Duck Terrine Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Put the duck breasts and skin in a shallow dish, then place in the hot oven for 20 mins. Discard the shrivelled bit of skin that remains, then pour the duck fat into a bowl to cool. Reserve 6 bacon rashers, then roughly chop the remainder. Roughly chop the cooked duck meat.
• In a food processor, blend the chopped bacon, pork and duck in batches to a coarse texture, then tip into a large bowl. Tear up the bread and soak in the milk for 5 mins. Squeeze out the bread and put in the food processor with the shallots, garlic and livers. Process to a coarse texture, then add to the bowl, mixing well.
• Grind the peppercorns, coriander seeds and cloves to a coarse powder using a pestle and mortar. Stir in the cinnamon. Add the spices to the meat along with 4 tbsp reserved duck fat, the Cognac, eggs and 2 tsp salt. Mix together very thoroughly - the best way is to use your hands.
• Press half the mixture into a 1.5-litre baking dish or similar. Scatter over the pistachios and cranberries, then cover with the remaining meat mixture. Arrange the reserved bacon rashers over the top, tucking in the ends. Cover the dish tightly with foil, then put in a roasting tin. Pour boiling water into the tin to come halfway up the sides of the dish.
• Bake for 2 hrs, remove foil, then bake for 15 mins more to brown the top. Cool completely, then wrap in fresh foil and chill. For the best flavour, let the terrine chill and mature for at least 2 days before eating.
• TO FREEZE Make the terrine as stated, cool and then freeze. Defrost in the fridge before serving.

Steps:

• Cut the breast meat of the duck into 1/4-inch strips lengthwise. Slice the bacon similarly. Finely chop remaining meat, slice the liver into thin strips and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Place the duck breast and bacon in a bowl along with a generous amount of salt and pepper, the allspice, brandy, bay leaf and thyme leaves. Marinate the mixture for 24 hours in a cool place.
• Season the mushrooms and shallots with salt and pepper to taste. Saute them over medium heat in the butter until browned and soft. Set aside.
• In a bowl combine the ground pork, onion, reserved duck meat, liver and orange zest. Add the mushrooms and shallots, eggs and salt and pepper to taste. Work until thoroughly blended. Strain the brandy marinade and add to the ground meat mixture.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Line a 2-quart earthenware terrine with bacon strips. Arrange half of the ground meat mixture in an even layer in the bottom of the terrine. Cover with alternating strips of the marinated duck and bacon. Cover with the remaining ground meat. Press down more bacon strips on the top. Trim. Put on the lid.
• Place the terrine in a flameproof baking pan. Add enough water to cover the sides of the terrine by 2/3 and bring to a boil on top of the stove. When water boils place the pan in the oven and bake for 90 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Steps:

• Bloom the gelatin by sprinkling it over 1 cup of the duck stock in a small mixing bowl ¿ being sure to dissolve all of it. If the stock is gelatinous heat it slightly to bring it to a more watery consistency. Once the gelatin is dissolved place the bowl over a pot with simmering water in it and heat the mixture until it becomes clear. Mix in the apple cider vinegar and salt, to taste. Refrigerate until needed.
• Note: Depending on the richness of the stock used, the vinegar to stock ratio may need to be adjusted. The important thing is to keep the liquid (vinegar and stock) to gelatin ratio the same as it is in this recipe.
• Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Heat a nonstick saute pan over medium heat and lay in the duck breasts, skin side down. Reduce the heat to low once the fat starts to melt and cook the breast very slowly for about 30 minutes to render as much of the fat as possible. Increase the heat if needed so that the final product is a rendered duck breast with a golden brown skin side. Flip the breasts over in the pan and roast for 3 to 8 minutes (depending on the size of the breast) until medium rare. Let the breasts cool at room temperature and then refrigerate.
• Increase the oven to 400 degrees F. Peel the apples and slice them thin (about 1/8 inch) on a mandolin. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper. Toss the apple slices with oil and salt and pepper. Spread out on the sheet pans and roast until the apples are barely cooked through ¿ still slightly crispy on the inside. Let cool at room temperature.
• Cut the stems off the beet greens so that only leaves remain. Boil a small pot of salted water. Prepare an ice bath in a medium size bowl. Blanch the beet greens in the boiling water by submerging them completely for about 10 to 15 seconds. Spoon them out and plunge them in the ice bath. Set the greens out individually on paper towels to dry. Layer the towels several times if necessary.
• When the duck breasts have fully cooled slice them lengthwise into thin slices ¿ less than 1/8-inch thick. Soak the slices in the orange juice.
• Warm the aspic in the mixing bowl over simmering water.
• Line 2 small triangular terrine molds with plastic wrap. Layer beet greens over the plastic wrap to cover the inside of the terrine mold completely and leave overhang on the edges to fold over the top. Brush the greens liberally with aspic. Layer the sliced apples and brush liberally with aspic. Put down another layer of beet greens and brush with aspic. Set in a layer of sliced duck. Layer as much as needed so that the terrine molds are full. Be very liberal with the aspic. It is the glue that holds the terrine together. When the mold is full fold the plastic over the top and put on the lid ¿ pressing down to work out any air pockets. Use cans or anything else you have around the kitchen to put weight on the terrines while refrigerating.
• When the terrines are fully chilled remove them from the refrigerator. Turn them out onto a cutting board, using the plastic to pull it carefully from the mold without breaking them. Carefully slice each terrine into 8 portions. Lay them out on a sheet pan. Heat the remaining aspic (if any) and use it to glaze the faces of the terrine slices. Refrigerate until ready to serve. It's important to keep these cold until service, as they will become very difficult to plate when the aspic begins to warm.

