BLOOD & TONGUE

A blood & tongue terrine is easy to create. Time does all the labor. All you must do is assemble the ingredients and let them shake hands over a long night. I suppose you could use any animal's tongue; lamb's tongue being the richest. Pig tongue, which I used, isn't unlike a high quality bologna. I'm not sure what that says for those of you that dislike bologna. But I doubt I'm going to win very many converts with this dish.

The tongue must be braised for several hours, i.e. at least five, and in a fussy little mixture called court bouillon. This gives subtle and clean flavor to something that is best left by itself. You can look that up...

Once the tongue has relaxed and gone slightly gelatinous, you'll want to retreive it from its liquid. Let it cool and slice into bits. Mmmm.

If you don't have a terrine mold (I don't), you can use a bread tin. Line the tin with cling film and begin to assemble your blood & tongue terrine.

I began with a thin brustroke of rendered pork fat; this helps anchor the terrine. Once the fat is brushed on and has taken shape, pour in a bit of the blood. Add some of the tongue bits, and then a bit of blood, etc. until it's nearly full.

Assemble a water bath in a medium hot oven and place the tin in the bath. You do not want the water boiling over into your terrine, so monitor the temp.

Once the mixture congeals, remove and let cool. Top with more cling film and cut out a piece of cardboard to cover the top. Apply some weights; cans of tomato paste will do. Pop in the fridge. Let set for at least a day.

Two days later, you're ready for a nice slice of blood & tongue terrine. I heated mine through for 10 seconds. Any longer and the terrine loses its shape. Serve with a soft fried egg. Lager works, too.

Lunch!