Pork and pistachio terrine

It's never really "perfect picnic weather" in the UK, but when the wind dies down and the rain buggers off for half a day, I love to pack up some foil-wrapped parcels and head to a sunny patch of grass for some al fresco drinking. I mean dining. Following on from last month's mushroom pâté recipe (http://bit.ly/2rLw7qr), here's another hamper filler showcasing my highly intagrammable Le Creuset terrine.

I made this traditional farmhouse style pork terrine for our quarterly Barbican Life magazine - hello if you've made it here from there. Acquiring some new (secondhand) pots and pans recently sent me down a fascinating rabbit hole into the history of kitchenware style, where I learnt all about the Le Creuset manufacturing process, and made some shocking discoveries, like Catherine Holm is not an actual person... Anyway, I wrote it all down for the magazine article, which you can get here when it's posted online in mid-June: http://www.barbicanlifeonline.com/barbican-life-magazine/magazine-issues/

A few of my favourite kitchen items posing on the balcony (Don't panic, I took everything back inside straight after so they're not blocking the fire escape - Barbican resident private joke)

This recipe is inspired by one in Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking, first published in 1960. It's a classic pork and veal pairing, subtly flavoured with allspice, port and juniper berries, and I added chopped pistachios for some extra crunch.

Ingredients

6-8 shallots, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

500g pork shoulder, finely chopped 

450g sausage meat

400g minced veal

12 juniper berries, crushed

12 back peppercorns, crushed

1/2 tsp cloves, crushed

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1 tbsp fresh parsley and/or thyme

100g shelled pistachios, chopped

2 tbsp port or brandy

16 rashers of streaky smoked bacon

As with the mushroom pâté, if you don't have a terrine dish, rethink your life priorities and/or use a loaf tin instead.

Method

1. Gently fry the chopped shallots in a little oil until starting to colour. Add the garlic and cook for another few minutes, then leave to cool.

2. In a large bowl, combine the cooled shallots and garlic with all the remaining ingredients except the bacon. Mix well, then fry a small lump of the mixture to taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

3. Stretch the bacon rashers over the back of a knife so they are long enough to line the terrine or loaf tin with the ends overhanging (about 28cm) - as demostarted by tmy little helper in the pic-strip below:

4. Add the meat mixture to the bacon-lined dish, press down firmly and wrap the overhanging rashers over the top of the meat.

5. Place the terrine in a roasting tin with an inch of water and cook uncovered at 160C for 75 to 90 minutes, until the pâté is starting to come away from the sides of the dish.

6. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and add some weight to the top of the terrine. Most recipes recommend tinned food, but I found that the digital radio was a perfect fit - feel free to be inventive with whatever you have to hand in your kitchen...

7. Cool at room temperature, then pour off any excess fat before chilling until ready to serve; it should come out of the terrine mould quite easily.

To serve, wrap up tightly for transport to the picnic site then slice thickly - it's pretty firm in texture and shouldn't disintegrate when you chomp into it. It also keeps in the fridge for up to a week and freezes well; just thaw completely at room termperature. 

Happy picnicking!