Jenny Halliday

Now that we are coming up to the festive season and some warm weather, I thought it might be nice to have a cold dish that could be served on Christmas Day.

• 1 ham hock
• 2 sticks of celery, chopped roughly
• 1 carrot, chopped roughly
• 2 Onions, quartered
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 1 chicken – 1.8kg, halved lengthways
• 2 cups parsley
• 3 titanium – strength gelatine leaves, softened in cold water for five minutes.

Place ham hock, celery, carrot, onion and bay leaves in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water, and simmer for one hour. Add the chicken and simmer for a further 40 minutes.

Remove from heat and set aside for 20 minutes for the chicken to finish cooking.   Remove and discard skin from the chicken and ham. Shred the meat into large pieces, place in a bowl and set aside. Strain and reserve 500ml of the poaching liquid. Puree the parsley in a blender with a little of the poaching liquid. Squeeze excess water from the gelatine, stir in the reserved poaching liquid, the parsley, and season to taste with salt and ground black pepper.

Line a 1.5 litre loaf tin or terrine mould with plastic wrap. Place chicken and ham evenly in the pan, pour in parsley and gelatine mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight to set.

Turn out terrine onto a board and cut thick slices with a warmed knife. Serve with hard boiled eggs, pickled cucumber, tomato salad and a mixed green salad.