- 6
Ingredients
- 6 SERVINGS
- Eelegant first course. The breast meat is left in long, thin strips, remaining finely chopped. If you have a ceramic terrine mold, use it. Otherwise, a glass loaf pan is a perfect-game birds (pheasant
- Ingredients
- • 1 whole partridge, 10 to 12 ounces, or other game bird
- • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- • 1/4 cup Armagnac
- • 1 pound foie gras, cleaned
- • 3/4 pound fresh pork belly (or 1 pound if using a pheasant)
- • 1 egg
- • 2 teaspoons quatre epices, or 1/2 teaspoon each ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper
- • 3 ounces unsmoked bacon, pancetta, or ventreche, finely chopped
Preparation
Step 1
1. Bone partridge, removing as much meat from legs and wings as possible. Slice breasts lengthwise into thin strips, season with salt and pepper, combine with 2 tablespoons of the Armagnac in a bowl, and set aside.
2. Place the remaining partridge meat, the foie gras, pork belly, egg, quatre epices, salt, pepper, and remaining Armagnac in a food processor and process until fairly smooth. Do not overprocess. Add bacon, and pulse just to blend. Heat a nonstick skillet and cook a small ball of the mixture to test for seasonings. Adjust if necessary.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Brush inside of a 9 x 5 x 3-inch terrine or glass loaf pan with a little water.
4. Spread a 1 inch thick layer of forcemeat mixture in the bottom of the terrine. Add a layer of breast meat. Repeat with layers of forcemeat and breast meat, ending with a layer of the forcemeat. It is easiest to do this with wet hands. Place a folded kitchen towel in the bottom of a pan large enough to hold the terrine, and set the terrine on top. Pour enough boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the terrine. Bake until top of terrine starts to brown, then cover with aluminum foil and continue cooking until an instant read thermometer registers 160°F when inserted into the center of the terrine, about 1 hour total cooking time.
5. Remove terrine from oven and from water bath. Cover with a piece of cardboard wrapped in foil or with another terrine of the same size. Place a 1 pound weight on it, and let it cool for 1 hour. Remove weight, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 week to allow flavors to develop.