrist.) Remove the foil after the first 45 minutes.
7 Let the terrine sit in the loaf tin for about 20 minutes before turning out onto a plate and allowing to cool to room temperature. Decorate with some bay leaves and juniper berries.
8 Meanwhile, make the remoulade. Peel and finely slice the celeriac into matchstick-sized pieces or grate using the roughest part of the grater or in a food processor. Then mix with the remaining ingredients in a bowl, seasoning to taste.
9 Cut the terrine into slices and serve with crusty white or sourdough bread and the celeriac remoulade.
Rachel’s tip
If you are using your own game meat, use it from the legs, thighs, kidneys, livers and hearts. If you or someone you know has shot a pheasant, pigeon or partridge, you could use up the whole bird in this dish: I tend to use two pheasants or one pheasant and one pigeon, but you could otherwise use a pack of mixed game from the butcher or a supermarket.
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Herb-Roasted Rabbit
2 tablespoons olive oil 1 rabbit
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2/3 cup white wine
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
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PHEASANT CASSEROLE:
INGREDIENTS:
- One pheasant (will do 2 people).
- Pack of lardons - 250g.
- 700mls of chicken stock (1.5 pints).
- Approx 6 shallots.
- Approx 10 mushrooms.
- 2 bay leaves.
- Dash of red wine.
- Red current jelly.
- Cornflower.
In casserole dish, add a small bit of butter and olive oil.
Add in a pack of lardons (chopped bacon bits).
Then sear all sides of the pheasant (about 1 minute per side) in the casserole containing the lardons, until the skin the pheasant is golden brown.
Add in 700mls (1.5pints) of chicken stock, 6 shallots, a dash of red wine and 2 bayleafs. Season with black pepper- no need to add salt as the lardons and chicken stock will have plenty.
Put lid on casserole and place in oven at 180 degrees C for 1 hour.
Remove from oven after an hour and add about 10 unsliced mushrooms and place back in oven for a further 30 minutes.
Then remove from oven again, and remove pheasant from casserole dish, placing it on a carving board. Add 3 tablespoons of red current jelly and 1.5 tablespoons of cornflower to the sauce to thicken it up.
