Perfectly succulant pork, chicken and pistachio terrine, topped off with Tyrrells English smoky barbecue crisps

Serves 10 – 12 as a starter

Ingredients

Chicken layer

• 400g chicken breasts
• 100ml white wine
• zest of 1 lemon
• sprig of thyme, leaves only
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pork layers

• 300g trimmed pork shoulder
• 300g rindless pork belly
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves, finely chopped
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• 75g dried apricots, soaked in warm water if necessary
• 25g pistachio kernels, halved
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To assemble

• 400g rindless streaky bacon rashers
• Tyrrells English smoky barbecue crisps, to serve

Method

1. First marinate the chicken. Slice the breasts into strips, put in a bowl, and season with salt and black pepper. Add the white wine, lemon zest, thyme leaves, olive oil and chopped parsley. Cover and leave to marinate for at least an hour.
2. Finely chop the pork shoulder and belly. You can also use a meat grinder or whiz in a food processor. Put the mixture into a bowl with salt and pepper. Add the lemon zest, thyme leaves and ground ginger. Finely chop the apricots and mix them into the pork mince along with the pistachio kernels.
3. Preheat the oven to 150°C/Fan 130°C/Gas 2. Take the rashers of bacon and stretch them with the back of the knife. Line a 1-litre terrine mould widthways with the rashers, arranging on alternative diagonals so they overlap by slightly crisscrossing each other. You should have around 5cm overlaps on each side – if you don’t, you may need to stretch the bacon out a little more.
4. Put half of the pork mixture into the terrine and spread it evenly. Remove the chicken from the marinade and mix with the finely chopped parsley in a bowl, then lay the strips out in an even layer. Cover with the remaining pork mixture.
5. Cover the top of the terrine with the overhanging bacon slices, continuing with the criss-crossing, then top with more slices so that it is completely covered.
6. Put the lid on the terrine or cover with a double layer of foil. Put in a roasting tin and add just enough boiled water to reach up to 2cm/¾in up the side of the terrine. Put in the oven and bake for 1½ hours.
7. To check if the terrine is cooked through, check it has reached 75C (using a meat probe or thermometer) or just hold a skewer in the centre for a few seconds. If the tip is too hot to hold for more than a second, it is done.
8. Recover the terrine with foil, then weigh down with a couple of tins or something similarly heavy. Leave to cool, then leave in the fridge to chill overnight.
9. To serve, turn the terrine out and cut into thick slices and have a smoky under taste with Tyrrells English smoky barbecue crisps.

Hairy Biker tips: instead of mixing shoulder and belly, you could use pork mince. And if you prefer, dice the chicken instead of cutting it into strips, then mix everything together instead of layering.