Sausages braised in red wine

It has been a frustrating winter so far. Incessant rain which means that you can’t get outside to do anything and the garden is just a quagmire. In the mountains the rain has fallen as snow and there is just so much of it that they can’t cope and in the ski resorts there is a constant danger of avalanche. Which is frustrating for John who loves skiing (Derek retired not too gracefully a few years ago when he realized that he had arrived at the age when you don’t bounce so easily) but John has been unable to go because the resorts are either closed or with constant snow the visibility and avalanche risk make it unwise. Yesterday was different – the weather wasn’t perfect but good enough so off he went with friends for the day and got to try out the new skis he had bought. One happy bunny returned in the evening!

Left in charge of supper Derek pondered what to do. When skiing John eats a carbohydrate lunch so the first thought is to avoid those in the evening. Without too much ado the decision was made to cook sausages braised in red wine. This is a dish he has cooked for many years and is loved by his children and friends alike. Though the dish is simple its success rests on the quality of the ingredients so do buy the best quality sausages you can – a Toulouse type works best and not too salty. Use a decent red wine – no need to go for fine wine but something of reasonable quality – the sort that you would quaff on its own and enjoy.

The recipe uses button onions but as they are not always available (and anyway are such a faff to prepare) we tend to use a large onion cut into halves and then thickly sliced into semi rings – go with whatever suits.

serves 4

• 500g pork sausages
• 225g lardons or lean bacon cut into cubes
• 225 button onions or a large onion
• olive oil
• 1 heaped tsp flour
• 275 ml red wine
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp chopped fresh or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 175g mushrooms, halved if large

In a large casserole heat a little oil and brown the sausages all over then remove with a slotted spoon. Add the lardons or bacon to the pan and cook for a few minutes then add the onions and continue until the onions are nicely browned too. Add the flour and stir around to soak up any remaining oil then gradually add the red wine stirring to make a sauce. Bring to a simmer, return the sausages to the pan together with the garlic, bay leave and thyme. Put the lid on and simmer very gently for around 30 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 20 minutes without the lid by which time everything should be ready and the sauce nicely reduced. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed.

To accompany it would normally be a big pile of creamy mashed potato but since we were avoiding the carbs we had bright, fresh savoy cabbage.

recipe by Delia Smith

TIP:

When you cook cabbage, any sort, shred into ribbons and cook in lots of boiling water until just tender – don’t overcook it. Drain it in a large colander, take a small saucer, place on top and press down to remove any excess water. Then, use the edge of the saucer to chop the cabbage into fine pieces.

Pomegranate molasses sweet and sour ribs

As it is Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi gras, Fat Tuesday if you prefer) we had pancakes for breakfast which was at least a nod to tradition. We went for the fat, blueberry, Canadian maple syrup kind which isn’t at all traditional but since we never eat pudding unless we have friends over then it had to be either breakfast pancakes or nothing.

For lunch we took a portion of the pea and ham soup we had made and stashed away in the freezer which just left dinner to think about. It was kinda already decided because of the big pot of beans we had cooked on Sunday (though most of those are already nestled in the deep freeze). The suggestion in the recipe to eat with bread and salad didn’t appeal – it would probably have been OK if we had followed the recipe and used belly of pork instead of lardons.

Aha! Belly of pork – as it happens this time of year is when the supermarkets have a pork fair and we had bought a whole belly and cut it into manageable portions and consigned it to the freezer. We removed the ribs first and stored them separately so decided they would be the perfect thing with the beans accompanied by a nice sweet corn we had stashed away in the summer.

In the same magazine as the bean recipe there was a recipe for sweet and sour ribs using pomegranate molasses and by good fortune we have some pomegranate molasses we had bought for a middle eastern recipe. It seems like this was all just meant to be.

We used their recipe for the sauce and then cooked the ribs in the same way we would for bbq ribs.

For the sauce – serves 4 to 6

• 10 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 8 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 8 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp Worcester sauce
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander

Heat the oven to 190C/ 170C fan.

Put all the ingredients for the sauce into a bowl and whisk together.

