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Game terrine with brandy-soaked prunes

By: Nicholas Balfe

Published: 5 Dec 23
Updated: 25 Mar 24

Nicholas Balfe’s game terrine makes for a special Christmas dish. The rich, warming festive spices go beautifully with seasonal game and boozy brandy-soaked prunes.

Nicholas says: “A terrine straddles the line between the humble and the celebratory. This terrine keeps well in the fridge, so it’s reassuring to know you’re investing your time in something delicious that will lift up your platters, TV snacks and informal mealtimes from Boxing Day to the New Year.”

After making his name with a trio of London restaurants (Salon, Levan and Larry’s), in 2021 Nicholas Balfe moved to Somerset for a new venture. Holm is a restaurant with rooms, focused on impeccably sourced ingredients.

Medium
December 2023

Test kitchen approved

Makes 1 large terrine (10-12 slices)
Hands-on time 1 hour 20 min, plus overnight resting (optional) and overnight pressing. Oven time 1 hour 20 min

Nicholas Balfe’s game terrine makes for a special Christmas dish. The rich, warming festive spices go beautifully with seasonal game and boozy brandy-soaked prunes.

Nutrition: Per serving (for 12)

Calories: 380kcals
Fat: 20g (7.9g saturated)
Protein: 27g
Carbohydrates: 16g (14g sugars)
Fibre: 2.2g
Salt: 2.9g

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Ingredients

Dash vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
10 thyme sprigs, leaves picked and chopped
2 bay leaves
50g unsalted butter
Pinch juniper berries
Pinch allspice berries
Pinch freshly ground mace
Pinch freshly ground nutmeg
500g pork mince
250g venison mince or other finely diced game meat (such as mallard/pheasant breast or wild rabbit)
250g chicken livers, trimmed
and finely chopped
125g lardo, diced into 1cm pieces (see Nicholas’s tip)
125g pitted prunes, roughly chopped
75g brandy
15g sea salt
5g freshly ground black pepper
1 medium free-range egg
50g fresh breadcrumbs
400g streaky bacon rashers
Toasted sourdough bread and dressed watercress to serve

For the prunes

200g pitted prunes
1 black teabag (I like darjeeling)
50g light brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
50g brandy

Specialist kit

900g loaf tin or terrine mould
Digital probe thermometer (optional)

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Method

Heat a dash of oil in a medium pan over a medium heat. Tip in the onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and butter, stir in a pinch of salt, then cook for about 10 minutes until the onion and garlic have softened but aren’t coloured. Leave to cool. Meanwhile, finely crush the spices in a pestle and mortar – you want about 5g spice mix in total, so add a little more of everything if you need to. Stir into the cooled garlicky onions.
Put the rest of the ingredients for the terrine (except the bacon, sourdough and watercress) in a large mixing bowl, then tip in the spiced onions. Mix everything using your hands – squish and squeeze the ingredients to completely combine them. If you have time, cover the mixture and leave overnight in the fridge.
To make the prunes (see Make Ahead), put all the ingredients except the brandy in a pan and cover with freshly boiled water. Leave to steep for 10 minutes, then remove the teabag and give everything a good stir. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat, then bubble for about 15 minutes until reduced to a syrup. Remove from the heat, add the brandy, then cover and leave to cool.

Line the loaf tin/terrine mould with baking paper, leaving at least 10cm overhang all around. Cover the paper completely with the bacon rashers. Start at the base, lying some rashers at the bottom, then line them up the sides so they overhang over the top slightly. Heat the oven to 140°C fan/gas 3.
Transfer the terrine mixture to the tin, flatten the top and cover with the overhanging bacon and baking paper. Cover tightly with 2 layers of foil. Put the tin/mould in a large, deep baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to come two thirds up the sides of the tin/mould. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 65°C.
Remove the terrine from the oven, take off the foil and leave to cool slightly. Replace the foil, then put heavy weights on top that fit snugly inside the tin/ mould (tins of beans work well). Put on a plate to catch any liquid, then chill in the fridge overnight.
To serve, carefully unmould the terrine, slice and allow to come to room temperature. Eat with toast, the boozy prunes, and watercress with a tangy mustard dressing

Recipe from December 2023 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 380kcals
Fat: 20g (7.9g saturated)
Protein: 27g
Carbohydrates: 16g (14g sugars)
Fibre: 2.2g
Salt: 2.9g

delicious. tips

A tip from the delicious. food team: save time by using a food processor to chop the meat in batches, but retain some larger pieces of meat for texture – you want the meat to be finely chopped, not a paste.
The terrine will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to a week. The boozy prunes will keep, covered, in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Nicholas says: “You might need to hunt down the lardo (cured pork fat) from a deli. Or use bacon lardons, which give a similar effect. Fancy turning this into a project? Ask your butcher for some pork back fat (from the loin) and cure it yourself by packing it in salt, black pepper and rosemary for 7-10 days in the fridge. Rinse before using.”