This pork terrine is great to make ahead of time and have in the fridge for lunches or an impromptu aperitif, alongside some pickles and mustard.
If I was making this at work, I would use 100g less of each of the pork mince and sausage meat and add in 250g of pork shoulder, cut into small pieces and seasoned overnight with celery salt and garlic, but I like the simplicity of really good pork mince and sausage meat.
You could also add a layer of cooked or smoked chicken at the same time as the apricots.
Seáneen Sullivan is cook and owner at L Mulligan Grocer in Dublin 7.
Pork terrine
Makes one
Ingredients
10-12 slices of smoked streaky bacon
300g pork mince
400g sausage meat
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp each of cumin seeds, fennel seeds and coriander seeds, toasted for three minutes on the pan and bashed in a mortar and pestle
5 sage leaves, minced
85g nuts (I used macadamias, but pistachios or hazelnuts would be lovely too)
12 apricots, or about 80g, soaked in 30ml of whiskey overnight
Sea salt
Black pepper
Method
1. Remove any rind from the bacon before using the back of a knife to stretch the bacon out, then use the bacon to line a loaf tin, overlapping each slice slightly.
2. Mix the pork mince, sausage meat, garlic, spices and chopped herbs and nuts thoroughly. Fry a small bit in a pan and taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
3. Place half the mix into the bacon-lined loaf tin, then press the soaked apricots in a diagonal line across the surface of the pork. If you forgot to soak them overnight, you could heat them gently with the whiskey and then let them cool. Top with the remaining pork mince mix, then fold the bacon over the top and press to seal.
4. Place a piece of greaseproof paper on top of the terrine and cover with foil.
5. Place in a tray with water to halfway up the sides of the loaf tin.
6. Bake for 60 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius. Remove the terrine from the oven and put a similar sized tin on top with a few tins in it to weigh the terrine down as it cools. Allow it to cool overnight, or for at least three hours. Slice and serve.
Kitchen Cabinet is a series of recipes from chefs and cooks who are members of Euro-Toques Ireland who have come together during the coronavirus outbreak to share some of the easy, tasty things that they like to cook and eat at home #ChefsAtHome
