A Pork Terrine for the 21st Century

Terrine of Pork with  Chestnuts

Actually, the title of this post is totally hyperbolic. The only thing remotely modern about the terrine that I am preparing for the holidays is the Thermoworks temperature data logger that I'm using to track the internal temperature while the terrine cooks in a water bath. Otherwise the terrine is a perfectly traditional recipe made with ingredients that have been around for centuries. Even the concept of cooking the terrine in sealed vessel in a low temperature water bath is old.

I will apologize in advance to anyone who might want the recipe because I did not write down the amounts of spices and Cognac I used. I just added them "to taste" as I almost always do when I'm not cooking for commerce. However, I do remember the ratios for the meats, salt and pink salt (nitrite salt)

Pork             100 %

Chicken liver   20%

Beef                10%

Salt                 1.7 %

Pink Salt          .25 %

Update:
Here is the terrine after three hours of cooking in a water bath set to 165 deg F. I'll post the internal temperature data after I download it from the data logger. Stay tuned!

Cooked!

Shaping Dough

Lately, I don't have the time or the will to write serious posts to this blog. But I hate the idea of just letting lie fallow. So, I'm going to try to post short items that may be interesting and, I hope, useful. Here is a short video of me shaping bread dough before it's last proof/ rise before baking. The dough is made from starter that built for two days. I've been making bread like this for a long time and it's never the same from one week to another. This dough is made from Hi-gluten bread flour, Graham flour, flax seed and raisins. It took three days to construct and bake. Note that after I shape the dough, I scrape out the bowl and put the leftovers into my starter jar which I keep in the fridge.


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Salt Cellar

This salt cellar was given to us a dozen years ago by Inge, who at 17 years of age had come from Estonia to live with us and be "au pair." Since then, there has never been a day when it has not been on our table at dinner. Here, you see it being filled  before being set out for dinner. Inge is now married and living near San Diego, Ca.

A Question

Imagine you are a charcoal grill. What would you need to know about a sirloin steak in order to cook it to an internal temperature of 140°F  or 60°C?