Going to Pot
Dec. 21st, 2009 09:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Manteca Colorada.
2.2 lbs skinless pork belly
1/2 lb pork back fat (The three places I tried - Dittmer's, Prather, and Golden Gate - were all out, so I used rendered lard instead. The good stuff from Prather, not Armour's tasteless white cake.)
1/2 cup dry sherry (I used about 1/3 cup brandy instead)
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs thyme
1 Tbsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 tsp mild paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika
pepper and salt
Cut the belly and pork fat into 1" pieces and place them in a medium bowl. Add the sherry. Peel and halve the garlic, removing the germ. Add the garlic, bay, coarse salt, and fennel to the bowl. Sprinkle both paprikas over the pork and season generously with pepper. Stir to combine and marinate for 6-8 hours or overnight.
Heat the oven to 250. Transfer the pork and all the seasonings and sherry to a Dutch oven (I used my Le Creuset), cover, and cook in the oven for about 4 hours. Stir occasionally. The pork should become so tender it falls apart.
Remove from the oven and tip the pan's contents into a fine-mesh sieve suspended over a bowl. Empty the contents of the sieve onto a platter and pour the liquid from the bowl into a measuring cup. Set aside the liquid and let the meat cool slightly. Using your finger, pull the meat and fat apart, discarding the bay and thyme as you go. Discard any pieces of membrane or sinew that don't shred. Be patient: this takes time and the key is to create shreds of meat and fat. Return the shredded mixture to the bowl.
The cooking liquid will have separated into fat and juices. (Mine didn't. Perhaps because I used the rendered/strained lard, which melted quickly?) Carefully pour off the fat and set aside. Add about 1/2 cup of the juices to the shredded mixture so that it is very moist. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper if necessary. Pack the mixture into ceramic dishes, leaving a 1/4" gap at the top. As you pack the meat into the dish, you will see liquid gently oozing from the meat. Place the dishes in the refrigerate for a few minutes to firm up. Seal the dishes with a layer of the liquid fat and refrigerate the dishes for 2-3 days to meld the flavors.
Sealed with fat, the rillettes will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. Once the seal is broken, eat the rillettes within a week. If you have fat left over, use it to make refried beans.
What worked: It had a nice smoky/hot flavor from the paprika. The leftover fat we scraped off the meat was glorious when used to cook eggses or greens.
What didn't: I didn't pack the meat as thoroughly as I should have. The meat wasn't fully covered when it cooked in the oven, so it stayed a bit crunchy rather than the desired spreadable texture.
Will I make it again? I think I'll try a "standard" rillette recipe from a different cookbook first to see if I get the desired consistency right, but eventually, sure.
What I'm reading: Stanley Marianski, The Art of Making Fermented Sausages
2.2 lbs skinless pork belly
1/2 lb pork back fat (The three places I tried - Dittmer's, Prather, and Golden Gate - were all out, so I used rendered lard instead. The good stuff from Prather, not Armour's tasteless white cake.)
1/2 cup dry sherry (I used about 1/3 cup brandy instead)
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs thyme
1 Tbsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 tsp mild paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika
pepper and salt
Cut the belly and pork fat into 1" pieces and place them in a medium bowl. Add the sherry. Peel and halve the garlic, removing the germ. Add the garlic, bay, coarse salt, and fennel to the bowl. Sprinkle both paprikas over the pork and season generously with pepper. Stir to combine and marinate for 6-8 hours or overnight.
Heat the oven to 250. Transfer the pork and all the seasonings and sherry to a Dutch oven (I used my Le Creuset), cover, and cook in the oven for about 4 hours. Stir occasionally. The pork should become so tender it falls apart.
Remove from the oven and tip the pan's contents into a fine-mesh sieve suspended over a bowl. Empty the contents of the sieve onto a platter and pour the liquid from the bowl into a measuring cup. Set aside the liquid and let the meat cool slightly. Using your finger, pull the meat and fat apart, discarding the bay and thyme as you go. Discard any pieces of membrane or sinew that don't shred. Be patient: this takes time and the key is to create shreds of meat and fat. Return the shredded mixture to the bowl.
The cooking liquid will have separated into fat and juices. (Mine didn't. Perhaps because I used the rendered/strained lard, which melted quickly?) Carefully pour off the fat and set aside. Add about 1/2 cup of the juices to the shredded mixture so that it is very moist. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper if necessary. Pack the mixture into ceramic dishes, leaving a 1/4" gap at the top. As you pack the meat into the dish, you will see liquid gently oozing from the meat. Place the dishes in the refrigerate for a few minutes to firm up. Seal the dishes with a layer of the liquid fat and refrigerate the dishes for 2-3 days to meld the flavors.
Sealed with fat, the rillettes will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. Once the seal is broken, eat the rillettes within a week. If you have fat left over, use it to make refried beans.
What worked: It had a nice smoky/hot flavor from the paprika. The leftover fat we scraped off the meat was glorious when used to cook eggses or greens.
What didn't: I didn't pack the meat as thoroughly as I should have. The meat wasn't fully covered when it cooked in the oven, so it stayed a bit crunchy rather than the desired spreadable texture.
Will I make it again? I think I'll try a "standard" rillette recipe from a different cookbook first to see if I get the desired consistency right, but eventually, sure.
What I'm reading: Stanley Marianski, The Art of Making Fermented Sausages