Put the ribs on to a baking sheet and cook in the preheated oven for about an hour until tender. Remove from the oven lift off the tray and pour away the fat they will have given off.

coat with the sauce

Replace the ribs on the tray and, using a pastry brush, coat the ribs generously on both sides with the sauce. Put the tray back into the oven and continue to cook for about another 20 minutes until the ribs are nicely browned and sticky. Serve at once with the beans or other accompaniment of your choice.

Paper napkins and finger bowls will definitely be needed!

Eating up and eating out

That just about sums up our week as far as food goes – well, almost …

Monday we were shopping with friends in Biarritz and had lunch out. We find if we eat a main meal at lunchtime then we only need a light snack in the evening and usually cheese is the default option. Though maybe a slice of lemon polenta cake and ricotta cream might have crept in too!

We had some chicken leftover from the coq au vin and John had the great idea to take the meat from the bones and chop it with a sharp knife into fine dice and then mix it with some of the leftover sauce of the coq au vin to give a kind of ‘chicken bolognese’ which we ate with some wide pasta. It sounds rather bizarre but it worked and tasted fabulous.

salmon Wellington

Wednesday we were doing a bit of testing for a St Valentines pot-luck dinner we are hosting this coming Thursday. We are cooking the main course and as we have a non-meat eater we decided on salmon en croute but to make it a bit special we are going to try to create individual salmon Wellingtons and we were experimenting with different fillings to go with the salmon. The result will be revealed after the 14th!

We met friends for an aperatif Thursday evening and needed a quickly prepared meal when we got in. A stir fry of a piece of pork and various vegetables we needed to use flavoured with ginger, garlic and sweet chilli sauce made an easy supper.

The venue for the drink is an interesting window on french life. We refer to it as ‘the garage’ – it is in fact a petrol filling station on the edge of town and the office where you pay for your petrol has a bar. It’s been owned and run by the same family for at least two generations which probably explains this throwback to a different time. And of course since smoking is not allowed by law in bars any longer if you are a smoker then you must step outside and smoke – on the petrol forecourt! You think we are joking? No we are not. Only in France and it’s one of the many reasons we love you. Please don’t ever change.

Friday evening we were invited to a french friend’s home for an aperitif but it was postponed as workmen had turned up at the beginning of the week to replace all of her windows and heating system and neither she nor her home were in a state to entertain, so we joined friends at a local bar that serves English fish and chips on a Friday evening. For lunch a frittata used up more vegetables and eggs that had sat in the fridge longer than we liked and we livened it up with some spicy chorizo we had bought on our recent trip to Spain. A salad garnish cleared out the remnants of salad too.

baked potato beans and cheese – yum!

Strange how your mood is affected by the weather? Last week continued pretty wet which has mostly been the story this year. But it is very mild too so the garden is already rushing into new growth and we haven’t been able to get out to start the Spring tidy-up which is quite frustrating. We are hoping we don’t get a sudden hard frost to kill it all off as we did February last year.  The veg patch needs turning over and fertilizing but it is just too wet – the whole garden is like a giant sponge oozing water. So we potter around indoors and seek comfort food which yesterday included this baked potato with beans and cheese – not classy or haute cuisine we know and definitely not on our low GI diet plan but sometimes it’s just what you need and you can’t resist can you?

We were at friends for dinner last night and are again tonight to celebrate Chinese New Year. In one week we’ve managed to completely blow the New Year’s resolution out of the water!

Coq au vin

coq au vin

Last Sunday we had friends over for lunch and for no reason in particular decided on coq au vin. Though, when you think about it, it’s a no brainer crowd-pleaser and ideal for entertaining as it is all prepared in advance. No doubt there are numerous variations on the theme but we tend to be old-fashioned and stick with the french classic. We did bend it slightly in that we didn’t have any Bourgogne wine which is normally used in a classic coq au vin so used a very good quality Bordeaux – you want a not too tannic, fruity wine. We served the same wine with the meal.

Of course, the original recipe was intended to use up that old bird past its usefulness for laying eggs but since they tend not to be on your average supermarket shelf we used thighs. You could cut up a whole chicken but we find that the breasts become overcooked and dry and thighs or drumsticks or combination of the two are a better choice.

