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Chicken & Eggplant Terrine

I had a pair of long thin eggplants that I bought “on a whim” last weekend sitting in the fridge waiting to be eaten. Since the children profess to not liking eggplant, I named them aubergines and tried something different. I first hit my moorish cookbooks but none of the eggplant recipes grabbed my eye, so it was off to the Silver Spoon, to see what the Italians have to say about eggplant. It was here I found a recipe for Aubergine Terrine, which I read through and used mostly as a rough guide.

The resultant terrine took a little longer to cook than the SS recipe but was very tasty, even the 3 y.o. ate it all up (after some coaxing because he’d had a big day and was tired, and new food with tired toddler does not go well).

As an interesting aside, the eldest boy declares half way through dinner that he doesn’t like eggplant, to which I quickly replied, “That’s ok, it’s not eggplant, it’s Aubergine”, and said child replies “Ohh!” in a surprised tone and continues eating and seems happier about it. Children, so easily fooled.

Anyway, back to the recipe, once again I’ve kind gone by feel so some of the measurements are a bit sketchy.

!/recipes/images/slice_of_terrine.jpg!

h2. Ingredients.

h3. For the Terrine

* 2 long thing eggplants (aubergines)
* 1 large capsicum (bell pepper)
* 6 eggs
* salt & pepper to taste
* basil (1 bunch of fresh or about a Tablespoon and a bit of dried)
* 2 chicken thigh fillets
* some flour – I’d estimate about 2 Tablespoons
* some milk – guessing again, maybe 1/4 cup
* a splash of olive oil for greasing the terrine tin
* more olive oil for frying
* cheese – tSS specified Emmantel, but I used grated mozeralla and parmessan.

h3. For the Sauce

* 2 rashers of bacon, diced small
* 1 clove of garlic, very finely chopped
* a healthy pinch of oregano (dried)
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 can of roma tomatoes
* two large mushrooms, sliced very thinly
* good splash of balsamic vinegar

h2. Method.

The capsicum will need roasting so you can peel it. There are a couple of different ways to do this, I usually brush it with oil and bake in a very hot oven until it’s gone black. However, last night the oven had pesto bread baking in it, so I resorted to placing a little olive oil in a cast iron skillet and frying each side of the capsicum until blistered and black. This method splutters a lot, so beware. The other method would be to char the capsicum in coals or over an open flame.
Once roasted, place the capsicum in a large bowl and cover with a plate (or lid, or cling-wrap). Leave for about 10 minutes or so, and then scrape the skin off with a fork (it should come off fairly easily).

Now slice the four sides of the capsicum off, and set aside.

Slice your eggplants diagonally into 2 or 3 mm thick slices, and fry them in some oil in the same cast iron skillet used previously. Set the fried pieces aside.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them with the flour, milk, salt & pepper and basil.

Divide the chicken fillets into four equal size pieces, one for each layer.
Cut one piece into thin strips and fry in some oil. You don’t need to cook them fully, just sear them. You can, if you want, do the remaining pieces and set them aside for later, or just do that as you need them.

Now grease your terrine dish with some oil and make a layer of eggplant on the bottom. Slice one of the capsicum sides into strips, and lay them across the eggplant. Arrange some chicken over that, then top with a layer of your preferred cheese. Now pour some of the egg mixture over the top.

Repeat until you’ve used all the ingredients, finishing with the last of the egg. (You should end up with four layers).

Place the terrine dish in a deep baking dish, and fill the baking dish with boiling water such that the level reaches half way up the terrine dish.

Bake at 180C for one and a quarter hours.

About 25 minutes before the terrine is ready, prepare the sauce.
To make the sauce, saute the bacon and garlic in a little oil in a saucepan for 5 minutes or so. Add the remaining ingredients, crushing the tomatoes with your spoon until smooth. Simmer for 20 minutes or so, until the sauce is thickening a little.

Tip our the terrine onto a serving plate and slice. Serve each slice with a little of the tomato sauce over the top. Can be served with a nice side salad, but I didn’t bother (it being winter and not really salad weather).

posted to Australian,Italian,Recipes @ 10:44 am

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