Roast Saddle of Rabbit with Spinach and Pine Nuts
La Caillette (Rhône Valley Meatballs)
Chicken Quenelles with Mushroom Cream Sauce
We love pâtés, confits, and rillettes, but the collection of recipes in this chapter shows a range of forcemeat techniques and other uses of the pig that fall within charcuterie’s purview, such as Porchetta di Testa (page 205), crispy pig skin, and several different pork belly creations (because who doesn’t want more pork belly when given the option?).
There are classic pâtés here, but because they are cooked in unique ways, outside a terrine, we’ve put them in this chapter. Stuffed duck neck uses the skin of the duck’s neck like a large sausage casing. It’s a preparation that reminds us that this specialty demands versatility and total use of the animal; here, the duck neck skin is as valuable as the duck breast. It’s visually stunning and, when roasted until the duck skin is crispy, enormously gratifying to eat. All of charcuterie is about the odd bits, the stuff that might otherwise be thrown away but, when used, can result in an extra meal.
Brian likes to remind me that the galantine (poached pâté, served cold) and the ballotine (roasted pâté, served hot) were important dishes two hundred years ago, and even earlier. They’re projects for the home cook—they’re simply not practical for restaurant chefs doing a high volume—yet we still believe that they remain important dishes. The chicken galantine in our first book together, Charcuterie, is so good that Brian has every class he teaches make one. I’ve made it several times and I agree—it’s a preparation that’s more than worth the effort, and worthy of being revived. Here we do a Seafood Galantine (page 218) and a Turkey Ballotine (page 216). We also have Ham and Parsley en Gelée (page 212), which is a classic preparation that’s finished in a terrine mold, but we put it here because it seems a one-of-a-kind dish. The first time Brian saw this dish, it was being demonstrated by Jacques Pépin, a classic in his own right. And we are also including here another classic we would like to see on more menus and kitchen tables, Chicken Quenelles (page 214).
We have pork preparations that we love, such as Cracklings (page 221), Puffy Chicharrón (page 220), and traditional Rillons (crispy chunks of pork belly that can be eaten hot or cold; page 219). And finally, two additional pork belly preparations with Asian spices—one braised and tender (page 222), one crispy (page 223)—because there are few things more satisfying than crispy pork belly.
And we include two preparations for the pig’s head, which is composed of all kinds of deliciousness if you know how to get at it—ears and cheeks and skin. This is real cooking. This is transformative cooking—craftsmanship that transforms difficult cuts into great food and likewise transforms the cook who does this very special work.
Crispy Stuffed Duck Neck
Back in the 1980s, when Brian was a chef at the Lark in Detroit, the owner asked him to put more “country-style” dishes on the menu. This, after some research, was one of the dishes he came up with. True to peasant cuisine, it uses the neck skin of the duck as well as the gizzards and heart. Such cooking wouldn’t discard anything; it would put all of the animal to use. The neck skins serve as the casings for a pork pâté with abundant garnish, and served hot, as individual ballotines. Whole ducks, like rabbit, are increasingly available at growers’ markets. These would be the best place to source duck necks.
If you have a smoker, Brian suggests cold-smoking the necks for 2 to 3 hours after they’ve been poached and before roasting, for additional flavor.
5 ounces/140 grams duck or chicken gizzards and hearts, cut into ½-inch/1-centimeter pieces
½ teaspoon pink curing salt
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Pinch ground white pepper, optional
6 tablespoons/90 milliliters rendered duck fat, bacon fat, lard, or unsalted butter
1½ pounds/680 grams onions, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup/60 milliliters port
1½ cups/360 milliliters chicken stock
1 pound/450 grams pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch/2.5-centimeter dice
1 pound/450 grams pork belly, cut into 1-inch/2.5-centimeter dice
1 tablespoon/15 grams kosher salt
½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
8 ounces/225 grams ham, cut into ½-inch/1-centimeter dice
⅓ cup/30 grams shelled pistachios, blanched
8 duck necks
1. Toss the gizzards and hearts in a nonreactive bowl with the pink salt, nutmeg, and white pepper (if using). Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.
