Chicken and Bacon Terrine

Turn your dining room into a French Restaurant when you bring out this elegant gourmet appetizer as the star of your homemade charcuterie plate. Pork, bacon, and chicken is flavored with brandy and a few spices and then slow-cooked to perfection.

Appetizers Chicken Pork

Turn your dining room into a French Restaurant when you bring out this elegant gourmet Chicken and Bacon Terrine appetizer as the star of your homemade charcuterie plate. Terrines can be eaten hot or cold (unlike pate which is made with liver and eaten cold).

I usually keep some terrine in the fridge or frozen so that I can serve this appetizer anytime I want. It’s delicious with spicy hot mustard and sour pickles or at the center of a charcuterie plate. Although the serving side is one slice, this recipe makes enough for 8 full size slices- each slice can be shared on an an appetizer plate with crackers or toast points and will feed up to 4 people. You can cut the terrine loaf into slices and pre-freeze them and then wither defrost and heat them up as needed or let them gradually thaw in the refrigerator and serve them cold.

This Chicken and Bacon Terrine uses pork, bacon, and chicken that is flavored with brandy and a few spices and then cooked over low heat in a bath of hot water. Although chicken is not often used in terrines due to its light flavor, the bacon and chicken together strike a perfect balance. The cooking technique allows the meat to slowly heat up and blend together so that the consistency is creamy with large chunks of chicken distributed throughout the terrine. If you don’t have a terrine pan you can cook it in a loaf pan instead.

Chicken and Bacon Terrine

Sometimes a delicious and hearty appetizer absolutely hits the spot. This wonderful chicken and bacon terrine can be served as an appetizer or even as an entree. The rich taste and coarse texture is satisfying and also a bit filling. Instead of using ground pork, smoked slab bacon is ground up in a food processor to create a hearty filler that blends with the ground chicken.

PREP	COOKING	YIELD
24 hours	2 hours	8-10 slices

PREP	24 hours
COOKING	2 hours
YIELD	8-10 slices

Ingredients:

2/3 lb slab bacon, cut in cubes
2/3 lb ground chicken breast
2/3 lb chicken breast cut in strips
8-10 strips of streaky bacon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
3 TBSP brandy
1 egg

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 340 degs F/170 degs C.
Ground up the bacon cubes in a food processor.

In a large mixing bowl mix the ground bacon, ground chicken, egg, brandy and spices.

Line a terrine mold with bacon allowing the ends to overlap the sides.

Fill the bottom third of the terrine with a layer of the ground meat mixture.
Lay chicken strips on top.
Add another layer of ground meat, another layer of chicken and another layer of ground meat. The terrine mold should be nearly full.
Pull the bacon over the top and completely cover the ground meat. Add additional bacon if needed to ensure the mixture is completely covered. Ensure the bacon is pressed in tightly and there are no air gaps.

Place the terrine pan in an over roasting pan filled with boiling water. Make sure that the mold is at least halfway submerged.

Cover the terrine mold tightly with aluminum foil.
Put the roasting pan and terrine into the oven. Bake for 1 1/2- 2 hours. Check the temperature with a meat thermometer (poke a hole through the foil). The terrine is done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degs F/74 degs C.
Remove from the oven.
Poke several holes in the foil.

Using a second mold and a weight, press down on the terrine to drain the excess juice.

Once the terrine has cooled down to where it is no longer hot to the touch, drain out the extra juice. Flip the mold and empty the terrine onto a sheet of plastic wrap.

Double wrap the terrine and refrigerate for at least a day to allow time for the flavors to combine.

Serve cold, or warm up if desired. Slice the terrine through the plastic wrap and remove the plastic prior to eating.

Notes:

When making terrines, it’s important to allow ample cooling time. I recommend cooking in the refrigerator for two to three days before cutting to allow the terrine plenty of time to gel.
Refrigerate or freeze terrine to use later. You can keep it in the fridge for three days or freeze it for six months.
When you compress the terrine, make sure you use plenty of towels. There are a lot of juices that will be released.

Jay H

Jay is a Project Manager for a U.S. Company that does business globally. He has worked and lived in many places and has spent time learning how to cook dishes from around the world. Currently based in Japan, he created the Mountain Plums website during the Covid pandemic as a way to express himself though cooking while staying active.

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Jay H

Jay is a Project Manager for a U.S. Company that does business globally. He has worked and lived in many places and has spent time learning how to cook dishes from around the world. Currently based in Japan, he created the Mountain Plums website during the Covid pandemic as a way to express himself though cooking while staying active.