Cheese Terrine

Athenaeus, I'm assuming the terrine is served at room temp.
If so try this.

Take a couple eggplants and slice them thinly lenght wise.
leach with salt for an hour and pat dry. Drizzel the slices with and herbel olive oil and cracked black pepper. lay them out on a sheet pan and roast them at high heat, Just till tender..Maybe only five minutes or so.When cool,sprinkle with Greek oregano, chives and tarragon. With theses eggplants slices line a terrine mold and chill in the fridge. Then take a couple of red bell peppers and thinly sliced fennel. Roast the peppers till they blister, skin and seed them. The fennel toss in a hot pan for a moment with more of the olive just to take off the raw bite. Cool both these vegetables. Take some good tangy, herbel Montrachet logs and let them come to room temp.also half the volume of mascarpone.
In a mixer add these two cheeses, a little roast garlic cloves, chives,basil and a little more tarragon..S&P.whip on medium speed to well blended. (I forgot to say lay some saran wrap first in the terrine then add the eggplant slices) So, to assemble place half the cheese blend in the terrine mold until just half way up the sides. layer it with the roast pepper and sauteed fennel.Then add the rest of the cheese.Tap down the terrine to remove any air and fold the eggplant over to seal.Pop in the fridge. A vinaigrette of chopped hard cooked eggs, vergus, chives, shallots, salt and pepper, sherry vinegar and olive oil works well.

Wine I say a light fruity red, Moulin au Vent, Fluire, Buorgone rouge. Whites..sancerre, fume or sauvingon blanc. Something with that grassy herbel nuiance.

So..go ahead and turn out your terrine, let a sharp knife get hot in some water, and slice about 1/2 inch thick. Put the slice on your favorite china with a little butter lettuce, nape with the vinaigrette and serve it with warm crostinis and olive tapinade.
Enjoy
cc

 

<A>..can you share your recipe for your tyropittakias?

These little crispy treats must be so good.
Thanks in advance
cc

 

CC, they certainly are. My mom and a few Greek friends made about 900 of them for cocktail parties when each of us four kids had our Bar or Bat Mitzvahs (talk about a cross-cultural table!). The recipe used was crumbled feta, some beaten egg, a little pepper- and that's it. Phyllo was buttered one sheet at a time, another sheet put on top and buttered, then cut into about 1.5" wide strips across the width of the sheet. A scant teaspoon of the cheese mixture was put on one corner of the end nearest you. The corner was turned up to enclose the dough, then it was folded into a triangle like a flag. The loose end was tucked under and the triangle placed on a baking sheet. We froze pans and pans at this stage- right on the sheets. Then they were popped into a hot oven (425?) while still frozen, until golden brown on the top and bottoms. The serving ladies had a hard time moving away from the serving platters because the guests descended like locusts on the tiropites! For the fourth and last event they made 1200, I think.

BTW, we made some with spinach/cheese and some with what amounted to a mushroom duxelle filling.

That said, I'd love to find out what Athenaeus' recipe is. I'm sure there are as many recipes as there are find Greek cooks.

 

Cross cultural....What a novel thought.

So in the AM I will prepare some of these morsels and serve them to the staff.

I have a question though. I know that Feta cheese is what is most availible to the mass American market..But are there other cheeses from greece that may compliment this little knish ?

 

I do a mix of ricotta or mascarpone and feta, dillweed, pepper and egg....
Duxelle cigars are a standard for me....black trumpet or morel
shoot fillo is a wonderful pastry! Freezes, looks pretty and love the crunch.

 

Athenaeus, does mint freeze well? Or does it turn black like basil does?

I do a mascarpone/sundried tomato/pesto torte. Line a round bowl with plastic draped over the edges. First layer (which will be the top when you unmold) is pesto; then a layer of mascarpone seasoned with salt/pepper and pureed roasted garlic; then a layer of chopped softened sundried tomatoes. Put another piece of plastic wrap on the top, and chill til well set (if I'm doing a party, I make it the day before); unmold just before service.

No chilis in this one - although - hmmm - you could put some crushed red chili pepper or cayenne in the sundried layer!!!!