Don’t be discouraged by my photo. This was my first attempt and I didn’t have enough bacon to cover the terrine. Take a look at Vicky’s photo to see what it can look like.   Here‘s her recipe in Greek.  This terrine is a beautiful, super neat and super tasty alternative to  turkey stuffing, which is what attracted me to it in the first place. I do not like cooking stuffing in the turkey’s belly. You definitely need to go shopping first and then start cooking.  That’s what I did but  I, still,  ran short of bacon because I thought I had more in the fridge and when I saw I hadn’t  the snow was more than 30cm tall outside. Not a quick recipe but one that will reward you.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 500 grams beef/veal minced
• 1 medium size sausage
• 1 turkey liver (I used chicken liver, OK to leave it out if you don’t like liver)
• 1 slice of bread soaked in water and then drained well
• 2 tablespoons bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons pistachios (whole,  not chopped)
• 1 tablespoon walnuts, first sauteed, then chop ped
• 1 tablespoon almonds, white, chopped
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts, lightly sauteed
• 1 tablespoon golden raisins
• 5 dried apricots, cut in pieces
• 3 dates cut in pieces
• 3 dried figs cut in pieces
• 5 boiled chestnuts cut in pieces
• 1 green apple coarsely grated (skin and seeds removed)
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt (I used regular)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated black pepper
• 10 sage leaves sauteed in 1 teaspoon of olive oil (acceptable alternatives dried sage or thyme)
• 2 tablespoons brandy
• 2 tablespoons  madeira

How to make:

• Combine raisins, dates, apricots, figs and chestnuts in a bowl. Add brandy and maderia and let them stand.
• Saute the liver with a little oil, finishing off with a little brandy
• After the brandy has evaporated, the liver is ready to cut  in small pieces or mash with a fork
• Remove the skin from the sausage and cut in small pieces (do not cook it)
• In a big bowl combine the minced meat, liver, sausage, bread, grated apple. oil, sage, bread crumbs, salt and pepper
• Knead the mix very well!!! This is an important step. You need to mix very well for 10 minutes
• Add the fruit mix including the liquids
• Knead for 5 more minutes. Do not overmix at this stage. You don’t want the fruit to be mashed
• Knead in the chestnuts last
• Spread bacon slices in a bread form, covering the bottom and sides of the form entirely
• Put the meat mix in carefully –be sure to put it all at once
• Press the meat so there are no air pockets left and fold over the bacon stripes (if they are long enough)
• Cover with aluminum foil and cook in pre-heated over at 170 C or 340F for an hour
• When it’s ready, there will be lots of liquid in the form –turn it upside down immediately and collect the liquids in a bowl
• Leave the form uncovered and let the meat mix cool off
• To make gravy: remove the fat parts of  liquids (let it cool off for 30 min, the fat parts will surface), boil in saucepan until the sauce thickens, for more gravy add corn flour dissolved in water
• Lay the terrine  in a serving plate, cut in slices, decorate with three whole chestnuts and pour gravy on top

Notes and tips:  In my photo, there’s not enough bacon and I made the mistake of putting the meat mix in batches, as you can see. Also, there’s no gravy  or decorations because I took the photo right after I took the terrine out of the oven. I did the slicing and decoration before serving but that time was not appropriate for picture taking 🙂  Next time I’ll make the recipe, I’ll be sure to have enough  uncooked bacon and I will put the meat in one batch.