Easter Highlights!

My favorite two dishes this Easter were the Catherine de Medici Tuscan Pate and the Seafood Terrine. Today we’re going to discuss the Seafood Terrine.

I found this recipe online from Michael Ruhlman. If you haven’t made a lot of Seafood Terrine (which I have not!)  I urge you to watch his video. http://ruhlman.com/2013/08/le-creuset-terrines-seafood-terrine/ You can also get his original recipe at this site.Tips on technique helped me. I increased the size of the recipe by one half as it said it served 8 and I was serving 10. I think we would have been fine with his original recipe as this terrine is fairly rich. This served 10 with some lovely left-overs. He also does not include the size terrine mold for this recipe. I used a Le Creuset 32, 2-quart loaf pan with cover, which worked beautifully.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 tsp. saffron
24 oz. peeled and deveined shrimp
3 egg whites
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 leeks, white part only, thoroughly cleaned, diced small and sauted in butter till tender, then chilled
8 oz. scallops (I doubled amount of scallop as they are one of my favorites!)
6 oz. lump crab meat
1/3 cup minced chives

Preparation:
Bring the cream to a simmer over high heat, then remove from the heat and add the saffron. Let the saffron infuse the cream for about 15-20 minutes. Strain into a clean container and thoroughly chill.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Be sure all ingredients to be pureed are very cold. Puree the shrimp with the egg whites and salt in a food processor. With the machine running, slowly add half of the cream. The mixture should be stiff enough to shape. Continue adding the rest of the cream with the machine running.

In a mixing bowl combine the shrimp mousseline with the leeks (I actually forgot to add the leeks.), scallops, crab, and chives, gently folding the garnish to distribute it evenly.

Seafood Terrine ready to bake.

Line a terrine mold with plastic wrap (It helps to wet the mold so that the wrap sticks.) Fill the terrine mold with the seafood. Fold the plastic wrap over it and cover with the lid (or foil if your terrine has no lid).

Bring a large pot of water to a simmer. Set the terrine in a roasting pan and pour the simmering water into the roasting pan so that it comes 3/4 of the way up the sides of the terrine mold. Put the roasting pan in the oven and cook until the terrine reaches an interior temperature of 135 degrees; about 50 minutes.

Here’s Karen Sykes looking on as I learn a new technique from Myrna for cutting even slices.

And here’s Myrna! Her Mom taught her to cut first in half and then continue to cut each half as many times as necessary to get the size slice you want with all slices same size. Simple, but clever!

I served the Seafood Terrine on a bed of mixed greens with a…

TARRAGON MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE

Ingredients:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup tarragon vinegar*
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp. freshly minced tarragon, plus more tarragon for garnish when serving

Whisk all ingredients until completely blended.

This bottle of tarragon vinegar is about a year old. The longer it sets the more it becomes infused with tarragon flavor.

*I usually have a bottle of tarragon vinegar in my pantry. If you grow tarragon, simply snip several lengths of tarragon and cover with white vinegar. It keeps forever. You can also buy tarragon vinegar at some specialty stores.

From l to r: Myrna and Dick York, Jer, Rudy Pina, and Debby Vis

Dorita Pina, me (looking goofy!), Bill Sykes (looking regal!), and Steve Vis

The 2019 Easter ladies: Dorita, me, Karen, Myrna and Deb