You simply cannot go wrong with this duck and almond terrine with roasted figs for Christmas! It’s the perfect dish for the whole family this festive season!
Duck and almond terrine with roasted figs
Ingredients
- oil, for brushing
- 10 duck breasts, well chilled
- 4 slices white bread, crusts removed
- 125ml (½ cup) milk
- 5ml (1 tsp) soft brown sugar
- zest of ½ orange
- 2 cloves
- 1 garlic clove
- 10ml (2 tsp) black pepper,
- coarsely ground
- 5ml (1 tsp) coriander seeds, crushed
- 2,5ml (½ tsp) allspice
- 2,5ml (½ tsp) fennel seeds
- a pinch of grated nutmeg
- a pinch of ground cinnamon
- 15ml (1 tbsp) Maldon Sea Salt
- ½ onion, finely grated
- 5ml (1 tsp) fresh thyme, chopped
- 30ml (2 tbsp) cognac or brandy
- 30ml (2 tbsp) port or full-cream sherry
- 15ml (1 tbsp) amaretto
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 125g whole almonds, peeled
To serve
- 160g Parma ham
- 12 figs, sprinkled with a little sugar and slow roasted
- black or Maldon Sea Salt flakes
Instructions
Brush a 24cm x 10cm terrine tin with a little oil and line with wet plastic wrap. Smooth out all the creases and set aside.
Remove the fat and skin from the duck breasts by pulling this away from the meat. Set 2 duck breasts aside. Roughly chop the remaining 8 breasts and the fat, and keep separate.
Mince the chopped duck meat (excluding fat) through a coarse mincer. Add all of the remaining ingredients (excluding the duck fat) to the minced duck meat.
Put the cold, chopped duck fat though the mincer twice. Add the minced fat to the meat mixture and set aside to marinate, 2 – 3 hours.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan and sear the 2 remaining duck breasts, 1 minute on each side.
Place half of the minced mixture in the terrine and place the seared duck breasts on top of the mince, making sure the duck breasts are in the middle of the terrine. Top with the remaining duck mixture and level.
Cover with foil and place in a bain marie. Bake at 160°C until just cooked, 1 hour 15 minutes – 1 hour 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and bain marie, and refrigerate overnight with a weight on top of the terrine.
To serve, remove the terrine from the mould and remove the plastic wrap. Wrap the terrine in Parma ham and serve sliced with slow roasted figs and salt flakes. The terrine is best served at room temperature.
Notes
To wrap the terrine perfectly, place the Parma ham on the plastic wrap, each slice overlapping the next, and simply fold over the terrine. Keep the plastic wrap intact when cutting into slices, but make sure to remove the plastic wrap before serving.
