Charcuterie_ The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing - Michael Ruhlman [124]
Jim serves this with mustard and, usually, some sort of spiced fruit preserves. In spring, perhaps feeling guilty about its high fat content, he sets it on some green beans dressed with a vinaigrette and sliced almonds. But it’s still deep-fried fat no matter how you try to healthy it up. (For more information on Le Pichet, see Sources, page 305.)
At home, good mustard and a crusty baguette are the perfect accompaniments. You might also serve it along side a salad with a vinaigrette.
THE DRY CURE
2 tablespoons/20 grams freshly ground black pepper
1⁄2 tablespoon/6 grams ground cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon/2 grams ground cloves
1⁄4 teaspoon/1 gram ground allspice
3 bay leaves, crumbled
10 sprigs fresh thyme
2 ounces/50 grams kosher salt (4 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon/6 grams pink salt
6 pounds/2.75 kilograms pork belly, skin removed and cut into 1-inch/2.5-centimeter by 3-inch/7.5-centimeter chunks
Dry white wine as needed
Rendered pork or duck fat as needed (see page 260)
Canola oil or rendered pork or duck fat for deep-frying
1. Combine all the cure ingredients in a bowl and stir to distribute the seasonings evenly.
2. Toss the pork with the cure to coat evenly. Pack into a nonreactive container and cover with white wine. Cover and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F./120 degrees C.
4. Remove the pork from the cure and pat the pieces dry with paper towels. Place the pork in an ovenproof pot or Dutch oven and cover with the rendered fat. Bring to a simmer on the stovetop, then place in the oven, uncovered, and cook until the pork is fork-tender, about 2 to 3 hours.
5. Remove the pork from the oven and cool to room temperature in the fat. (If you simply can’t wait to eat this succulent bundle when it has finished its confit—we highly recommend chilling all confit, which intensifies the juicy tenderness of the meat—you can pour off and reserve the fat, then return the pan to the stovetop over high heat until the meat is nicely browned.) Refrigerate the pork in the pan it was cooked in or transfer to another container and add the fat; the pork should be completely submerged in fat. Refrigerate until completely chilled, or for up to 2 months.
6. To serve, remove the pork from the refrigerator, preferably a few hours ahead. Remove the pork from the fat, and wipe off the excess. In a deep heavy pot, heat the oil for deep-frying to 350 to 375 degrees F./175 to 190 degrees C. Deep-fry the pork belly until crispy and heated through, about 2 minutes if it was at room temperature. Remove and drain on paper towels.
Yield: About 12 servings
Rillettes
Rillettes are the perfect party hors d’oeuvre, an amazing midweek snack, and an example of a beautiful utilitarian preparation—flavorful, economical, satisfying, great to make ahead—an excellent technique that’s all but unheard of in the American home kitchen. Indeed, a perusal of standard home cookbooks such as The Joy of Cooking, Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and Craig Claiborne’s New York Times Cookbook suggests why they might not be made often or at all at home—they’re not even mentioned.
They ought to be.
Rillettes, considered a “potted” food because they are customarily served in a pot or jar or a ramekin, are some type of meat (most often pork, rabbit, or duck) that’s long-simmered with herbs and aromatics and fat until it’s meltingly tender. Then it’s pounded or mixed to a spreadable paste, transferred to a ramekin or similar container, and sealed with a thin layer of fat. Rillettes can be refrigerated for several weeks before being set out at room temperature to be spread on toast or