Yesterday, I made a terrine for our Christmas Day starter. The recipe
sounded fine and included a "couple of pinches" of 5 spice powder. The
pork, liver and lardon total weight was 900g so I translated a couple of
pinches to be about a 1/4 teaspoon of 5 spice. Uuugh! It's totally
ruined what would have been a great terrine, the only winner is the cat
who's very happy with it.

Question is what to do now as a starter that requires virtually no prep
before serving? Written suggestions to this newsgroup, please :-)

Malcolm

Malcolm Loades <devnull@loades.net> wrote:
>
> Yesterday, I made a terrine for our Christmas Day starter. The recipe
> sounded fine and included a "couple of pinches" of 5 spice powder. The
> pork, liver and lardon total weight was 900g so I translated a couple of
> pinches to be about a 1/4 teaspoon of 5 spice. Uuugh! It's totally
> ruined what would have been a great terrine, the only winner is the cat
> who's very happy with it.
>
> Question is what to do now as a starter that requires virtually no prep
> before serving? Written suggestions to this newsgroup, please :-)
>
> Malcolm
>

We don’t have a cat ( or a dog) but I am surprised a cat likes spiced food,
especially over spiced. While I’ve never had the urge to eat cat food, I’ve
always assumed it was rather bland- despite some of the ‘exotic’ recipes on
the labels.

As for your starter, we tend to skip one. Senior Management likes Smoked
Salmon and egg for breakfast at Christmas. By the time we’ve had
breakfast, Champagne while opening presents, eating three courses is too
much, especially for me.

When we do have a starter,
I like a light starter - Parma Ham and Melon with some home made pickled
red onion is good. You can skip the onion- not every likes it.

On 23/12/2021 19:22, Malcolm Loades wrote:
>
> Yesterday, I made a terrine for our Christmas Day starter. The recipe
> sounded fine and included a "couple of pinches" of 5 spice powder. The
> pork, liver and lardon total weight was 900g so I translated a couple of
> pinches to be about a 1/4 teaspoon of 5 spice. Uuugh! It's totally
> ruined what would have been a great terrine, the only winner is the cat
> who's very happy with it.
>
> Question is what to do now as a starter that requires virtually no prep
> before serving? Written suggestions to this newsgroup, please :-)
>
> Malcolm
>
We settled on a mixed charcuterie - Parma Ham, Mortadella, Bresaola,
Coppa and Salami Milano with marinated olives, sundried tomatoes and
cornichons. Together with some warm, fresh, sourdough. All's well that
ends well.

Main course was a large organic, free range chicken which most
importantly had been dry plucked. Superb skin.

Next a cheese course with a Tallegio, Brie de Meaux, Gruyere and Keen's
cheddar.

And then, of course, Christmas Pud and custard.

Malcolm

Malcolm Loades <devnull@loades.net> wrote:
> On 23/12/2021 19:22, Malcolm Loades wrote:
>>
>> Yesterday, I made a terrine for our Christmas Day starter. The recipe
>> sounded fine and included a "couple of pinches" of 5 spice powder. The
>> pork, liver and lardon total weight was 900g so I translated a couple of
>> pinches to be about a 1/4 teaspoon of 5 spice. Uuugh! It's totally
>> ruined what would have been a great terrine, the only winner is the cat
>> who's very happy with it.
>>
>> Question is what to do now as a starter that requires virtually no prep
>> before serving? Written suggestions to this newsgroup, please :-)
>>
>> Malcolm
>>
> We settled on a mixed charcuterie - Parma Ham, Mortadella, Bresaola,
> Coppa and Salami Milano with marinated olives, sundried tomatoes and
> cornichons. Together with some warm, fresh, sourdough. All's well that
> ends well.
>
> Main course was a large organic, free range chicken which most
> importantly had been dry plucked. Superb skin.
>
> Next a cheese course with a Tallegio, Brie de Meaux, Gruyere and Keen's
> cheddar.
>
> And then, of course, Christmas Pud and custard.
>
> Malcolm
>

Sounds excellent.

We went to eldest’s

Son in Law cooked a loverly gammon followed by an excellent roulade our
eldest made. Our main family Xmas is happening on Wednesday when we can all
get together here*, plus youngest took opportunity to visit her fiancé’s
parents.

* Middle daughter is a Doctor and Covid had messed up the working rotas so
we couldn’t all get together on 25 th.

On Sunday, 26 December 2021 at 21:01:34 UTC, Malcolm Loades wrote:
> On 23/12/2021 19:22, Malcolm Loades wrote:
> >
> > Yesterday, I made a terrine for our Christmas Day starter. The recipe
> > sounded fine and included a "couple of pinches" of 5 spice powder. The
> > pork, liver and lardon total weight was 900g so I translated a couple of
> > pinches to be about a 1/4 teaspoon of 5 spice. Uuugh! It's totally
> > ruined what would have been a great terrine, the only winner is the cat
> > who's very happy with it.
> >
> > Question is what to do now as a starter that requires virtually no prep
> > before serving? Written suggestions to this newsgroup, please :-)
> >
> > Malcolm
> >
> We settled on a mixed charcuterie - Parma Ham, Mortadella, Bresaola,
> Coppa and Salami Milano with marinated olives, sundried tomatoes and
> cornichons. Together with some warm, fresh, sourdough. All's well that
> ends well.
>
> Main course was a large organic, free range chicken which most
> importantly had been dry plucked. Superb skin.
>
> Next a cheese course with a Tallegio, Brie de Meaux, Gruyere and Keen's
> cheddar.
>
> And then, of course, Christmas Pud and custard.
>
> Malcolm
I had a free range turkey which I brined, it really did improve the moistness of it. I cooked it in an egg/bbq/smoker using applewood.