You need to be organized to the extent of preparing the chicken the day before you want to cook it and marinading it in the wine for 24 hours. If pushed you could skip this but it does make a difference to the finished dish.

Plain boiled potatoes with a garnish of finely chopped parsley is probably the normal accompaniment but trying to stick to our low GI regime we made a gratin of celeriac which turned out to go superbly well with the coq.

for 4 – 6

• 2 chicken thighs or a thigh and drumstick per person
• bottle of good quality (no, cheap plonk won’t do) Bourgogne or fruity red wine
• 1 carrot, peeled, finely sliced
• small onion, finely diced
• stick celery, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 125g lardons or chopped streaky bacon
• chicken stock
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 250g shallots or button onions, peeled
• 250g button mushrooms
• finely chopped parsley

The day before; take the skin off the chicken pieces and place in a non-reactive bowl together with the wine, carrot, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaves and thyme. Cover with cling wrap and put in the fridge for 24 hours.

Next day, remove the chicken from the marinade and dry with kitchen towel. Heat some oil in a deep casserole and when hot, brown the chicken pieces a few at a time and remove with a slotted spoon. Add the lardons to the casserole and cook for a few minutes to brown. Return the chicken to the pan and pour over the marinade and all the aromatics. Add chicken stock so that the chicken is just covered. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook gently until the chicken is very tender but not so that it is falling off the bone – about 40 minutes (unless you are using an old coq in which case it might take 2 hours). Remove the chicken, stir in the tomato puree and continue to cook the marinade until it is reduced to a thickish sauce. Alternatively, if you don’t have enough sauce to reduce it then thicken it with a little corn starch mixed with some cold water.

While the sauce is reducing heat a little oil in a roomy frying pan and when hot add the shallots or onions and cook on a high heat until browned and cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and add the mushrooms and cook in the same way until browned and tender. Remove and add to the onion.

If you are eating straight away, add the chicken to the sauce and reheat thoroughly. When hot, add the onions and mushrooms and reheat for a few minutes. Serve garnished with chopped parsley.

Alternatively, the cooking can be done in advance and then you assemble the dish by putting the chicken into a roomy, ovenproof serving dish, scatter over the onions and mushrooms. Use a slotted spoon to remove from the sauce all the vegetables and scatter over the chicken. Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Finally, nap over enough sauce for the number of servings you need, cover with foil and set aside in a cool place until ready to eat. Reheat in a hot oven for about 30 – 40 minutes until piping hot. Scatter with finely chopped parsley and serve.

sweet potato and corn soup garnished with chorizo oil and coriander

We started the meal with a soup of sweet potato and corn garnished with a drizzle of chorizo oil and you can find the recipe HERE

Tarragon chicken with celeriac mash

One thing that really irritates – OK, there are many things, it’s called getting old – is the price we have to pay in the supermarket for those little packets of forced herbs that taste of practically nothing. But what do you do? You need basel, tarragon, whatever, in January so you stump up the cash and mutter under your breath. The answer, we hear you say, is to be seasonal and not buy them and, of course, you are absolutely right. And we do try to be seasonal but there is something about fresh herbs in cooking for which there is no substitute – even when they are crappy, overpriced packets.

So having choked to buy a packet of tarragon for the rabbit with mustard and bacon we had to have a second dish to make sure we got to use every last sprig. And since they aren’t designed to sit around for many days it had to follow the rabbit tout de suite. So this is what we cooked last night. It ticked the January New Year’s resolution, healthy-eating box too – well it did until we added the butter and cream …

We also added some dried tarragon to give the fresh a bit of a leg-up.

serves 4

• 800g sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 200g celeriac, peeled and chopped
• 4 skinless chicken breasts
• 8 sprigs of tarragon
• dried tarragon
• 8 tbsp white wine
• salt and pepper
• butter
• creme fraiche/ cream cheese
• Dijon/ grain mustard

The recipe, from BBC Good Food, explains that “using creamy sweet potato for mash means you don’t need butter” right, and self-flagellation is good for the soul? Use butter and enjoy life we say.

