Duck terrine

I had some roast wild duck left over just before Christmas and so I came up with this terrine as a tasty way of using it up.  My mum gave me some mushrooms as she had picked up a bargain box from the market so the middle layer is the mushroom mixture I use for Beef Wellington with a dash of double cream and roasted chestnuts added.  The whole thing was a winning combination with a good mix of texture and taste.

You could use leftover chicken, pheasant or indeed any fowl to make this terrine.

200g duck (already cooked and stripped off the bones)
6 sausages
6 rashers middle bacon
150g mushrooms, wiped and chopped chunkily
100g roasted chestnuts ( I used the vacuum packed variety), chopped chunkily
25g butter
1 onion, chopped finely
3 tbsp double cream
2 tbsp Marsala or Madeira wine
2 tbsp chopped parsley

Method

Line a loaf tin with the rashers of bacon, overlapping them and leaving a good overhang so that they will stretch over the top of the terrine at the end. I alternated using the back part of bacon with the rasher part which helped fill the gaps better.

Melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat and add the onion and fry until golden, remove to a plate.  Add the mushrooms to the same pan and cook until golden, add the onions back to the pan and add the chestnuts.  Add the Marsala and reduce by a half and then stir in the cream and bubble for a moment and then take this off the heat. Add the chopped parsley and stir to combine.

Take the skin off the sausages.

Place the duck meat into a food processor with half the sausage meat (i.e. the meat from 3 of the sausages) and pulse until fairly smooth and combined.

Place half the duck mixture into the bottom of the terrine and spread out evenly.  Next add the mushroom mixture and spread evenly.  On top of this layer the remaining sausage meat and then the final layer of duck mixture. Wrap the overhanging bacon rashers over the top of the terrine until it is completely covered.  Cover tightly with foil and bake in a preheated oven at 180°c (gas mark 4 or the baking oven of the Aga) for 1 hour or possibly up to 1½ hours.  You will know when it is cooked as it begins to shrink away from the sides of the tin.  Leave the terrine in the tin to settle and then turn out when completely cold. This is good made the day before you want to eat it to allow the flavours to develop.  Serve in slices.

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