IMBB 9 - Terrine for One

Today is the 9th edition of Is My Blog Burning. This time the host, Derrick of An Obsession with Food, has challenged us to create a terrine for the occasion. I decided early on that didn’t want to make a meat terrine or one with aspic, but I agonized over what I would make for the next couple of weeks. First I was leaning towards using polenta, then rice, and then I finally settled on potatoes.

According to Derrick’s terrine tutorial, a terrine is layered and is formed in a mold. I’m afraid the layering in my terrine is minimal. I layered roasted green peppers with a potato mixture in small Pyrex refrigerator dishes. I had originally thought I would use larger pieces of pepper, but then realized that might prevent the layers from sticking together. I ended up with six little strips of pepper in each terrine – which looks almost comical in cross-section.



The potato mixture is evidence of my current infatuation with roasted garlic. I used four small potatoes, one small onion, and a whole head of roasted garlic. After assembling the terrines, I chilled them briefly in the refrigerator and then unmolded them before baking. This method resulted in a nice, crusty exterior and ensured that the terrines came cleanly out of the molds. It’s possible that they could have been easily removed from the molds after baking, but I didn’t want to risk it!



This IMBB afforded me an opportunity to make use of my itty bitty canapé cutters. I cut shapes out of both red and green roasted pepper and placed them in the bottoms of the molds. It was a little tricky because the pepper pieces tend to move around when you press in the potato mixture – but it was fun!



My little terrines were quite tasty and I think they would be a wonderful for brunch or dinner. Best of all, they can be assembled ahead of time and held in the refrigerator until it is time to put them in the oven.


Individual Potato and Garlic Terrines with Roasted Pepper

Makes 2 terrines

4 small potatoes
1 small onion
1 head of roasted garlic
roasted pepper (12 strips plus cut-outs for garnish)
olive oil
salt
pepper

Peel the potatoes, place in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender. Drain and put in a medium bowl. Finely dice onion. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan over medium low heat. Sauté the onion until it starts to brown. Coarsely mash the potatoes, add the garlic (peel or squeeze from skins), sautéed onions, a little olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir together, using the spoon to break up and distribute the garlic.

Oil the molds (350 ml Pyrex refrigerator dishes) and arrange pepper cut-outs in the bottom. Carefully place the first layer of the potato mixture over the pepper pieces. Push 3 strips of pepper into first layer, cover with more potato, and then repeat. You should have three layers of potato with two layers of pepper strips. Place the molds in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. When ready to bake the terrines, run a knife along the straight edges of the mold and invert the mold over your hand. Shake gently to unmold and then place in baking dish. Brush all over with olive oil. Bake until golden – about an hour. Allow to cool slightly before serving.