2. Melt the fat in a thick-bottomed sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic. Rinse the gizzards and hearts under cold water, pat them dry, and add them to the pan. Sauté until the onions are soft and beginning to turn light brown, then deglaze with the port. Add the chicken stock and simmer until the gizzards and hearts are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer the gizzards and hearts to a plate, cover, and chill. Increase the heat to medium-high and reduce any liquid remaining in the onions to a syrup consistency. Refrigerate until chilled.
3. In a bowl, combine the pork shoulder and pork belly. Add the chilled onions and reduced liquid, as well as the kosher salt and black pepper. Grind it all through a ⅛ inch/3-millimeter die into the bowl of a standing mixer set in an ice bath. Fit the bowl into the standing mixer and, using the paddle attachment, mix at medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes. Sauté a tablespoon of the mixture and taste it for seasoning, then adjust as necessary. Add the gizzards, hearts, ham, and pistachios. Paddle for another minute.
4. Carefully remove the skin from the duck necks (reserve the bones for stock). Turn the skins inside out and scrape them clean of all fat and any glands that may still be attached, then turn them right side out again. Tie off the smaller end of each duck neck skin. Pipe or stuff the ground meat and garnish mixture into the neck skin. Fill the neck full without breaking it, then sew or tie off the other end to close the stuffed neck.
5. Bring a large pot of water to 170°F/76°C and poach the stuffed necks until the internal temperature reaches 150°F/65°C, 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the necks. Cool the stuffed necks in their poaching liquid. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°F/218°C.
6. Remove the necks from the poaching liquid and lay them in a roasting pan. Roast until hot all the way through, about 20 minutes, and serve hot.
YIELD: 8 ENTRÉE PORTIONS
CRISPY STUFFED DUCK NECK (page 199)
Fromage de Tête
This is one of the easiest and most traditional (not to mention tastiest) ways to use the abundance of edibles contained in a pig’s head. Most cultures have some version of it. In England it’s called brawn, and in Italy it’s soppressata di Toscano (throughout the rest of Italy, soppressata refers to a dry-cured sausage). The French name, which translates as headcheese, strikes us as one of the more unfortunate terms in the charcutier’s nomenclature. But there it is. And regardless of what it’s called, all these preparations are the same: A whole pig’s head is submerged in water with lots of aromatics and cooked until it’s falling-apart tender. Everything edible is then picked from the head and diced as appropriate, packed with herbs into a terrine, and covered with poaching liquid, which should be very gelatinous. Brian likes to add more gelatin just to be sure it all sets up. For a different dish altogether, you can increase the amount of gelatin by half, cut the terrine into 1-inch/2.5-centimeter slices, then bread and pan-fry them. Served with a warm mustard vinaigrette, it’s a knockout.
Serve with Sauce Gribiche (page 230), and an arugula salad topped with herbed vinaigrette alongside.
1 fresh pig’s head, on the bone, ears and tongue included (sizes vary; usually about 16 pounds/7 kilograms)
Kosher salt as needed
2 cups/480 milliliters dry white wine
1 leek, halved lengthwise
2 bay leaves
1 bunch fresh thyme
1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus ½ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
15 whole black peppercorns
10 whole cloves
5 allspice berries
2 tablespoons powdered gelatin
¼ cup champagne vinegar
1. Place the pig’s head in a large pot and, using a large liquid measuring cup, cover it completely with cold water, keeping track of how much water you use. Remove the head. Add kosher salt to the water at a ratio of 1 cup/240 grams per 1 gallon/3.75 liters.
2. Place the head in the salted water and soak for 12 hours or overnight (preferably in the refrigerator, but if you don’t have space, place it in the coolest spot available).
3. Drain the pig’s head and return it to the pot. Cover with fresh water by at least 2 inches/5 centimeters. Add the wine.
