spring vegetable terrine
It all started with a very nice gift of fresh fave (fava beans). In looking for something different to make with fava beans, I found an appealing recipe for Spring Vegetable Terrine. The recipe is taken from a book by Stéphane Reynaud. He "uses the term terrine rather loosely to apply to nearly anything that one molds into a form and then slices to serve."
Before I talk about the recipe, this is how I prepare fava beans for further use: shell the fave and blanch them for 30 seconds, then drain them and plunge them into a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking. After a couple of minutes, slit the skin with your thumbnail then pinch it to slip the bright green core out of its coat and into a bowl
I had never made a terrine before and I was excited by the possibilities offered by the recipe in terms of combining different vegetables (verdure). To go with the fava beans, I chose snap (green) beans (fagiolini), carrots (carote) and a red beet (barbabietola rossa). Instead of heavy cream, I used a combination of milk, fresh homemade chèvre and water.
- 7.5 oz. (220 g) fava beans (processed as described above and then weighed)
- 3.5 oz. (100 g) green beans, boiled as part of a bigger batch, and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 small red beet, washed, steamed, skin removed and diced
- 2 medium carrots, steamed and diced
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup non-fat milk
- 1/4 cup homemade chèvre
- 1/4 cup water (next time I will try using 2 tablespoons instead)
- slivered fresh basil (basilico) and chopped fresh dill (aneto)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
I don't have a terrine mold, so I used a loaf pan and followed the recipe's instruction for baking. I unmolded the terrine on a plate and offered it as my contribution to dinner at Christine's of Christine Cooks. The photo is not great, but I hope it gives a sense of the nice result. The slices reminded me of stained glass: each colorful piece of vegetable contributes its flavor and texture to the whole. This is a dish I will certainly make again.
This is my contribution to edition #238 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now organized by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Rachel of The Crispy Cook.
This post contains the roundup on the event.
Hear me pronounce the words on the terrina di verdure primaverili audio file [mp3] or go to the terrina di verdure primaverili audio page for more listening options.