Preheat oven to 200C/ 180C fan/ gas 6

Cook the sweet potatoes and celeriac together in a large pan of boiling water for about 20 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, put the chicken breasts on a large piece of baking parchment or foil. Give a light sprinkling of dried tarragon and add 2 sprigs of fresh tarragon to each, a little salt and pepper, sprinkle each with 2 tbsp of white wine and top with a small piece of butter. Fold the paper to enclose the chicken and place on a roasting tray. Cook the chicken for 25 minutes or until the juices run clear when pierced with a skewer.

Take the chicken from the parcel, cover with foil and keep warm. Pour the juices from the parcel into a small pan and add some creme fraiche (or cream cheese and creme fraiche works well too), about 3 tbsp and a touch of Dijon or grain mustard. Whisk together and reheat until nice and smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

When the potatoes and celeriac are cooked, drain, allow to steam dry for a few minutes then mash together or pass through a potato ricer. Mix in a good knob of butter and some black pepper.

Serve the chicken on top of the mash and pour over some sauce and serve with a green vegetable of your choice.

Rabbit with mustard and bacon

Rabbit seems to be one of those meats that finds favour in certain cultures and not in others. It’s very popular in France and Italy for sure and Derek remembers it as part of his family’s food until the outbreak of myxomatosis in the early 1950’s when everyone stopped eating it and it never seems to have regained its popularity. Which is a pity because it is a very tasty, lean meat. Most probably the rabbit you find in the supermarkets are farmed rather than wild and tend to be of a larger size and a less ‘gamey’ taste.

Rabbit pares well with mustard and this recipe, which requires a bit of preparation effort to remove the thigh bone, works really well and would make a very handsome dinner party dish but is equally fit for a Sunday family meal which is when we ate it. You could substitute chicken legs if you prefer.

serves 4

• 50g butter
• small handful of parsley and tarragon leaves, finely chopped
• grated zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 small clove garlic, crushed
• 4 rabbit legs
• slices of pancetta or streaky bacon

For the mustard sauce

• 3 tbsp creme fraiche
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp grain mustard
• lemon juice

1. Mash the butter with the herbs, garlic and lemon zest, then chill. This can be done up to a day in advance. Use a small sturdy knife to scrape the meat away from the thigh bone part of the rabbit leg. Try and create a pocket around the bone rather than cutting into the actual meat. When you get to the joint, cut or snap the bone away.
2. Take a quarter of the butter and stuff into the cavity of each rabbit leg. Wrap the slices of pancetta or bacon around each leg so that they join underneath. The rabbit can be prepared up to a day ahead and kept in the fridge.
3. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Place the rabbit on a shallow roasting tray and roast for 20-30 mins (depending on size of the leg), then leave to rest for 5 mins. While the rabbit is resting, make the sauce. Heat the crème fraîche with both mustards and simmer for 2-3 mins until thickened slightly. Season to taste, then add a squeeze of lemon juice.
4. To serve, spoon some sauce onto each plate and arrange the rabbit on top.

Serve it with steamed new potatoes or, as we did, a mixture of white and wild rice with sautéd vegetables.

Lamb and rose stuffed quails with harissa and apricots

Quails are popular in France and available in the supermarkets all year. Easy to ignore because of their diminutive size they do offer a delicious meal though you normally need two per person.

This recipe come from a London chef, Yotam Ottolenghi, who was born and grew up in Jerusalem and the influences of the middle east show in his cooking. He writes regularly in the Guardian newspaper and, to be honest, we’ve not tried any of his recipes before because; a) they often seemed too cheffy and time consuming for the home cook, and b) he uses ingredients that aren’t readily available outside the metropolis of large cities like London. However, we spotted this recipe at the weekend and it seemed quite easy and with ingredients readily available – though would you believe we scoured the local supermarket and their wasn’t a dried rose petal in sight!

We had friends over for a meal last night and this is what we cooked, minus the rose petals and rose water – they were really delicious and we added to the stuffing some of our favourite Seasoned Pioneers ras-el-hanout spice which has rose petals in it. If we ever get the chance to buy the rose petals it would be interesting to see what difference it would make.

