Chicken terrine with leeks & apricots

SERVES 8-10 PREP 25 mins plus cooling and overnight chilling COOK 1 hr 5 mins MORE EFFORT

1kg chicken thighs on the bone, skin removed

500ml fresh chicken stock (you can buy this ready-made)

2 bay leaves, plus more to decorate handful thyme sprigs handful parsley

2 leeks, finely chopped (keep the trimmings)

6 black peppercorns

30g butter, plus more for the tin 1 large or 2 smaller banana shallots, finely chopped

50g smoked streaky bacon or pancetta, finely chopped

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped 2 chicken breasts, on the bone if possible, skin removed

50g soft dried apricots, chopped 3 tbsp brandy

4 sheets leaf gelatine toast drizzled with olive oil, to serve (we used Crosta & Mollica Pane Pugliese) 1 Put the chicken thighs in a pan with the stock and a string-tied bundle of 2 bay leaves, a few of the thyme sprigs and a little of the parsley. Add a few leek trimmings, the peppercorns and /2 tsp salt.

1

Add water to just cover the meat, if needed. Bring to the boil, then cover and gently simmer for 30 mins.

2 Meanwhile, lightly butter a 900g loaf tin (ours was 12cm x 22cm x 7cm) and line with cling film, leaving plenty of overhang. Melt the butter in a frying pan, then add the leeks, shallots and some seasoning. Cook for 10 mins over a medium heat until starting to colour. Add the bacon and garlic and cook for 2 mins more until the bacon is cooked through. Leave to cool.

3 Add the chicken breast to the stock and top up with hot water to cover. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer gently for another 20 mins. When ready, the chicken breast will be cooked through and the thigh meat will pull away easily from the bones. Lift the meat from the stock, drain the stock, then leave to cool until it is just warm. 4 Discard the bones and any knobbly bits, then roughly chop the chicken. Stir into the leeks, along with 2 tsp more thyme leaves, the apricots and brandy.

5 Soak the gelatine in cold water for 5 mins until floppy. Squeeze out the excess water, then stir into 300ml of the warm stock. Mix with the chicken. Put a few bay leaves in the base of the tin, then spoon the chicken mix on top and press down well. Cover with the cling film. Leave to cool then chill thoroughly – overnight is best. Can be made up to three days ahead.

6 To serve, slice the terrine while it is still wrapped in cling film, then carefully peel the cling film off each slice. Drizzle the toast slices with olive oil and grill until golden brown and crisp, then sprinkle with a little salt. Serve the terrine with the toast and our yogurt piccalilli & crisp kale salad (see below).

PER SERVING (10) 256 kcals • fat 12g • saturates 4g • carbs 3g • sugars 3g • fibre 2g • protein 30g • salt 0.7g