Ham Hock & Chicken Terrine

Terrines are for me one of the most delightful things in the world.

What looks like a rectangular block of 'not much' when it first arrives at the table, is sliced to reveal the most glorious array of colours and textures within.
And oh my - the flavours!

A perfect picnic food. And one of those things that gets better after a day or two when the flavours are able to develop.

I love using Ham Hocks and often have at least one on my fridge.
I think most people use them only for soups but I like to use them in a few ways.
Slow roasting is a fave- leaving melt in your mouth chunks of delicious ham.

You may remember this recipe for Slow Braised Ham Hocks that became Ham Hock Hash.

Mmmmm porky goodness.

HAM HOCK & CHICKEN TERRINE:
This is a SUPER EASY recipe but requires a little planning ahead.
This terrine needs to be started the day ahead as it needs to set in the fridge overnight otherwise a very easy recipe.
I grind my own chicken (thigh meat) into mince by pulsing it-  I like to do this so the texture is not all the same, however using pre-minced  chicken is ok too.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

• 1 braised ham hock, bone & skin removed & meat pulled off in chunks (follow this recipe to slow braise)
• 500g chicken mince (see recipe notes above)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 whole allspice
• 1 heaped teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley
• 1 egg
  S & P
• bacon rashers

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 180C.

Line a terrine dish with bacon rashers - leave some over hanging to fold over the top of your terrine.

Grind the allspice, fennel seeds & garlic in a mortar and pestle to a paste.
In a large bowl add the chicken mince, garlic paste, chopped parsley, peas, egg and the chunks of ham hock. Add a generous amount of S & P.
Mix together very well.

Now press down the meat mix into the terrine dish firmly and fold the rashers over the top and neatly tuck in.
Pop the lid on the terrine dish.
(If you don't have a terrine dish- a loaf tin will suffice and cover with alfoil )

Place the terrine dish into a deep roasting dish and pour enough boiling water in so that it comes about half way up the side of the Terrine dish.
Place into oven and bake for an hour.
Remove from oven and allow to cool in the dish.

Remove and pour out excess liquid.
Leave Terrine in the dish and cover with kitchen wrap.
Put some weight on to the terrine (I use a well wrapped brick as it fits perfectly!) and place into the refrigerator overnight.

Now unwrap and slice heartily!
Serve alongside some really good Sourdough, some zingy pickles and some extra tasty crumbly cheese.
Will keep for up to 4 days in the fridge- but ours never lasts that long!