Potted Meats

Foie gras au torchon

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This is my version of foie gras au torchon. Most recipes I’ve seen on the internet are based on the French Laundry recipe which is fine and nice but takes days to make. I did once see a French recipe book which made the process quite simple but I didn’t have that to hand so instead I made this which is probably not technically a torchon since it’s vacuum packed instead of wrapped in cloth.

Ingredients  

 

1 lobe of foie gras about 400g

Maldon Salt

Black pepper

 

De-vain the foie; this is a pain but is very necessary. Split the liver open with a knife and gently tease out the strands and wriggly bits. It doesn’t matter if you break the liver since we’re going to force it back together again.

Season the pieces of liver all over with the salt and pepper. Take a large piece of baking paper and arrange the pieces in a . . . →Foie gras au torchon

Confit de Canard

Duck confit is one of those things that scratches an itch nothing else can. Back in the day, the breasts of the foie gras ducks would be confit’d together with the legs, but nowadays the breast or Magret is too fashionable and indeed expensive to “waste” on confit. Shame. In France you can wander into any supermarket and buy tins of perfectly acceptable confit, unfortunately we don’t all have the luxury of living in France. For the rest of us, here is my duck confit recipe (you can substitute goose if you want).

Cure Ingredients

As many duck legs as you can get your hands on. Maldon salt, relative to the amount of duck legs, it need only be a thin covering. White pepper, garlic powder, about 1tsp per kilo or duck

Wash and dry the duck legs. Mix the salt and spices together and rub into the duck. Place the legs in a non reactive container and . . . →Confit de Canard

Rillettes de porc

I started making rillettes as a way to use up leftover roast pork (super easy, pound it up spread on toast), but my wife loved this so much that I had to start making it specially from raw meat. It’s still a really easy way to preserve any bits of raw pork (or indeed chicken, lamb, duck) for several weeks or months and is pure bliss on a slice of hot toasted sourdough.

Ingredients

Pork belly, doesn’t really matter how much, but because of the long cooking time, it makes sense to use at least a kilo of pork, I normally go for 1.5 kilos 1% total weight of salt, I prefer Maldon Herbs and spices to taste; some combination of bay, black pepper, juniper, thyme is good Lots of rendered pork or duck fat

Cut the pork belly into large chunks, massage well with the salt and herbs and place in a large roasting tin. Cover . . . →Rillettes de porc

About Me

I love food; cooking it, eating it and having prentious and mildly competative conversations about it. I also play guitar and enjoy the occasional glass of wine or seven.

Based in Tilburg, NL, this blog follows my adventures in food and cooking, trying to eat well in a land where you can buy a horse paste sausage from a vending machine.

For quality suppliers in and around the Tilburg area, see my page on Suppliers.

CHICKEN AND RED WINE?

Click here for my post on roast chicken and red wine

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