Rillettes Recipes

Steps:

• Place the pork belly and shoulder in the heavy-bottomed pot. Add water and bouquet garni and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally. After 6 hours, stir in salt and pepper and remove from heat. Discard bouquet garni.
• Once meat is cool enough to handle, transfer it to the mixing bowl; using a fork, shred the meat, taking care to preserve the natural filament -- meaning you want shreds, not mush. Feel free to shovel a little still-warm pork into your face. C'mon, you know you want to.
• Next, divide the mixture among several small containers. Top each portion with a slice or two of pork fat to completely cover it, fold the mixture together a bit, then wrap each container in plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator and allow to sit for 3 days before serving. This is the hardest part -- just know that it only gets better as those flavors marry up in the fridge.
• To serve: Scoop some out, form it into a vaguely artful shape (with a metal ring for instance), and garnish with toasted baguette rounds and cornichons. Left covered, rillettes will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Line a 9x13 baking dish with 2 pieces of aluminum foil.
• Stir kosher salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper, and dried thyme together in a bowl. Mix garlic, ginger, orange zest strips, fresh thyme, and bay leaves together in another bowl.
• Season duck all over, inside and out, with about 2/3 of the kosher salt mixture. Fill duck cavity with garlic mixture.
• Place duck, breast-side up, into prepared baking dish and season with remaining salt mixture. Wrap duck tightly in aluminum foil.
• Roast in the preheated oven until meat pulls away from the bones, 5 to 6 hours. Cool duck with its accumulated juices, wrapped in aluminum foil, to room temperature. Chill in the refrigerator for 12 hours or overnight.
• Pick meat from bones and place in a bowl.
• Spoon all accumulated juices in the foil into a saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Cook until hot throughout; strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Let fat and stock separate; transfer fat from the top to another bowl.
• Mash duck meat, 3 tablespoons duck fat, 2 tablespoons duck stock, butter, brandy, parsley, chives, Dijon mustard, cayenne pepper, salt, and ground black pepper together in a bowl with a wooden spoon; transfer to a sealable container, press down, and drizzle a little duck fat over the top. Sprinkle thyme leaves, black pepper, and orange zest over the top. Seal the container and refrigerate for the flavors to blend, 1 to 3 days.

Steps:

• In a food processor, briefly whiz the pieces of smoked salmon with the thyme and lemon juice and zest. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the butter and Boursin. Season lightly with the paprika, a touch of cayenne, and black pepper. Whiz again briefly until the mixture is combined, but still a little rough. Taste, and adjust the seasoning, salt, pepper or paprika. Chill for at least 20 minutes, longer if convenient. Remove from the refrigerator at least 10 minutes before serving.
• Serve with or on slices of buttered rye bread, with a few watercress leaves.

Steps:

• Place the pork belly and shoulder in a heavy bottomed pot. Add water and the bouquet garni and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally.
• After 6 hours, stir in the salt and pepper and remove from the heat. Discard the bouquet garni.
• Once the meat is cooled enough to handle, transfer it to a mixing bowl, using forks, shred the meat (not mush, SHREDS is the key)
• Shovel some still warm pork into your mouth -- you know you want to.
• Divide the mixture among several small containers. Top each portion with a slice or two of pork fat to completely cover it, fold the mixture together a bit then wrap each container in plastic wrap.
• Place in the refrigerator and let them sit for 3 days before serving. Don't cheat on the 3 days because it just gets better as the flavors marry up!

Steps:

• Reserve 1 bay leaf, then tip everything except the duck fat and serving suggestions into a bowl and season generously. If you have time, cover and leave the meat to marinate overnight in the fridge - however, this isn't essential.
• Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Tip the meat and all the juices into a flameproof casserole dish with a lid. Pour over 250ml water, or enough to just cover the meat, and place the pan on a low heat. As soon as it starts to bubble, pop on the lid and put in the oven for 2½-3 hrs, removing it once to give it a good stir.
• The meat should now be very tender. Leave it to cool slightly in the pan, then drain over a bowl to catch the fat and juices. Shred the pork by hand or put in a food processor and pulse a few times to shred, but don't overwork it into a paste. Taste, add extra seasoning if needed, then press meat into 2 small or 1 large serving dish, or pack into individual ramekins. Pour the juices and fat back over the meat, and put in the fridge for at least 2 hrs for the fat to harden. (To keep the rillettes for a week or so, cover with a layer of duck fat, and lay a bay leaf and a couple of juniper berries on top for decoration.)
• Serve with sourdough toast, cornichons and a few bitter leaves (such as curly endive, rocket and radicchio), in a sharp mustardy dressing.

Steps:

• Put the salmon and poaching ingredients into a pan and just cover with cold water. Bring to a gentle boil, then turn down and poach for 4 mins. set aside, off the heat, for 5 mins to carry on cooking. lift out the salmon and break into large flakes with a fork. Allow to cool.
• Whizz the cheese in a processor, then add the poached salmon and pulse until blended. if you don't have a processor, mash the fish with a fork and stir into the softened cheese. Add the lemon zest, juice and season to taste (if using a processor, do this with a spoon so that the mix doesn't get overworked).
• Take two dessertspoons, wet with water, then scoop up a generous spoonful of the salmon mix with one. now bring the second spoon over and under the mix, transferring it from one spoon to the other, turning it over as you go. Do this several times until you have an even, egg-shaped portion. Repeat with the rest of the mix, putting them on a plate when done. Cover lightly with cling film. Chill for at least 2 hrs and up to 2 days ahead. Meanwhile, mix the mustard and crème fraîche with seasoning to make a dressing and make the soda bread, see link, right.
• To serve, lay a slice of smoked salmon on 8 plates and top with the rillettes. Spoon the dressing on the side and top with ½ tsp keta and a sprig of dill. Serve with the toasted bread, lemon wedges and dressed salad leaves.