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Ingredients
- 1 ¼ pounds ground pork (it should be half lean and half fat, the shoulder or butt is good)
- 8 strips lean pork meat, about ¾ inch wide by 8 inches long (about 6 ounces)
- 6 strips fresh backfat, about ¾ inch wide by 8 inches long (about 3 ounces)
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup good cognac
- 2 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons freshly ground white pepper
- ½ teaspoon thyme, chopped fine (fresh thyme is better)
- 1 bay leaf broken into pieces and chopped with a knife into powder (¼ teaspoon)
- 1/8 teaspoon saltpeter
- ¼ cup shelled and peeled pistachio nuts (Plunge the shelled pistachios into boiling water frT 2 minutes, the skin will then slide off.)
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 truffles (if one can afford), diced in small pieces (about ¼ cup)
- 1 ¼ pounds sweetbreads, blanched, sinews removed and pressed
- 2 tablespoons sweet butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 small carrot, diced (¼ cup)
- 1 small tomato, diced (½ cup)
- 1 medium onion, diced (½ cup)
- 3 sprigs parsley, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry
- ¼ cup Brown Sauce or 1 tablespoon Glace de Viande
Details
Servings 10
Preparation
Step 1
Mix all ingredients together carefully. Place in a vessel, cover with plastic wrap, and macerate for 48 hours in the refrigerator.
When buying sweetbreads, insist on getting the big roundish chunks. This is the larger and juicier gland of the veal. Soak in cold water for 2 to 3 hours to whiten the meat. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and let boil for 1 minute. Place under cold running water until cold. Pull out the sinews, i.e., the rubber-like pieces adhering to the meat. Place a towel on a ftat tray, put the sweetbreads on top, and cover with another toweL Then, place a flat tray or a platter on top and press down by putting weight on the tray. A 3- or 4-pound weight should suffice (canned foods or a pot of water may be used as a weight). Pressing the sweetbread extrudes the undesirable pinkish liquid and provides a white and compact sweetbread. Keep pressed for a few hours.
Melt butter in a heavy saucepan and roll the sweetbreads in it. Add salt, pepper, carrot, tomato, onion, parsley, cover with a piece of waxed paper and place in a preheated 400° oven for 20 minutes.
Remove the paper and add the sherry and the gravy. Cook uncovered for 10 more minutes. Remove the sweetbreads to a plate and strain the juices, pressing with a spoon to extrude all the juices. Reduce the juices to ½ of a cup. Add the reduced juices to the meat mixture and mix well.
Bardes
Use ¾ of a pound of fresh pork fatback, sliced with a machine parallel to the rind into 1/8-inch thick, 3-inch wide by 8-inch long slices. These “leaves” of fat are used to line the mold before placing the mixture in it. It serves to protect and enrich the terrine during cooking. Line an earthenware or Pyrex terrine (about 8 inches long by 4½ inches wide and 3 inches deep) with the bardes. Let the fat hang over the sides so that it can be folded back over the mixture to cover it completely.
If you have large pieces of sweetbreads, cut into halves lengthwise. Place enough of the meat mixture in the bottom of the terrine to cover 1 inch. Layer sweetbreads, pork strips and fatback strips alternately with more meat mixture until all ingredients are used. Fold the bardes over the terrine. Place in a deep tray and add water so the level comes to about ½ of the height of the ternne. Cook in a 325° oven for 2½ hours. The internal temperature should reach about 155° to 160°.
Remove the terrine from the water and cool at room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let rest in the refrigerator at least 1 day before slicing. Serve slices with diced Aspic and small sour pickles. Keeps for 1½ weeks in the refrigerator.
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