This terrine is pressed so it will hold its shape and you can carve it up all sexy like at the table, but it also works fine if you just dump the mix into a bowl and put it on the table for everyone to scoop onto toast as they please.
If you leave a little ham fat in the mix it does wonders for the texture. The ham jelly will also help with texture and doubles as a binder too.
POTTED HAM TERRINE
3 cups roughly chopped ham, a few fatty bits included
Any ham jelly that might be floating around the bottom of the pan
½ red onion, diced
2 dill pickles, chopped
1 handful mixed fresh herbs – parsley, dill, tarragon, chopped
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to season
Blitz ham in food processor to a fine chop or very coarse paste. Add any pan juices, if using, and pulse a couple more times.
Scoop ham mix into a large mixing bowl.
Now blitz onion, pickles and herbs to a similar consistency to the ham.
Add herb mix to the mixing bowl.
Add mayonnaise and mustard to mixing bowl, plus a little salt and pepper to season. Mix thoroughly to combine.
Line a 750 ml mould of some description with plastic wrap – a container or bowl will work fine. Leave enough plastic wrap so you can fold it over the top of the terrine once it’s all in there.
Use a spatula to scoop the ham mix into the lined container.
Fold the extra plastic wrap over the top of the terrine just like you were tucking it into bed. Press down on the terrine to make it as compact as you possibly can. If you have used a plastic container for the mould you should be able to get the lid on top and even weigh it down with a tin of beans or maybe a house brick. The idea is that the more you can compact this thing, the better is will hold together. (If this sounds too hard for you, you can easily use the “scoop it into a bowl and eat it” method. No shame in that.)
Refrigerate terrine for 4 hours or overnight if you can.
Remove weight and turn out of mould.
Remove plastic wrap.
Get that thing onto the table with mustard and toasted sourdough or crackers on the side, and let your guests cut slabs and chunks off as they please.