By the end of today...

[Jenise]

...I'll have turned nine pounds of pork shoulder and two pounds of chicken livers, a bunch of onion, garlic, parsley, spice, cream and brandy into somewhere between 4 and 6 pate campagnes. Wish me luck!

[David M. Bueker]

Good luck. Drink well.

[Jenise]

Well, so far all I've done is a real good job procrastinating on getting started--like this post, for instance.

Good luck. If you feel that's too much food to take care of, let me know how I can help.

[Jenise]

Good luck. If you feel that's too much food to take care of, let me know how I can help.

Stand in line. There are 70 people in front of you. But alas, the first two are in the oven now. I'm actually feeling a bit disgusted with myself that I didn't buy an extra 20% so I could keep one for myself. What was I thinking? As long as I'm going to trash the kitchen making a mess like this, I might as well have made extra for myself.

I'm actually feeling a bit disgusted with myself that I didn't buy an extra 20% so I could keep one for myself. What was I thinking? As long as I'm going to trash the kitchen making a mess like this, I might as well have made extra for myself.

And me!

[Jenise]

Oh fie. I'm not happy with my results. Used a recipe from Michael Ruhlman's book Charcuterie. His recipe calls for 2 lbs pork, 4 ounces liver, and 2 tablespoons salt per terrine. Oh sure, there are many other things in there but this is the important ratio. I worried about that much salt (his recipes are based on Morton's Kosher as the standard salt, and though I prefer Diamond Crystal by coincidence I too was using Morton's because when I ran out last time, I couldn't find the other), but thought well, I'll only quadruple the salt where I'm throwin in an extra pound and a third of pork and doubling the amount of liver involved, so that will have some dilutory effect. And too, my confidence was bolstered by his admonition about salt in advising a quenelle test before baking off the terrine: it would seem saltier because it would be hot, where the salt would settle down in the cold terrine. I knew that, but it was fresh in my mind as I worried about the quantity.

And no, I did not mis-measure: I'm very very careful when throwing in ingredients I can't get back.

Well, I'm here to tell you that the terrines aren't just salty to me, they're oversalted by just about anybody's standards. Eat a slice and it actually leaves a lingering salt aftertaste in your mouth. So two of the five I planned to make will end up in the trash. The mix for the other three went into the fridge overnight and I've just returned from the store with a plan to add three more pounds of meat and seasonings--sans salt--to the remaining mix. Very disheartening to have made such a huge mess and spent a day doing it, to only end up disappointed.

If you have this book, beware.

...I'll have turned nine pounds of pork shoulder and two pounds of chicken livers, a bunch of onion, garlic, parsley, spice, cream and brandy into somewhere between 4 and 6 pate campagnes. Wish me luck!

Is it time for the next all-terrine event at Bill's already?

Mark Lipton