Try this Game Terrines - Elk and Pork recipe, or contribute your own.
- salt
- 2 tb salt
- butter
- cajun seasoning
- terrines
- 3 bread pans; 9 1/4 x 5 1/4 x
- 3 lb bacon
- terrine #1
- 1 lb chicken livers washed
- 1/2 lb boneless pork loin cut in
- force meat
- 5 lb ground elk triple ground to a fine
- 2 1/2 lb ground pork triple ground to a
- 1/2 c marsala wine
- 1/2 c pistachio nuts coarsely
- 2 skinned & boned chicken
- terrine #2
- 2 lb frozen spinach leaves
- 1 red bell pepper seeded
- 1/2 lb boneless pork loin cut in
- 1/4 lb shiitaki mushrooms cut in
- terrine #3
- 1 jar cocktail onions
- 1 jar stuffed green olives
- 1 lb frozen spinach leaves
- Carbohydrate 127.698358705036 g
- Cholesterol 5163.78594244604 mg
- Fat 939.950369208633 g
- Fiber 57.837001288414 g
- Protein 1688.31159410072 g
- Saturated Fat 315.458109805755 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (8640g)
- Sodium 35114.9031438849 mg
- Sugar 69.861357416622 g
- Trans Fat 112.981710920863 g
- Calories 15985 calories
Step-by-step
- For the forcemeat- If the meat is not very smooth and fine after it has been ground 3 times, place it in small batches in a food processor and process it until it is very smooth and the consistency of the meat in a frankfurter. Add all the ingredients and mix thoroughly. When well mixed take a small portion of the meat and poach it in a little boiling water or saute it in a fry pan and test the seasonings. I prefer to saute the meat. If needed, correct to taste. Remember these will be eaten cold and the seasoning will not be as intense when cold so they should be a little over seasoned when hot.
- For the terrines- Using one pound per pan, line each pan with bacon, allowing the bacon to hang over the side so you can cover the tops when done. This is accomplished by starting each strip in the center of the bottom of the pan and working it up the sides and hanging the excess over the side. Continue until the pan is completely lined. This will require most of the pound of bacon.
- Terrine #1 - Place enough forcemeat in the bottom of the pan to form a layer about 1 inch deep. Pat in down firmly expelling all the air from the corners and bottom. Place a layer of the chicken livers on the meat, sprinkle with salt and the cajun seasoning to taste, and cover with another layer of meat. Again pack it down firmly expelling all the trapped air and sealing it to the bottom layer. Place the sliced chicken breasts on top of the second layer of forcemeat longways and again season to taste with the salt and cajun seasoning. Cover with a third layer of forcemeat and pack down firmly. The pan should be almost full to the top when done. Fold the bacon strips over the top of the meat, pat down firmly and cover with aluminum foil.
- Terrine #2- This terrine should be made in layers the same way as the first. Saute the mushrooms and bell pepper in the butter until just cooked and set aside. Squeeze the spinach with your hands to get all the liquid out. Construct the terrine using the mushrooms, spinach, bell pepper and pork loin, seasoning to taste as before, with the salt and cajun spice. The m ush rooms , spi nach and bel I pepper wi I I cook down a lot so add more than you think you need or you wont see them when you serve the terrine. The nicest part of serving the terrine is seeing the pattern the vegetables and meats make when you cut it.
Standard sausages are straightforward links, but traditional charcuterie terrines demand architectural precision within a loaf pan. Elk meat brings a lean, robust iron note that requires generous fat supplementation from pork and bacon to prevent the slice from crumbling upon serving. Processing the meat through a grinder three times develops the necessary myosin proteins to bind the mixture without adding breadcrumbs or heavy starches. If the mechanical grind still looks coarse after three passes, pulse small batches in a food processor until the mixture achieves the dense, homogeneous texture of a frankfurter. Achieving this fine emulsification is mandatory for structural integrity.
Preparing three separate pans simultaneously creates a massive volume of food that can overwhelm a standard household unless scaled down intentionally. Reducing the batch to a single bread pan requires cutting the ground elk and pork weights by two-thirds while maintaining the correct ratio of seasoning and fat. Scaling down also prevents meat spoilage if storage space is limited. When downsizing, ensure the bacon lining remains continuous so the meat stays encased during the thermal cooking phase. A single pan yields roughly twelve substantial slices, making portions easy to freeze.
Fresh elements behave differently inside a dense terrine loaf than preserved ingredients do. Fresh spinach and raw mushrooms release massive amounts of moisture during cooking, shrinking considerably and creating air pockets if not handled correctly. Squeeze cooked spinach completely dry by hand before layering it into the forcemeat. Conversely, jarred cocktail onions and stuffed olives contribute zero water weight but bring sharp salinity and acidity. Swapping fresh vegetables for jarred alternatives alters the moisture balance, so drain and pat dry any wet preserved items thoroughly.
Testing seasoning levels correctly requires cooking a small sample before filling the molds. Poach a nickel-sized piece of raw forcemeat in boiling water or fry it in a skillet until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Seasonings taste less pungent when consumed cold, so the hot test sample should taste slightly over-salted and aggressively spiced. Pack each meat and vegetable layer firmly into the pan corners to eliminate trapped air pockets that cause structural failure when sliced.
