Hay Hay it's Donna Day Terrines

Tammy, from Running With Tweezers is the host for this month's HHDD, an event born over at Winosandfoodies, and she has chosen terrines. Tammy is an old hand at hosting this event, as she has won it three times now! Her recipes are absolutely stunning.

My first instinct, when I read what the theme is going to be, was to phone Mum and ask her how she used to make brawn, but suddenly I had a nightmare-ish image return to me from my childhood, of a plate in the fridge, sporting an hideous cow's tongue being squashed under a brick. Big, purple and full of pimples.....just revolting. I protested, saying "who knows where THAT'S been?". After that discovery, I never ate brawn again, even though I must admit that it was delicious. I think that was the very moment I vowed I would never eat offal of any sort.

So, being the considerate person I am, I decided not to put my own family through such a scary ordeal, and I've turned my thoughts to Christmas instead.

Christmas in Australia has turned from the traditional roast turkey to seafoods and BBQ's. Because our weather on the 25th December can be extremely hot, who wants to spend all morning over a hot stove and oven? Then again, I can recently recall that we had to light a fire one year, whilst bushfires were raging around the country. Nothing is predictable for Christmas Day.


This terrine is called a festive terrine, adapted from Delicious magazine, December 2005. It's an ideal alternative to a hot plum pudding, without forsaking the traditional dish completely. As nobody in this house is a big fan of glace cherries, I substituted dried strawberries and blueberries.

Ingredients (serves 10)

• 180g caster sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 900ml thickened cream
• 200g Christmas pudding, crumbled
• 1/2 cup dried strawberries
• 1/2 cup dried blueberries
• 1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
• Silver cachous, to serve

Method

1. Line a 1.5-litre terrine with plastic wrap, leaving some overhanging to cover top.
2. Place sugar in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons cold water over low heat. Stir, with a wooden spoon, until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and cook for 5 minutes, without stirring, but brushing down sides of pan occasionally with a damp pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals forming. Be careful the syrup doesn't darken. Allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile, with an electric mixer, beat egg yolks until doubled in volume. Beating continuously, slowly add sugar syrup and continue to beat until cool.
4. Lightly whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold half the whipped cream with the crumbled pudding and half with the egg mixture. Using a metal spoon, carefully fold the two whipped-cream mixtures together with the strawberries, blueberries and pistachios. Spread the mixture into the terrine mould, pressing down well, then cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer overnight.
5. When ready to serve, remove the terrine, invert onto a platter and top with silver cachous.

Notes & tips

• Begin this recipe the day before.

Impulsive, madcap, throw to the back of the cupboard purchase

When will I ever learn? I feel I need help. My family KNOW I need help. I have to admit it. I'm an impulsive buyer of any kitchen related gadgets, utensils and gourmet food items. If there is a new product on the market, you can bet I already have it, and if I don't, then I will soon. This all comes from reading too many food related magazines...my collection is embarrasingly taking over my house. This purchase is my latest attempt to justify the cost of an ice-cream maker that I "just had to have". I've certainly used the ice-cream maker, not everyday of course, but when I spotted this ice-cream cone maker in the "reduced" basket at K-Mart the other day, for a mere $12, I thought this item would ultimately save me money from not purchasing the expensive Belgium Waffle Cones from the supermarket. Do I sound convincing enough yet? My husband doesn't think so.

Honest verdict? Making my own cones was a lot of mucking around, it created a huge mess and was very ridiculously time consuming. I'm sure there is a definite knack to the method, but I'm not too keen on perfecting it in the near future. The $4 cones from the supermarket are much more attractive now.

I think a submission to Ebay is on the drawing board, along with some very pre-loved food magazines, a potato chip maker, an onion chopper....the list goes on. Then I'll have lots of room to buy more things!!

This ice-cream is from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, Butterscotch and Pecan Icecream, which literally contains butter AND scotch...who would have thought. You can sneak a preview of the recipe here at Google Books.

GNT Sorbet

My all time favourite summer "slurp" would be a cool, refreshing gin and tonic, with a dash of lemon. It is a pique to the tastebuds.

So, what better way to have your sweets and drink it too, than a GNT sorbet? This is my entry into Hay Hay it's Donna Day for this month, hosted by Laura at Eat Drink Live. I've never made sorbet before, so this event was a great excuse for me to run out and buy an ice cream machine, that I had been secretly yearning for ;) As well as some new sundae bowls..oh, and a new ice cream scoop..ssshhh, don't tell my husband!

400ml cold water
300g caster sugar
300ml tonic water
50-60 ml gin
juice of 2 lemons
1tbsp glucose (this stops it from forming icy granules)

1. Put the sugar and water into a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute.
2. Add glucose and tonic water, chill in fridge until cold.
3. When cold add the gin and lemon juice to taste. NB: don't be tempted to add too much gin because when it is frozen the flavour intensifies.
4. Transfer to an ice cream machine and churn until set. Freeze for at least 2 hours after churning, then it is ready to slurp, I mean serve.