Summer Terrine

This is an easy yet delicious chicken terrine is perfect for outdoor summer lunches and brunches. It can be prepared in advance.

600 g chicken breast fillets, 100ml Port wine or Armagnac, 200g minced veal and 200g pork mince, 200g minced chicken , 70g thin lardons  (if too thick cut in half to get matchstick lardons), 3 eggs, pink peppercorns, freshly ground pepper, salt, 1/2 bunch of chives and 1/2 bunch of flat parsley, 30g pistachios. 2 Fresh bay leaves

The night before cut the chicken fillets into long strips and marinate in the alcohol in the fridge. Take of your rings and get stuck into mixing the three minced meats thoroughly by hand. Add the chicken strips and the lardons, mix again adding the eggs. Season generously with pepper and pink peppercorns and Maldon salt. (At this stage you can fry a small amount of the mixture to check the seasoning). Add the finely snipped chives and the chopped parsley as well as the pistachios.

Put the mixture into a terrine dish with a lid taking around 1.5kg, smooth over the surface with a fork and put two fresh bay leaves on top for decoration. Put the lid on, place the dish into a bain-marie (water bath) and put in a fan assisted oven pre-heated to 250ºC. After half an hour reduce heat to 180ºC and continue cooking for 1 hour.

Serve this terrine cold, ideally with home made chutney, a little green salad and a good slice of country bread and a lovely glass of something chilled.

 Illustrations by Alice Ray