Christmas Terrine! Yum :)

Leftovers!

Not everyone’s favourite! Leftovers, can conjure up images of inedible, weird combinations of old and dried out veg and gravy! Well, this needn't be the case! Any leftover vegetables, meat or salads, if well looked after, can be made into fantastic meals of their own. When I say well looked after, I mean, treated with the respect they deserve, stored in air tight containers, in the fridge. Unfortunately, after a fantastic Christmas lunch, nobody wants to get up and take responsibility for putting it all away in appropriate packaging for next time. Just remember, the sooner it gets into the fridge, the better it will be next time around! 

Years ago, in the day when most houses especially farmhouses had a pantry or something similar, food was taken into the pantry, covered and left. These rooms and were draughty and cold, and were significantly cooler than the rest of the house. Today, our houses have either central heating, underfloor heating, or air conditioning, draught free windows, and often a roaring fire at Christmas! Not the ideal conditions for allowing our leftover vegetables, let alone the turkey to sit out, uncovered in the kitchen (often the warmest room in the house!!) 

So before, you sit for the Queen’s speech or to watch your favourite Christmas film, if you can’t find a plastic box to fit, cover the turkey, ham or any other meat with foil and pop it in the fridge. 

This weeks recipe is a Christmas terrine. I was asked to come up with an alternative to the usual Christmas turkey for Prynhawn Da on S4C.  After a lot of pondering, I thought that a combination of all the Christmas flavours in one dish would work well. So here it is!

I’ve made it with a combination of Pork tenderloin (a favourite of mine) and chicken, but this could so easily be changed to turkey and ham or just a combination of leftover meats you have available boxing day, or after Christmas. 

In a loaf tin, or similar shaped deep tin, line the bottom and sides with streaky bacon and then it’s simply a matter of layering the meat, stuffing, the cranberry sauce and spinach (the Christmas colours!) until you fill the loaf tin. Bake in the centre of the oven (180˚c) for 1 hour. Once cooked, turn it out and decorate the top with a line of apricots down the centre, and top with more homemade chunky cranberry sauce (see recipe in last week’s Journal). I love this hot, but as it cools it firms up, and can be sliced beautifully to accompany salads and other cold meats. Sam my eldest son also reckons that it makes the best ever sandwich filling!!