November 20, 2009
Duck Terrine, Part 1
Last year, Saveur Magazine, Issue 116 had a great spread and recipe on Duck Terrine. The kind with a lot of animal muscle and some liver chopped up with some fatback and seasonings, then cooked in a water bath. We were going to a fancy dinner party for New Year's Eve so I decided to give it a try. It turned out really well so I decided to make it again this year for Thanksgiving.
This is the kind of dish that requires several days so I got a start tonight. First you get some duck breast.
Separate all the fat and any silver tissue. (Holy hannah, look at all that fat that I can render for later use with some sort of confit. Also, after you render all that fat you get crispy duck skin to eat. YUM! A great party treat.
Chop into 1/2 inch pieces.
Mix with one finely chopped garlic clove, three torn bay leaves (holy shit, dry vs fresh is not a contest, get to a store and buy a bay plant, even if you keep it indoors), one tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, two tablespoons orange liqueur.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 3 days. The longer the duck marinates in the liqueur, the better the terrine.
I am kind of in love with the last picture because the duck looks so vibrant and the bowl is so shiny. Also, GOSSET! If you haven't tasted Gosset Champagne before, go now and get a bottle. One of the more affordable champagnes but one of very high quality that I would put up against some better known names. The color is golden and star bright. Very small bubbles. Leesy aromas, lemon zest and toast. These are all mirrored in the palate with a definite sense of lemon curd, oaty, toasty, nutty biscuit. The great acid in the this champagne gives it such a long, persistent finish. My mouth is watering after every drink enticing me to have more.
The camera battery died before my next paté step so it will have to wait until tomorrow. That is the key ingredient in terrine, next to different textures, patience.
Posted by kerewin at November 20, 2009 09:40 PM