Steps:

• Three to five days ahead, preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Gently separate the lobes and pick out and discard large veins and greenish bile, if any. Try not to break the liver up. (If not at room temperature, it will fall apart.)
• Place first lobe in a terrine large enough to hold the foie gras snugly. Sprinkle with half the salt and pepper. Splash on 1 tablespoon of the wine, layer the other lobe and any small pieces on top and add the remaining wine. Season with the remaining salt and pepper. Cover the terrine snugly with plastic wrap.
• Line the bottom of a roasting pan with a kitchen towel and place the terrine on top. Pour in enough hot (not boiling) water to come an inch or so up the sides of the terrine. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the foie gras reaches 115 degrees. (The U.S.D.A. recommends an internal temperature of 160 degrees.)
• Remove from oven and take the terrine out of the roasting pan. Place a weight on top and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Pour off any juices that have accumulated and use a gravy separator to separate the juices from the fat. Pour the fat back on top of the terrine. Discard juices.
• Refrigerate 3 to 5 days. To serve, slice thinly or use for French kisses and Gascogne sushi. Terrine keeps, refrigerated, up to 15 days.

Steps:

• Carefully cut the duck skin from the duck breast, then very finely chop the skin. Reserve 12 bacon rashers for lining the tin. Cut all the meat and remaining bacon into 1cm pieces, keeping the different meats separate (Step 1). Put all the best bits to one side.
• Reserve the chopped bacon and, from the best bits, reserve 100g chopped chicken, 250g chicken livers, half the mixed game, half the duck and half the duck skin.
• Put all the remaining meat and duck skin into a food processor (include any fattier pieces) and blend to a mince. Transfer to a bowl and add the garlic, allspice, juniper berries, parsley, Armagnac or brandy, wine and stock. Mix in the reserved chopped meat and marinate in the fridge overnight.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease a 1.5-litre loaf tin or terrine mould with butter. Lightly stretch the reserved bacon rashers (Step 2) and use most of them to line the tin or mould, overlapping slightly and leaving plenty of overhang at the top (Step 3). Pack the meat mixture into the tin (Step 4), then fold over the bacon overhang and lay the reserved rashers on top.
• Cover the terrine with baking parchment, then cover tightly with foil. Put a folded tea towel in a roasting tin and set the terrine on top (Step 5). Pour enough hot water into the roasting tin to come just below the rim of the terrine tin.
• Put in the oven, then reduce heat to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and bake for 1½ hrs. Take from the oven and leave to cool for 1 hr in the water bath, then remove and leave to cool completely.
• Once cool, cut a strip of foil or card to fit the top of the tin, put it on top of the terrine and weigh it down with a few heavy cans (Step 6). Chill overnight.
• Carefully remove the terrine from the tin, wipe off all the jelly and serve in slices with the toasts and cornichons.

Steps:

