A delicious starter for a warm summer evening, served with fresh crusty bread or some thinly-sliced toast. Here I have served it with toast and potato salad.
- A large unsmoked ham hock from your butcher
- A large onion, roughly chopped
- A stick of celery, roughly chopped
- A large carrot, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- A couple of bayleaves
- A handful of green olives, sliced (these may be substituted for diced pickled cornichons)
- One raw red chilli, sliced
- Powdered gelatine
- White pepper
First take the ham hock and place it in a large pan of cold water. Add the onion, celery, carrot, bayleaves and garlic. Bring it to the boil, then bring down to a simmer, place the lid on and cook for two to three hours, until the meat comes off the bone by itself. Remove the hock and any loose meat and place to one side.
Strain the remaining ham stock, using a sieve to remove the vegetables and retain the tasty liquid. Make a note of the amount of stock you have left. You won't need any more than half a litre for this recipe and can discard any leftover liquid.
Return the stock to the saucepan and bring it back to the boil. Carefully read the instructions on the gelatine before adding it to the ham stock; in my case, one pack of gelatine claimed to be enough to set a pint (568ml) of liquid, so I added the whole pack to my 500ml of stock. If you only have a quarter litre of stock, only use half a pack of gelatine. Stir until the gelatine is dissolved and add a generous quantity of white pepper to season.
Now take the ham and separate it from the bone using your hands or a fork. You should find that the ham just flakes away. Feel free to chop any long strands of ham with a knife. When you've got all the ham you can off the bone, mix in the olives and chilli. If you don't like olives, you can use diced pickled cornichons for an authentic taste of France. If you don't like chilli, what about some crushed black peppercorns?
Place the meat mixture into ramekin dishes and press gently, taking care to leave a gap of a few millimetres at the top. Pour over the stock/gelatine mixture and leave to set in the fridge for between six and twelve hours.
When you're ready to turn the terrines out, you may find it helps to hold the ramekin dishes under warm water briefly to loosen the terrines.
Strain the remaining ham stock, using a sieve to remove the vegetables and retain the tasty liquid. Make a note of the amount of stock you have left. You won't need any more than half a litre for this recipe and can discard any leftover liquid.
Return the stock to the saucepan and bring it back to the boil. Carefully read the instructions on the gelatine before adding it to the ham stock; in my case, one pack of gelatine claimed to be enough to set a pint (568ml) of liquid, so I added the whole pack to my 500ml of stock. If you only have a quarter litre of stock, only use half a pack of gelatine. Stir until the gelatine is dissolved and add a generous quantity of white pepper to season.
Now take the ham and separate it from the bone using your hands or a fork. You should find that the ham just flakes away. Feel free to chop any long strands of ham with a knife. When you've got all the ham you can off the bone, mix in the olives and chilli. If you don't like olives, you can use diced pickled cornichons for an authentic taste of France. If you don't like chilli, what about some crushed black peppercorns?
Place the meat mixture into ramekin dishes and press gently, taking care to leave a gap of a few millimetres at the top. Pour over the stock/gelatine mixture and leave to set in the fridge for between six and twelve hours.
When you're ready to turn the terrines out, you may find it helps to hold the ramekin dishes under warm water briefly to loosen the terrines.
