Classic French Pork Rillettes Recipes

PORK RILLETTES

Steps:

• Mix together the brandy or whiskey with the garlic, salt, pepper, juniper, and allspice berries with the pork cubes in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• In a large saucepan (that has a lid) or a medium-sized casserole, heat the pork belly pieces with 1/3 cup (80ml) water over low heat. Cook gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, encouraging the pork pieces to give up their fat. If the water evaporates, add a little more to help the fat render.
• Preheat the oven to 250ºF (120ºC).
• Add the macerated pork and any liquid to the pan along with the thyme. Cook, stirring frequently, for another 15 minutes, until the pieces of pork are cooked on the outside. Cover the pan and put it in the oven.
• Lift the lid after 1 1/2 hours of cooking. Press on the chunks of fat with a fork to release more of their fat and encourage them to break down. Add the wine, replace the lid, and bake the pork for another 1 to 2 hours, until the pork is very soft.
• Remove the pork from the oven. Pick out the thyme branches and discard. (The original recipe said at this point to drain the pork through a sieve, over a bowl, to collect the juices, but mine didn't have enough to warrant that. If yours does, see headnote for more information on that.) Press on any visible chunks of fat to get the fat out of them, then remove them from the pan and discard them.
• Pour most of the fat out of the pan into a small bowl and reserve. Scrape the meat chunks, and any pan fat, juices and brown bits, into the bowl of a stand mixer. The spices should all be very soft and dissolved, so it's not a problem to include them.
• Mix the meat on low-to-medium speed with the paddle attachment until well-mashed. (You can also make this by hand, mashing the meat with a fork.) The mixture should resemble dry tuna salad. Add enough of the reserved liquefied fat to make it juicy and moist. I ended up adding about 3 tablespoons, but it'll probably need between 2 and 4 tablespoons. The more fat you add, the richer and creamier it'll be.

PORK RILLETTES

Steps:

• Coarsely dice pork and place in a heavy 4-quart pot. Add mustard seeds, pepper, salt, garlic and two of the bay leaves. Mix well. Add wine. Bring to a boil, reduce to a very slow simmer and cook, skimming any foam, for 30 minutes. Add 1 cup water, return to a very slow simmer, cover and cook for 2 1/2 hours, stirring once or twice during this time.
• Uncover and increase heat to medium. Cook 20 to 30 minutes more until any liquid is pure fat, not water. You can tell if you look at a spoonful of the liquid and there are no little water bubbles. Taste the fat and adjust the seasonings if needed; do not under-season because the rillettes will be served fairly cold. Set aside to cool 1 hour. Remove bay leaves.
• Mash and shred the mixture, using your fingers, 2 forks, or (what I think works really well) a pastry cutter. Transfer to a crock or glass jar with a lid that clamps tight, pressing down so there are no air bubbles. Top with the remaining bay leaf, cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.

PORK RILLETTES

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 275º. Put the peppercorns, allspice, cloves and coriander in a spice grinder or clean coffee grinder and process until finely ground. Put the pork in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven and sprinkle with salt and the spice mixture. Add the garlic, bay leaf, rosemary and stock and put the pot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, cover and put the pot in the oven. Cook, checking every now and then, until the pork is falling apart and beginning to caramelize and the stock has almost entirely evaporated (remove the cover if necessary to get the liquid to evaporate; the bottom of the pot should be just about all melted fat when you're done), 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
• Strain the mixture; reserve the fat and discard the garlic, bay leaf, rosemary and any gristle. Transfer the pork to a bowl and mash it into small shreds with the back of a fork. Add 1/4 cup of the reserved fat and stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper if you like (keep in mind that the colder you serve the rillettes, the less salty they will taste). Pack the rillettes into a mason jar or another container and refrigerate (covered tightly, they will keep for at least a week). Serve cold or at room temperature.