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Old Mon, Oct-22-12, 04:55
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PlaneCrazy PlaneCrazy is offline
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Plan: Modified Paleo Atkins
Stats: 260/260/190 Male 71 inches
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Location: Durham, North Carolina
Default Pork Rillettes, aka Pig Jam

Made this over the weekend. Oh, man, is this amazing. It's fatty pork, rubbed with spices and salt, then braised in its own fat, mashed, mixed into a rough pate with the cooking fat, and then eaten. I got the pork shoulder and fat from a local farmer who raises some really happy pigs who are pastured and even forested (to hunt for acorns and hickory nuts and occasional local truffle)

What's great is to eat it with the small, pickled cucumbers called cornichons, or anything pickled to cut the richness of the fatty, meaty goodness.

I rendered the fat in my slow cooker and rubbed the pork shoulder on Saturday. I then cooked the rillettes in my slow cooker on Sunday.

Based it on a recipe from Food and Wine online.
2 teaspoons allspice berries
2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Kosher salt
3 pounds trimmed boneless pork butt, cut into 2-inch pieces
5 thyme sprigs, 1 sprig rosemary, tied together to take out after cooking.
6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 quart+ rendered pork fat, melted
Dash of port wine (optional)
Dash of sherry vinegar (optional)

Grind allspice, peppercorns and coriander. Add cinnamon, and 1/4 cup salt. Toss well with the pork. Add garlic and massage into the meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Next day, bring pork to room temperature, melt fat and add both to slow cooker. Add rosemary and thyme springs, making sure as much as possible is under the fat. Cook on low with the lid just slightly ajar (to let out any water) for 4-6 hours until meat is tender.

Spoon out the meat and let cool slightly. Strain the lard through a cheesecloth and reserve. Using your hands, smash and separate the pork taking out any gristle. What you're looking for here is a rough paste made of short fibers of meat held together with fat. Add the cup or so of the cooking fat and keep on kneading the mixture. Tradition sometimes calls for two forks, but your hands work so much better and you can feel the occasional piece of gristle better.

I added a dash of port wine and a dash of sherry vinegar at this point and it worked very well, but they're optional. Have fun with it!

Pack into a glass or ceramic crock, or small individual jars, crocks or ramekins. Refrigerate and once it sets up, melt some of the fat until hot, and pour 1/2 or so over the pork to seal and preserve it.

Sealed this will last in the fridge for several months (like it has the slightest possibility of not being eaten for that long). This is a traditional means of preserving pork over the winter. You can also freeze it and it will last much longer. This makes great gifts, is easy, fairly cheap and very tasty. Enjoy!
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