SERVES: 12 as a starter
PREP TIME: 1hr. 30 - 2hrs, plus overnight chilling.

INGREDIENTS

For the terrine:

•​​ 800-900g Smoked Salmon

•​​ 280g Hot Smoked Salmon, flaked
•​​ 950g Cream Cheese

•​​ 130g Crème Fraîche

•​​ 1tsp Sweet Smoked Paprika
•​​ Zest 1/2 Lemon

•​ 3tbsp Dill, roughly chopped
•​​ Salt and Pepper to taste

•​​ 400g Fine Asparagus spears

•​​ 150g Butter
•​​ 2tbsp Dill, roughly chopped

For the pickled cucumbers:

•​ 6 Baby Cucumbers
•​​ 4tbsp Japanese Rice Vinegar

•​ 2tsp Caster Sugar
•​​ 1tsp Maldon Salt

•​ 1tsp Pink Peppercorns, lightly crushed
•​​ 1/2 small bunch of dill, fronds picked

For the Horseradish cream:

•​ 300ml Sour Cream
•​​ 100g Horseradish Sauce

•​ 1tbsp Chives, finely chopped
•​​ Zest 1/2 Lemon

Toasted slices of baguette to serve

Firstly prepare the asparagus. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and drop in the asparagus spears. Cook for 1-2 minutes , or until they can be pierced easily with a sharp knife. Drain and plunge into a bowl of iced water. Once cool, trim off the head of the asparagus leaving just the stems, and line up on a clean tea towel to dry. The leftover heads could be tossed through a salad or used in a pasta sauce or omelette.

Next, make the filling. In a food processor, pulse together the cream cheese, crème fraîche, hot smoked salmon flakes and paprika until fairly smooth. Scrape out into a bowl and stir through the dill and lemon zest. Season to taste and then set aside.

Melt the 150g of butter in a small pan. Once melted remove from the heat, stir through the chopped dill and allow to cool whilst you line the loaf tin.

Brush the inside of the loaf tin with a little oil and line neatly with cling film, making sure to leave an overhang. Line the tin with a single layer of smoked salmon, overlapping the slices slightly so there are no gaps, and making sure there is 2-3cms of overhang along the top rim.

Spoon the cream cheese mix into a piping bag, and snip off the end. Pipe a third of the mix into the bottom of the tin and smooth over with the back of a spoon to form an even layer. Cover completely with a single layer of smoked salmon, and then layer in half of the asparagus spears length-ways, packing them in tightly side by side. Drizzle over half of the cooled, melted butter and smooth down with the back of a spoon to cover the asparagus. Top with another layer of smoked salmon, and repeat this whole process again, starting with the cream cheese mix, and ending with the last third of the mix to fill the loaf tin. Cover this final layer with the remaining smoked salmon slices and fold in the overhanging salmon to form the base of the terrine. Cover this with the overhanging cling film.

Weigh down the terrine with a similarly sized loaf tin and a few cans (you could also use a chopping board or a piece of cut card) and chill in the fridge overnight.

30 minutes before you wish to serve the terrine, transfer to the freezer to firm up. This will make the terrine easier to slice.

Meanwhile, make the cucumber pickle. In a bowl, combine the rice vinegar, salt, sugar, pink peppercorns and dill fronds. Stir together to dissolve the sugar and salt. On a mandolin, finely slice the baby cucumbers into rounds and add to the vinegar mix. Toss to coat, and then set aside.

For the horseradish cream, mix together the sour cream and horseradish in a bowl, before adding in the chives and lemon zest. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove the terrine from the freezer, and unfold the cling film. Place your serving platter on top of the loaf tin and flip the whole thing upside down to turn out the terrine. Using a very sharp knife, slice into 12 slices about 2cm thick.

Serve with the pickles, horseradish cream and slices of toasted baguette.

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