It may seem a strange combination poultry and lamb but it works so do try it.

The recipe given by Ottolenghi is for 6, which seems an odd number to choose. We made the full recipe of stuffing (which was easier than trying to scale it down) which leaves some over and we plan to use it for another meal later in the week – meatballs or koftas perhaps?

serves 6

150g dried apricots
400g minced lamb
150g fresh white breadcrumbs  
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp grated lemon zest
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
20g chopped parsley
40g chopped coriander
3 tsp dried rose petals
Salt and black pepper
12 medium-sized quails
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp harissa paste
2 tbsp rosewater
2½ tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp honey

Finely chop 30g of the apricots and put them in a bowl with the lamb, breadcrumbs, cinnamon, lemon zest, garlic, parsley, half the coriander, a teaspoon of rose petals, a teaspoon of salt and plenty of black pepper. Mix well and stuff into the quails.

In another bowl, mix the oil, harissa, rosewater, lemon juice, honey, three-quarters of a teaspoon of salt and some pepper. Rub this all over the quails and marinate in the fridge for at least two hours, and preferably overnight.

Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Put the quails breast side down in a roasting tray large enough to hold them snugly. Pour over any marinade and 150ml water, cover with foil and roast for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the remaining apricots into 0.5cm-thick slices and, once the 25 minutes are up, add to the pan. Turn over the quails, return to the oven uncovered, and roast for 20-30 minutes more, until cooked. Remove the quails from the pan and keep them covered in a large bowl.

Tip the sauce from the tray into a medium saucepan and simmer for three to five minutes, until thick. Pour over the quails, add the rest of the coriander and stir to coat. Place the birds on a platter, sprinkle with the remaining rose petals and serve.

couscous with toasted seeds, almonds and pomegranate

We served it with couscous to which we added a mixture of toasted seeds and flaked almonds and to emphasise the middle eastern we stirred in pomegranate seeds and some chopped coriander.

Catching up – again

We’ve been quite lax with our posting recently; Xmas, New Year, visitors, eating out a lot – you name it we’ve got the excuses!

Not that you’ve missed much because our eating has been based on quick tried and trusted dishes which we can resort to when pushed and which we’ve probably already posted before. But isn’t that what most of us do with busy lives and demands on your time?

Here are a few of the things we have eaten and if we haven’t given the recipe before we will post it separately:-

Pork with apples and celeriac gratin

Filet of fish with crispy bacon and cauliflower puree

celeriac gratin

cauliflower puree

Nem Chua

Vietnamese style Pho with Nem Chua

Blueberry and ricotta pancakes with maple syrup

Tagine of lamb with dates and almonds

The weather is grey and miserable at the moment – today was the sort of day when you stay indoors with a roaring fire and snuggle down with a good book or film. So when thinking of food for dinner we wanted something warming and sustaining but with one eye on our expanded waistlines, something with at least a pretension to healthy eating. We had some lamb shanks in the freezer and these ‘mini portions for one’ seemed to fit the bill. Now, we’ve cooked these in various ways over the years and conclude that some sort of braise is the only way to go. Roasting just doesn’t seem to work – it needs long slow, cooking to breakdown all that connective tissue. We decided to go Moroccan for a dose of winter sunshine and consulted our guru Claudia Roden. She offers various tagine combinations for use with lamb and we liked the sound of this one with dates and almonds. It also gave us the chance to use up the remains of a packet of dates lurking in the cupboard. She uses a boned shoulder or neck fillet but the shanks work just as well.

It looks, when you read the recipe, not very exciting but we have come to trust Ms Roden and we have never been disappointed and this time was no exception, it really is a delicious combination. She comments that some people (including herself) find it too sweet with the honey in which case leave it out (as we did).

• 1 lamb shank per person, or equivalent of boned shoulder or neck fillets
• 4 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp saffron threads (optional)
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• salt and black pepper
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 – 2 tbsp clear honey (optional)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 200g pitted dates
• 100g blanched almonds

If using shoulder, trim any excess fat from the lamb and cut into large chunks. Heat 3 tbsp oil in a large casserole, put in the meat and brown lightly all over. Take out the meat and put in the onions and cook, stirring, until they begin to colour. Stir in the saffron and ginger and return the meat to the pan. Add salt and pepper and the cinnamon stick. Add hot water just to cover, and simmer, covered, for 2 hours or until the meat is very tender, turning the pieces from time to time.