4. Make a bouquet garni by tying the leek, bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and parsley sprigs together with kitchen string. Make a sachet d’épices by enclosing the garlic cloves, peppercorns, cloves, and allspice berries in a coffee filter or piece of cheesecloth and tying it closed with kitchen string. Add these to the pot. Bring to a simmer and gently poach until all the meat is completely tender and falling off the bone, 2½ to 3 hours.
5. Remove the head from the broth; when it is cool enough to handle, pull off all the meat, including the tongue and ears. Cut the meat into ½-inch/1-centimeter pieces and set aside in a bowl; discard the head. Strain the broth through a chinois lined with cheesecloth and cool to room temperature.
6. Pour ½ cup/120 milliliters cold water into a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let it sit for 3 to 4 minutes to bloom (that is, absorb the water without forming clumps). Add 2 cups/480 milliliters of the strained poaching liquid and heat gently to dissolve. Remove the pan from the heat and add the vinegar.
7. Add the chopped parsley to the bowl of meat, and moisten the meat with the gelatin mixture, enough to facilitate uniform mixing; toss gently.
8. Line a 1½-quart/1.5-liter terrine mold with plastic wrap and fill it with the meat mixture. Pour the remaining gelatin mixture over the meat just to cover (this will ensure that everything is properly bound), then fold the plastic wrap over the top, pressing down to make sure all the ingredients are covered. Refrigerate overnight, or for up to a week. Unmold, slice, and serve (see page 30).
YIELD: 12 APPETIZER PORTIONS
PORCHETTA DI TESTA
Porchetta di Testa
Working with a fresh pig’s head can be dead simple, as in the Fromage de Tête (page 202), or fairly tricky, as here. In this quintessential Italian peasant preparation, the idea is to combine all the various cuts of a pig’s head—cheeks and ears and jowl and snout and skin—season it all thoughtfully, wrap it up into a bundle, cook it low and slow until it’s completely tender, chill it, then slice it very, very thin and serve it cold with a Sauce Gribiche (page 230) or a vinaigrette. It can also be cut into thicker slices, breaded with panko, and pan-fried for a completely different but equally delicious preparation.
Depending on the size of the head, you can roll the entire thing or split it in half to make two smaller rolls. Rolling the whole head will give you an oval with a diameter of 6 to 8 inches/15 to 20 centimeters.
The time-consuming part of this is boning the pig’s head. If you’re a cook familiar with tricky bones, like lamb shoulder, you can figure it out. If it’s your first time, be patient because the skull is tricky. Furthermore, different slaughterhouses cut differently, leaving more or less jowl on the head. Sometimes most of the flesh is removed from around the eyes, leaving gaping holes there. Regardless of either of those issues, this recipe is a standard for all Brian’s charcuterie boards and can be adjusted up or down without a problem. Always use the ears and tongue (smoke the tongue if you’re able). Often there will be hair left on the face, especially around the ears. Wash the head well, dry it, then use a disposable shaver to clean up any residual stubble, or burn it off with a brûlée torch. And be on the lookout for and remove any glands, the brownish soft pieces embedded in the fat.
If you have sous vide capacity, we recommend this method for perfect doneness and texture (see the Note below the recipe). If not, the old-fashioned roasting method always works.
1 pig’s head, on the bone, ears and tongue attached or reserved (sizes vary; usually about 16 pounds/7 kilograms)
FOR EVERY 3½ POUNDS/1.5 KILOGRAMS, YOU WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING SEASONINGS:
¼ teaspoon pink curing salt, optional
1 tablespoon/15 grams kosher salt
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fennel seeds, toasted
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1. Preheat the oven to 275°F/135°C.
2. Turn the pig’s head upside down and, starting at the chin, cut away all fat and meat, keeping your knife as close to the bone as possible; be sure to capture the cheek meat. Remove the meat, skin, and fat in one piece if possible. Remove the ears and tongue if they have not already been separated from the head; reserve (smoke the tongue if you can).
3. With the skin side down, remove all glands and discard.
4. Sprinkle with the pink salt (if using), then sprinkle the kosher salt all over the flesh. Evenly distribute all the other seasonings.
