Pheasant Terrine

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 6-cup terrine with butter. Thinly slice 1 1⁄4 lbs. of the salt pork (put in freezer to firm up if too soft to slice), then line bottom and sides of terrine with two-thirds of the salt pork slices.

Pass pork belly through a meat grinder fitted with the medium-hole disk into a large bowl. Cut the remaining unsliced salt pork into 1⁄4" cubes and add to bowl with ground pork belly. Add eggs, brandy, parsley, thyme, peppercorns, and pepper and mix well. Pack half the pork mixture into prepared terrine, cover with pheasant pieces, then fill terrine with the remaining pork mixture. Tap bottom of terrine 2 or 3 times against a wooden surface to settle its contents. Cover pork mixture with the remaining slices of salt pork and arrange bay leaves on top. Tightly cover terrine with its lid or with parchment paper, then with foil, and set into a baking pan. Add enough boiling water to pan to reach halfway up sides of terrine and bake until internal temperature of meat mixture reaches 160º, 1 1⁄4-1 1⁄2 hours.

Remove pan from oven, pour off water, then return terrine to pan. Uncover terrine and set aside to cool briefly. Cover terrine with plastic wrap and place a piece of heavy cardboard, cut to fit, inside the terrine. Weight with heavy cans and refrigerate, still in pan, for 1-3 days. Unmold terrine, discard bay leaves, and slice into 1⁄2"-thick pieces. Quarter each slice and serve on quartered toasted slices of white farmhouse loaf bread, with small spoonfuls of fruit jelly, if you like.