Pork and veal terrine

Pork and veal terrine

Ingredients:
350 grams lean pork mince,
350 grams veal mince,
150 ml whisky or brandy,
150 grams coarsely minced pork fat,
100 grams shelled pistachios,
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley,
2 tablespoons thyme leaves,
1 large garlic clove crushed,
1 medium onion finely chopped,
2 tablespoons duck fat,
1 egg slightly whisked,
5 rindless long bacon rashers,
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
Shell the pistachios and set aside. Finely crush the garlic. Chop the parsley and gather the thyme leaves. Set aside.
Put the lean pork mince, veal mince, coarsely minced pork fat, thyme leaves, chopped parsley, pistachios, crushed garlic, whisky or brandy in a large stainless steel or glass container. Season with salt and pepper to your preference. Make sure that there is enough salt and pepper to season the ingredients. Mix all the ingredients well together to obtain a uniform mix. Cover with cling wrap and allow to marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. This will allow the seasoning, herbs and other ingredients to permeate into the meats.
Finely chop the onion. Sauté the chopped onion in a small frying pan in the duck fat until translucent. Transfer to a large plate and allow to cool completely. Lightly whisk the egg.
Add the finely chopped onion and whisked egg to the meat mixture. Mix well together. Check the seasoning and allow to marinate in the fridge for one hour or two, to allow the chopped onion and egg to permeate the meat mixture.
Preheat oven to 150 degree C. Line the base and sides of a 1.5 litre terrine mould with the bacon rashers. Allow the bacon rashers to overhang the sides of the terrine mould. The overhanging rashers will be folded back onto the meat mixture in the terrine dish.
Spoon the meat mixture into the bacon lined terrine dish, pressing the meat mixture into the terrine. Fold back the bacon rashers and tuck into the opposite sides of the terrine mould.
Cover the meat mixture in the terrine mould with baking paper cut to size. Cover with thick aluminium foil. If using thin foil, use two layers of foil to cover.
Put a folded kitchen towel at the bottom of a baking tray. Put the aluminium covered terrine mould on the kitchen towel lined baking tray. Fill the baking tray with hot water up to halfway the terrine mould.
Place in mid position within the hot oven at 150 degree C and allow to cook for 1 hour and 30 mins to 2 hours or until a meat thermometer indicates that the cooked meat in the middle reached 70 degree C. Alternatively, check with a bamboo or wood skewer to make sure that the meat mixture is cooked.
Allow the terrine mould to cool down completely within the water in the baking tray. When cooled down, weigh the aluminium foils on the top of the terrine mould with either a press plate if your terrine dish has one, or place food cans on top. Place in fridge and allow to chill down for at least 4 hours.
Serve sliced from the mould with your chosen accompaniments. You can also invert the terrine from the mould onto a flat plate. However, you will need to place the chilled terrine mould and contents in hot water (half way up) for 30 minutes to loosen the pork and veal terrine from the mould.
Enjoy with crispy baguette and Mauritians will need a chilli sauce to add more flavour to the terrine. Perfect as an entrée for a multi course dinner.