Terrines Through the Seasons: Chicken and Hazelnut Terrine

Rick’s Chicken and Hazelnut Terrine

Ingredients

• 8 cups rich chicken stock*
• I lb. sliced bacon
• 1 lb. mixed dark & light boneless chicken
• ¾ lb. fresh pork fat, cubed
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground white pepper
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 4 oz. toasted, skinned whole hazelnuts

Directions

1. Boil stock in large saucepan over medium-high heat until reduced to 1 cup. Remove from heat and cool completely.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Line a 5-cup terrine mold with bacon slices, allowing part of each slice to hang over the sides. Set aside.
4. Cut ¼ lb. of chicken into medium dice and set aside. Combine remaining chicken and fresh pork fat in a food processor and chop coarsely.
5. Transfer ¾ of this mixture to a large bowl. To the mixture still in the food processor, add the eggs, salt, flour and white pepper. Process until creamy and add to the coarsely chopped mixture. Omit salt if reduced stock is extra salty.
6. Add the cream, hazelnuts, diced chicken and stock and blend all together. Mixture will be soupy.
7. Pack mixture into lined terrine, fold bacon slices over top and cover with a layer each of parchment paper and aluminum foil. Place terrine in a roasting pan and place in a preheated 350-degree oven. Fill roasting pan with boiling water halfway up terrine mold.
8. Bake for 1 and ½ hours or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
9. Remove terrine from baking pan, cool completely and refrigerate overnight, weighted with a foil-covered brick or heavy cans.
10. Remove foil and parchment paper, then unmold the terrine by sliding a knife around the edges and inverting onto a clean platter. You may need to dip the bottom of the terrine in a pan of hot water to get it to release.

Serve sliced as a first course with salad or as an appetizer on crusty bread or crackers.

*RICH CHICKEN STOCK (Semi-homemade)

Ingredients

• 4-5 lbs. chicken drumsticks or thighs
• 3 large carrots, cut into large pieces, unpeeled
• 2 large onions, quartered, unpeeled
• 3 ribs celery, cut into large pieces
• 2 boxes low-sodium chicken stock (32 oz. each)
• 1 bunch thyme
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns

Directions

1. Place chicken, carrots, onions and celery in a large roasting pan and place in 300-degree F. oven.
2. Roast until chicken is done (165 degrees F.), vegetables have browned, and any juices have evaporated and caramelized on the bottom.
3. Transfer chicken and vegetables to a large soup pot, add thyme, bay and peppercorns and almost all the stock. Pour remaining stock into the roasting pan, dissolve all the brown bits and then add to the soup pot.
4. Simmer at a low boil, covered, for 3-4 hours. Remove chicken and save for another use and remove and discard thyme and bay leaves. Strain stock and discard solids.
5. You may chill overnight to remove fat that floats to the surface and hardens.