• Assemble and marinate terrine:
• Cook onion in butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet, covered, over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Transfer to a large bowl set in a bowl of ice.
• While onion cools, pulse salt, peppercorns, allspice, nutmeg, and bay leaf in grinder until finely ground. Add to onion mixture and whisk in cream, eggs, and brandy until combined well.
• Pulse chicken livers in a food processor until finely chopped, then add to onion mixture along with ground pork and veal and mix together well with your hands or a wooden spoon. Stir in ham cubes.
• Line bottom and long sides of terrine mold crosswise with about 6 to 9 strips of bacon, arranging them close together (but not overlapping) and leaving a 1/2- to 2-inch overhang. Fill terrine evenly with ground-meat mixture, rapping terrine on counter to compact it (it will mound slightly above edge). Cover top of terrine lengthwise with 2 or 3 more bacon slices if necessary to cover completely, and fold overhanging ends of bacon back over these. Cover terrine with plastic wrap and chill at least 8 hours to marinate meats.
• Bake terrine:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F.
• Discard plastic wrap and cover terrine tightly with a double layer of foil.
• Bake terrine in a water bath until thermometer inserted diagonally through foil at least 2 inches into center of terrine registers 155 to 160°F, 1 3/4 to 2 hours. Remove foil and let terrine stand in mold on a rack, 30 minutes.
• Weight terrine:
• Put terrine in mold in a cleaned baking pan. Put a piece of parchment or wax paper over top of terrine, then place on top of parchment another same-size terrine mold or a piece of wood or heavy cardboard cut to fit inside mold and wrapped in foil. Put 2 to 3 (1-pound) cans on terrine or on wood or cardboard to weight cooked terrine. Chill terrine in pan with weights until completely cold, at least 4 hours. Continue to chill terrine, with or without weights, at least 24 hours to allow flavors to develop.
• To serve:
• Run a knife around inside edge of terrine and let stand in mold in a pan with 1 inch of hot water (to loosen bottom) 2 minutes. Tip terrine mold (holding terrine) to drain excess liquid, then invert a cutting board over terrine, reinvert terrine onto cutting board, and gently wipe outside of terrine (bacon strips) with a paper towel. Let terrine stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving, then transfer to a platter if desired and cut, as needed, into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

Steps:

• Prepare duck terrine:
• Freeze milk in a shallow dish, scraping once or twice with a fork to break up crystals, until frozen, about 1 hour.
• Pull skin with fat off duck breast with your fingers, using a knife when necessary, then cut both skin with fat and breast meat lengthwise into 1-inch pieces that will fit in grinder. Chill meat and skin with fat, wrapped separately in plastic wrap, in freezer until firm but not frozen, about 1 hour.
• Set a medium bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water under grinder to catch ground meat, then feed meat (only) through grinder. Replace medium bowl in ice with a large metal bowl and feed meat through grinder a second time, adding spoonfuls of frozen milk as you go. Chill, covered with plastic wrap, in refrigerator.
• Feed duck skin with fat through grinder twice into a bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and cold water, then add to ground duck meat and set bowl in larger bowl of ice.
• Add remaining duck terrine ingredients to ground-duck mixture and mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until combined well. Chill, covered with plastic wrap, in refrigerator at least 8 hours to marinate meats.
• Glaze shallots:
• Bring wine, vinegar, sugar, salt, thyme, and bay leaf to a boil in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved, then add whole shallots and cover surface of liquid with a round of parchment or wax paper. Simmer shallots vigorously until tender, about 40 minutes, then transfer from cooking liquid to a bowl with a slotted spoon and discard thyme sprig and bay leaf. If liquid isn't syrupy, boil until reduced to about 1/3 cup. Pour over shallots and cool.
• Line and bake terrine:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F.
• Line bottom and all sides of terrine with fatback (or caul fat), overlapping edges slightly and leaving a 2-inch overhang on long sides. Rub some of duck mixture onto fatback lining to help the rest adhere, then pack in about two thirds of remaining duck. Create a wide trough lengthwise along the middle with back of a spoon. Embed drained shallots, reserving Port syrup, pointed ends down in trough. Pack remaining duck mixture on top. Fold overhang (adding more fatback if necessary) to cover top completely, then cover terrine with a double layer of foil. Rap mold firmly on counter to compact terrine.
• Bake terrine in a water bath until thermometer inserted diagonally through foil at least 2 inches into center of meat registers 155 to 160°F, 13/4 to 2 hours. Remove foil and cool terrine in mold on a rack, 30 minutes.
• Weight terrine:
• Put terrine in mold in a cleaned baking pan. Put a piece of parchment or wax paper over top of terrine, then place on top of parchment another same-size terrine mold or a piece of wood or heavy cardboard cut to fit inside mold and wrapped in foil. Put 2 to 3 (1-pound) cans on terrine or on wood or cardboard to weight terrine. Chill terrine in pan with weights until completely cold, at least 4 hours. Continue to chill terrine, with or without weights, at least 24 hours to allow flavors to develop.
• To serve:
• Run a knife around inside edge of terrine and let stand in mold in a pan with 1 inch of hot water (to loosen bottom) 2 minutes. Tip terrine mold (holding terrine) to drain off excess liquid, then invert a cutting board over terrine, reinvert terrine onto cutting board, and gently wipe outside of terrine (fatback) with a paper towel. Let terrine stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving, then cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices and serve on plates drizzled with reserved wine syrup.
• *Available at dartagnan.com.