If you are still looking for some foods to help you ease out of the last crazy and comfort food filled year you’re in the right place. Today I’m giving you two foods for 2021. One food that I’ve been eating for the last week which actually comes from my Czech childhood and another that I discovered some time back when I was trying to get off processed carbs, Dukan Bread. Both are delicious and coincidentally go very well together to create a healthy and low carb meal.
This first food goes by a name that would make most people turn up their nose and I honestly wouldn’t blame them. Headcheese, seriously, who came up with this? Sounds like something disgusting getting squeezed out of a decaying orifice… YUK! If someone were to offer me up headcheese I wouldn’t be so eager to try it either. But how about if we called it Pork Terrine? Sounds a little more Martha Stewart or fancy French cookbook doesn’t it? And though it seems fancy it’s actually really easy to make. Nothing like the gelatinous, overly salty stuff you find in grocery stores. Make it for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.
This is really just a different way to get a good healthy bone broth into your system. One that you actually get to chew and has all the health benefits of a really good bone broth, filled with loads of collagen add to that some vinegar (apple cider or otherwise) it knocks the bone broth game out of the park with it’s health benefits.
You don’t have to been a fancy chef and no precise measuring is needed to ensure a no fail terrine to have ready the next morning. Just boil up all the ingredients, strain, simmer down the liquid while going through and chopping up all the meat, adding everything together, season, pour into a loaf pan and let sit overnight. Simple. Serve this with a diced onion, some vinegar and a couple of slices of bread, to keep it low carb make this low carb Dukan Bread from a previous post.
I ended the last couple months of 2020 focusing on low starch foods and fasting. I know my last posts didn’t really reflect that but I suppose I don’t really omit anything either. I think it’s all about balance, and for me it’s lately been a balance of not eating and eating foods I love. This pork terrine is really one of my all time favourite foods.
I grew up eating this pork terrine or headcheese and I love the bite of the vinegar and the onions. The stuff you buy at a store is so over salted and lacking in meat that it’s much better to make your own. So the next time you’re out shopping for bone broth, pick up a couple of pork hocks and feet and take on the challenge, go for it! Your body will thank you for it.
Recipe for Pork Terrine
- 2-4 pork hocks
- 1-2 pork feet
- 1-2 carrots
- 1 -2 celery stalks
- 1 whole onion
- 1 whole garlic bulb
- 1-2 bay leaves
- 5- 10 whole peppercorns
- splash (or 2-3 tablespoons) apple cider vinegar
- salt
- pepper
- 3-4 minced garlic cloves
- marjoram
Put first 9 ingredients into a stock pot, large pot or pressure cooker. Add enough water to fill or to the top max level in the pressure cooker. Pressure cook for an hour or simmer for 2 – 3 hours adding water to the pot as it evaporates to ensure the meat is always under water. At this point you don’t need to add the salt pepper minced garlic or marjoram, this seasoning is best left to the end when you have reduced the liquid content or you will risk over salting the terrine.
When done, strain the liquid into a pot and set on stove to simmer. Allow to simmer down to about half. Once cooled throw out the vegetables and go through the meat, separating out all the meat and chopping into small bit sized pieces. You can throw the rest away or if you have a dog, you can give the cooled leftover pork and bones to your furry friend…. Ours LOVES this.
Once the broth is reduced, turn off the heat and season to taste with salt, pepper, marjoram (rub the marjoram leaves gently between your hands as your putting them into the mixture), and fresh minced garlic, mix all ingredients together and pour into glass dish. Make sure there is enough liquid to cover all the meat. Sometimes I let the liquid simmer down too much and then have to add some water, generally it’s been fine and it firms up nicely. If for some reason it doesn’t firm up for you by the next day, put the whole thing back in a pot and boil (simmer) for 5 – 10 minutes to reduce some more… I find this isn’t an EXACT science and is pretty forgiving.
You can slice the terrine and pull out of the pan and make sure you scrape off the fine layer of fat that will settle on top, dice and serve with finely diced onions and vinegar and a couple of slices of bread.
Hope you all have a Happy and Healthy New Year….. and Enjoy!
