And we're off...

After creating my first terrine and documenting the process, I have a newfound respect for professional chefs and food stylists. I also have a great deal more respect for the countless bloggers that I follow and marvel at their output, their professionalism and their passion for their subject.


It's hard enough to get a recipe right, but snapping ingredients, capturing terrines-in-progress and producing something edible and attractive is hard. You have to be a true multi-tasker.

We've been having hot, humid, rainy days and nights in Sydney where you never know what the weather will do in the next ten minutes. The first terrine I thought I would attempt was a spring vegetable terrine which can be served hot or cold. 

The main ingredients for this inaugural terrine were spring vegetables of course...beans, carrots, celery hearts, peas - whatever you can find to hand. It's all bound together with eggs and pure cream, so it's not for the faint-hearted.

Of course, the whole time I was cooking, I was very conscious of the process and felt that I was the star of my own cooking show (Terrines Tonight), much the same as when we were kids cooking up a storm in the kitchen, creating a show out of the scrambled eggs we were making. But glamour aside, I really wanted to get this first one right. Once all ingredients were whisked, I popped it into a cling-wrapped terrine and put in a baking dish filled with boiling water. Then it was into the oven for forty minutes.

Et voila! Spring vegetable terrine that only has a slight leaning problem. From the top it looked a lot better. 

The consistency and the refrigeration overnight held it together, and the next day it was wolfed down at a barbie where we ate it with sausages and salad. Thanks for journeying with me on this first terrine. Some of the art is going to get better, and possibly the commentary (NB, I am not reproducing the recipes due to copyright). As mentioned, the inspiration is Stephane Reynaud's Terrine.