Stir in the honey, if using, and the ground cinnamon and more pepper (it needs plenty to counterbalance the sweetness). Cook uncovered, until the sauce is reduced, turning the meat over as you do so. Add the dates and cook for 5 – 10 minutes more.

Meanwhile, fry the almonds in the remaining tbsp of oil until lightly golden then drain and cool on kitchen paper. Chop roughly.

Serve the lamb sprinkled with the chopped almonds and accompanied by couscous.

Game terrine

We were invited to spend Xmas day with friends and said we would bring the first course for the meal. So, for this special meal of the year, what to do? We decided on a game terrine – a recipe that we have had in mind for a long time but never gotten around to making. This was just the occasion we needed to spur us into action.

The recipe comes from a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall book we bought when we lived in the UK based on his original television series River Cottage. Apart from being not ‘everyday’ fare it also makes rather a lot so you need a crowd to do it justice. He does say that “it was a staple of the farmhouse kitchen” but we’ve all moved on from those days. But a special occasion like Xmas seems just the right time to enjoy this and hopefully, you have the time to make it – not that it is that difficult or time consuming and can be made in advance. So, roll up the sleeves, get Bing Crosby warbling White Xmas, and off we go …

• You need about a kilo of lean game meat – we used rabbit, quail and duck. You could also use; pheasant, pigeon, hare, venison
• oil for frying
• 300g streaky bacon

Forcemeat

• 500g sausage meat
• livers from the game or, if not available, 175g chicken livers, finely chopped
• 2 handfuls of breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• leaves from a sprig of thyme, finely chopped
• 5 – 6 juniper berries, crushed in a pestle and mortar
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• a splash of red wine
• a splash of brandy
• salt and pepper

In a large mixing bowl combine the sausage meat, chopped livers, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, thyme, juniper berries, garlic, wine, brandy, salt and pepper. Mix everything together, preferably with your hands. It should be moist but not too wet – add more breadcrumbs to get the right consistency.

Cut the game meat into strips of roughly the same size, about 2 fingers thick. Heat some oil in a heavy-based frying pan and fry the game pieces, in batches, for about 2 minutes, until nicely browned.

Remove the rind from the bacon and stretch it with the back of a chef’s knife. Line a 1kg loaf tin or terrine with the bacon, overlapping slightly and leaving the ends hanging over the edges. Arrange a layer of forcemeat in the terrine, followed by a layer of game meat, then another layer of forcemeat, followed by another layer of game meat, etc. seasoning with salt and pepper between layers Aim for at least 3 layers and end with a layer of forcemeat and, by which time, you should be at the top of the dish.

Fold the exposed strips of bacon over the top of the terrine and either cover tightly with kitchen foil or put on the terrine lid. Place the terrine in a roasting tin half filled with hot water and cook in the oven at 170C/ fan 150C/ gas 3 for approximately 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Test with a metal skewer to see if it is cooked – if the skewer does not come out of the terrine piping hot then it is not cooked.

For the best possible texture and easy carving, your terrine should be pressed as it cools. Find a piece of wood or plastic that fits snugly inside the terrine dish, cover it with foil, and weigh it down with something heavy – a brick or, as we did, a large can. Leave until completely cold – for several hours or overnight.

To serve; dip into a bowl of hot water for a minute or two to free the bottom, run a knife around the sides and invert onto a serving plate or cutting board. Slice thickly with a sharp knife and serve with a small salad of lightly dressed leaves, a blob of good fruit chutney or our cranberry and orange relish and good bread or toast.

Tip; getting a roasting tin of boiling water and a heavy terrine into the over without accident can be a bit tricky so; pull out the oven shelf, put the terrine in the empty roasting tin, put this combination onto the oven shelf, pour boiling water from a kettle into the roasting tray, slide the shelf back into the oven.