For Dinner: Asparagus Terrine

Sometimes I just peruse Good Eats episodes and find things that I might want to make. This was one of those times, with the recent asparagus episode's Asparagus Terrine catching my interest. I love asparagus, but I don't typically use it in ways other than the standard boil/roast.

• 2 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 8 ounces quark or farmers cheese, room temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 to 5 good quality, jarred anchovies in olive oil, drained
• 7 whole, fresh chives
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 recipe Steamed Asparagus, cooled, recipe follows
• Toasted French bread slices, for serving
• Special equipment: Spritz bottle filled with water

Quark is a new ingredient to me, and despite Alton's claim that it's available in most megamarts, I couldn't find it. Finding farmers cheese was hard enough, with me getting to the Jewish Refrigerated Foods section before I could find the full fat farmers cheese.

My mother used to eat anchovies out of the can when I was a kid (and probably still does), but like their appreciation for brussel sprouts, it took me a little while before I could appreciate these culinary delights. And while I no longer hold a beef with the sprouts, I've been dodging the little fishies for a while. I kinda tricked myself into trying them - I didn't have any problems with processing a few into my cheese mixture, I was left with 3/4 of a can of anchovies after I was done, and I couldn't just throw them away, could I? So I toasted them with some toast, and ate 'em straight up. I thought there would be at least a little crunch, as I knew I was eating bones, but they were quite soft. The tail was a little pokey, but it chewed up just as well. There was certainly a very fishy taste to them, so I don't know if they were one of my favorite things ever, but I feel stronger for finally bucking up and trying them.

At first, the taste was a little overwhelming - a big cheesy/creamy note, combined with a little bit of asparagus, finished with a distinct fishy note from the anchovies. These first couple of slices I was eating straight, and I was like "ehhhhhhh...", but then I made some toast, and smeared it on that, and it made it a hell of a lot better.

I think I like standard asparagus too much to try this again, but at least I conquered my anchovy hangup.