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11.07.2007

Hay Hay It's Donna Day:Red Pepper, Spinach,Mushroom and Asparagus Terrine



I have always wanted to do a terrine.So when I saw the Hay Hay It's Donna Day , hosted by Tami, I decided to give it a shot. The only one I made in life was a precocious 12 year old attempting a country pate en croute from one of my Moms magazines. If I remember it tasted pretty good, but the effort wore me out. That was one of the beginning of my interests in food.I have had this bargain book I purchased from Borders for $2.98 called Terrines and Pates from the Healthy Home Cooking series from Time Life Books.The contributors seem to be all European or Australian and the weights and measures are adapted for both the Australian kitchen and American Kitchen. Needless to say I have never attempted anything from this fascinating bargain find. I just look at the lovely pictures.Terrines and Pates remind me of a bygone era in food. Surprisingly they don't seem to laden with heavy calories.The highest one was for a slice of Venison and Apricot Terrine at around 460 calories a slice. Terrines can be served as either first, main , or dessert courses. And they are really works of art. I choose a combination of two vegetable based terrines in the book. I had shopped with the main components in mind but no specific idea. When I got to work I found my recipes did not require gelatin, like most. I had all the ingredients for one recipe, but wanted to incorporate the Asparagus spears as well.So here's the gist of my terrine.


Red Pepper , Spinach, Mushroom, and Asparagus Terrine adapted from Terrines and Pates / Healthy Home Cooking series.

Approx total calories with Asparagus addition 143
Serves 6
Working Time 1 1/2 hours
Total Time: 7hours 30 min to overnight for chilling and setting

2lb seeded sweet red peppers (I used red,yellow, and orange)
1 tbsp virgin olive oil
4 egg whites
2 oz dry bread crumbs
1 1/2 lbs sliced mushrooms I used Herbs De Provence as a
1 tsp chopped fresh basil substitute for the herbs listed
1 tsp fresh marjoram or 1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp fresh oregano or 1/4 dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
12 oz fresh spinach ( I used defrosted , drained frozen)
8 asparagus spears

Steam asparagus spears for approx 10 min.Set aside.

Dice one red pepper and set aside. Roughly chop the remaining peppers and cook them in some of the olive oil until tender.About 10 min. Cool the peppers slightly, then puree. Add two of the egg whites and half breadcrumbs and puree again until combined. Transfer mixture to a bowl and set aside.
Heat the rest of the olive oil and cook mushrooms until tender, approx 5 min.Increase heat and continue to cook until all moisture is evaporated( another 10 min). Allow to cool and puree. Add the remaining egg whites ,breadcrumbs, and herbs. Process and set aside.
Blanch spinach for 1 min in boiling water. Drain and allow to dry on paper towels for all ,moisture to be absorbed.
Preheat oven to 425 and line loaf pan( non reactive) with parchment paper.Line the spears side by side with each one alternating for design.
Sprinkle half of the chopped red pepper over spears. Take half of red pepper puree an spread evenly. Sprinkle some spinach mixture over as the next layer. Take all of mushroom mixture and spread. Spread rest of spinach.Sprinkle remaining chopped red peppers. Spread rest of red pepper puree and smooth top. cover with nonstick parchment paper and cook for 50 min to 1 hours. Test to see if done if knife comes out clean. Allow terrine to cool in pan and chill in the refrigerator at least 7 hours or overnight. Turn out terrine on a flat serving dish and peel off lining paper. Cut into slices and serve.

* I cooked mine in a water bath in the oven with the pan resting in a another pan of water.

You can serve this healthy terrine dressed with vinaigrette and lettuce leaves.






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10 comments:

Deborah said...

I have never done a terrine before - yours is just gorgeous! And healthy as well - you can't beat that!

marias23 said...

Ooo... I've been eating more and more veggies thesedays and your terrine looks like a delicious veggie-loaf!

Anonymous said...

Can you believe I've never done a terrine? Yours is beautiful. Oh, you are so brave :)

Cynthia said...

OMG! This is fantastic. You make me feel brave enough to try making it :)

glamah16 said...

Thanks, all of you.It was fun and I think I'll try other versions.

Helene said...

Gorgeous! My kind of appetizer for special dinners. Great job!

Barbara said...

Stunning. The colours are gorgeous. Thanks for joining in at HHDD.

Anonymous said...

I loved how you said that terrines were food of a bygone era :) This my first time to make one and it really felt that way to me too...very "old-world glam" :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Courtney!

I saw you on Running with Tweezers and I just wanted to say hi to a fellow Chicago food blogger! Your dish looks great!

Chef Erik said...

Looks great. It will be perfect for the Veg Head carnival.