Potato Terrine

A few people requested the recipe for this terrine, so here it is:

Ingredients:

• 2kg potatoes, preferably Maris Piper or a similar* variety (* I shouldn't need to say this, but please google for similar varieties. You may need an extra 500g if you're using a large mould)
• 250g unsalted butter
• Salt (a fine sea salt works well, I also use flake sea salt at the end which is optional)
• Thyme (If you want to make it look pretty at the end you can pick some fresh herbs which can stand up to the heat and not wilt immediately. Thyme works well.

You'll also need:

• A loaf tin or terrine mould (the tin I use is around 230x140mm at the top)
• Parchment paper
• Mandoline
• Something to press the terrine, such as another tin. I use two layers of sturdy card, cut to size, wrapped in foil and clingfilm.
• You'll need other stuff, such as an oven.....but I can't list everything now, can I?!

1. Preheat your oven, I use 160 celsius in a fan oven (you may need to adjust for different oven types)
2. Line your tin with parchment paper. An easy way to do this is to grease the tin with a small about of cold butter, use a strip of paper to go lengthways along the tin with some ends to tuck over the top at the end, and another piece of paper to go widthways and up the sides.
3. Melt the butter over a low heat in a saucepan
4. Peel the potatoes, and slice thinly on a mandoline. ('Thinly' is roughly 2mm. I suspect it would work with slightly thicker slices but I've only ever tried 2mm)
5. Layer your potatoes in the tin: use a pastry brush to apply a thin film of butter to the bottom, them start layering your potatoes. You don't have to be super tidy because it will be pressed, but try to keep them vaguely even. After each layer (or every other layer, roughly), brush the potatoes with butter and season lightly with salt. You'll probably use all of the butter. Depending on your tin size you might have some potato left over, you can use this for something else, in a soup perhaps. It can help to press down on the potato as you go, to help keep it level.
6. When the layers are finished, wrap the paper over the top, and fit a piece of foil on top.
7. Bake in your oven for 90 mins. Put your tin on a roasting pan or something, because you'll get butter drips/leaks
8. Take the tin out the oven and let it cool a bit. When the terrine has cooled a little (it will still be hot), organise the pressing weight. Use your bit of card — whatever you're using — and then use something like two cans with a skillet on top to weight it down. You might want to gently press it down to help get the pressing started.
9. When the terrine has cooled enough to go in the fridge, do so. I had to take the skillet off, but just used the cans for some weight. You'll need to leave it in a fridge for at least 3-4 hours to let it cool & set. (I have done this successfully when the terrine hasn't completely cooled, but it works best when cooled properly)
10. When the terrine has cooled, de-mould it onto a cutting board, and slice it into 'thick slices' (3cm, roughly....but you can go as thin as 15mm if you're very careful).
11. You can warm the slices in an oven, but I like to sear them in a medium hot skillet or non-stick pan. It will come to temperature quite quickly. You want to colour it without burning. Also, careful not to burn your fingers, as steam will jet through the layers of potato.
12. At this stage (serving) I like to season the top with a few flakes of good salt, some fresh black pepper, and a few picked thyme leaves/flowers. (If you want to pretend you have magical cookery powers you can trim up the terrine so it is symmetrical. Trimming is entirely unnecessary and possibly silly, but maybe you're trying to impress someone, in which case have at it!)

Notes for those actively trying to improve their cookery: If it didn't work do you know where you went wrong? When you've tasted it, would you do anything differently? More/less salt? Maybe you could try incorporating some herbs, or adding another fat into the butter mixture. I have been thinking about making a spiced variation on this recipe, but I haven't tried that yet....seems like it would work a treat.