Spring Venison Terrine with Ramp Leaves

When things are starting to pop up in the spring, my first instinct is to go out and start putting things up and preserving. If you're like me, you probably have some other things that need to get cleaned out of the freezer too, first. Enter pates, terrines, and all the glorious charcuterie that you can feed odds and ends to if you hunt, fish, or just keep interesting animal parts around.

Terrines and charcuterie in general are one of my great loves, and this spring terrine is a good example of how I use odds and ends, (especially venison liver) and how you can too. Looking at the ingredient list might be daunting, but you need to look at it more as a blueprint, with different pieces you can plug in and remove as you like.

This terrine is one I did for a private party, and it's a celebration of spring that also functions as a good freezer cleanout. The spring part just means I used some ramp leaves to wrap the terrine and make it pretty, the rest is all meat scrap, organs, and smoked bits and pieces.

The big takeaway here though, is how the organs are utilized. Offal isn't everyones favorite, but I usually have a decent amount laying around, and plenty of tricks for working with it. With terrines and pates especially, it's often the case that they will actually be better with organs, than say, if I just made the following terrine with all venison shoulder, which would come out more firm, like meat loaf. Liver and kidneys add tenderness to a terrine, giving it a nice, easy slice, and soft mouthfeel--exactly what you want. Depending on the terrine I'm making, I might use more or less than the roughly equal proportions here, but one thing is the same with all of them using ruminant (venison, lamb, goat, etc) organs--generally I soak them.

Leaching Liver

A lot of times people soak livers in milk, and they do it whole. That's ok, but venison liver especially can be so strong tasting that I take a more aggressive approach to it, one that I borrow from acorns. Here's the jist: instead of just soaking the meat in milk or water once, whole, I cut it into pieces to increase the surface area and contact with the water, and I also change the water a few times. Do that, and I promise you it will tame the flavor, while still giving you the tenderness you want in a good terrine. Anyway, here's the basic template--feel free to riff on it.

Notes on special ingredients and substitutions

• Venison liver and the offal here are in the convenient form of 1 lb--just plug and play whatever organs you have--kidneys and hearts are good too.
• The pigeon breast inlay in the middle of the terrine is nice, but optional.
• Venison bacon. I make venison bacon every year per my recipe here, but most people don't. Feel free to skip it, use regular bacon, ham, etc.
• Nut and fruit garnishes. I used dried sour cherries and pistachios--feel free to substitute whatever you want, you can even up the quantity slightly to about ⅓ cup each if you like.
• If you have venison caul, it would be the perfect thing to wrap the terrine in instead of ramp leaves.
• Dried ramp leaves: these are a great seasoning. If you don't have them, omit them garlic powder and onion powder are foul in terrines, IMO.
• The ramp leaves are nice, and wrapping the terrine in them is novel, but you can also use other greens or omit them.
• The use of wild ginger here is a good reference point for how to use the plant as a seasoning. I grated one 6 gram piece on a microplane, and likely only 2 grams made it into the finished product. Don't eat large amounts--Asarum canadense is for light seasoning only.
• WP Recipe Maker #24548remove

  Spring Venison Terrine Wrapped in Ramp Leaves A terrine of venison and smoked pigeon wrapped in ramp leaves. Serves 10-20. Course: Appetizer, Snack Cuisine: French Keyword: Charcuterie, Offal, Venison Prep Time: 60m Cook Time: 80m Servings: 15 - 3 lb terrine mold or similar - A weight, like a brick - 1 lb ground venison - 1 lb venison offal like heart, liver or kidneys - ½ cup breadcrumbs - 4 oz venison bacon diced small - ⅓ cup pistachios or other nuts - 1 tablespoon brandy - ¼ cup sour cherries or other dried fruit - 5 grams dried crumbled ramp leaves - ½ teaspoon finely grated wild ginger 1 6 gram piece - 9 grams kosher salt (1% salt of the weight of the ground meat and organs) - ½ teaspoon pink salt sodium nitrite - 1 large egg - ¼ cup heavy cream - Ramp leaves for lining the terrine - Inlay something small like pigeon breasts or rabbit loins etc, cured in a ham brine, about 4-5 ounces - ½ teaspoon terrine spice such as quatre epice (see note) 1) Cut the offal into pieces and cover with twice their volume of water and allow to rest overnight in the refrigerator, change the water a couple times if you can remember. 2) Mix the cherries with the brandy. In a food processor or high speed blender, puree the offal with the egg, and milk until very smooth, then mix in the breadcrumbs. Combine the offal puree with the remaining ingredients except the inlay and allow to rest overnight. 3) The next day, line a terrine mold with a piece of parchment, then line with the ramp leaves, seam-inward, tips pointing up. 4) Pack half of the meat mixture into the mold firmly, then lay the inlay on top, press down again, preferably banging on a table to remove air pockets. 5) Finally, wrap the ramp leaves over the top, press down again, and bake in a water bath at 250 for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a thermometer reads 150F in the center. 6) Remove the terrine from the oven, cool for an hour, then press with a weight in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, remove the terrine, slice and serve. Quatre epice is equal parts cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and black pepper