5. Lay the ears in the center, then the tongue. Roll the face around the tongue and ears, shaping it into a log. Tie securely with butcher’s twine.
6. Wrap the head tightly in parchment paper, twisting both ends to compact the head, then wrap it tightly in aluminum foil. Place it on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until completely tender, 6 to 8 hours. Transfer the wrapped head to an ice bath to chill for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 1 month.
7. To serve, unwrap and slice paper-thin using a deli meat slicer (or an extremely sharp, thin-bladed slicing knife), lay thin slices on a plate as if it were beef carpaccio, and serve cold.
YIELD: 36 APPETIZER PORTIONS
NOTE: To cook the pig’s head sous vide, set your immersion circulator and water bath for 160°F/71°C. Seal the head in plastic for sous viding, making sure there are no air pockets. Submerge the head in the water bath for 36 hours. Transfer to an ice bath to chill for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 1 month.
Salo (Slovakian Cured Fat)
Brian wanted to offer an Eastern European version of dry-cured back fat to demonstrate that Italians aren’t the only people to serve it. Slovakian cured back fat, with or without skin, is often treated with paprika as we do here. Southern Slovakian people usually smoke their back fat, so these variations of lardo are much more highly flavored than the Italian version. Slice this thin and serve, or include it as part of a charcuterie board.
1 (2-pound/1-kilogram) slab pork back fat, about 15 by 20 inches/40 by 50 centimeters and 1 inch/2.5 centimeters thick
Paprika as needed
2 pounds/1 kilogram salt
12 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
¼ cup whole black peppercorns
1. Dust the fat with paprika, evenly covering the entire surface.
2. Combine the salt with the garlic and peppercorns. Spread a layer of the salt mixture in the bottom of a nonreactive container just large enough to hold the fat, place the fat on top, and cover completely with the remaining salt mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 months. Brush off the salt with a dry cloth before serving.
YIELD: 24 APPETIZER PORTIONS
ROAST SADDLE OF RABBIT WITH SPINACH AND PINE NUTS, SERVED WITH CRUSTY BREAD AND RED WINE
Roast Saddle of Rabbit with Spinach and Pine Nuts
One rabbit, with the help of pork and fat and garnishes, can create a wonderful bacon-wrapped roulade that will serve four. The dark meat, ground, serves as the base of the farce, while the midsection of the rabbit, the saddle or loin, is kept whole and used as an inlayed garnish (as opposed to a folded-in garnish, which this preparation also includes: spinach, sweetbreads, and pine nuts). The bones can be roasted and used to make a stock that can be reduced to a sauce for total utilization of the rabbit.
This dish goes well with all the standard condiments.
1 (3-pound/1.5-kilogram) rabbit
6 ounces/170 grams pork back fat, cut into ½-inch/1-centimeter dice
3 ounces/85 grams pork shoulder, cut into ½-inch/1-centimeter dice
1 large egg
½ teaspoon All-Purpose Spice Mix for Meat Pâtés (page 33)
Kosher salt to taste
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
1 cup/30 grams fresh spinach chiffonade
3 ounces/85 grams cooked sweetbreads (see page 65), broken into chunks
¼ cup pine nuts
12 thin slices bacon
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
2. Remove the legs from the rabbit, then remove the meat from the leg bones; set aside. (Reserve the leg bones for stock.)
3. With the carcass lying on its back, carefully remove all the remaining meat in one piece, keeping the knife as close to the bone as possible. (Reserve the carcass for stock.) Remove any fat from the meat and discard. Lay the meat out flat on a piece of plastic wrap. Gently pound the flanks flat without hitting the loins that run down the center.
4. Grind the rabbit leg meat, pork back fat, and pork shoulder through a ⅛-inch/3-millimeter die into a metal bowl set in an ice bath. Transfer the ground meat to a food processor, add the egg, spice mix, salt, and white pepper, and puree until smooth.
5. Do a quenelle test (see page 28) and adjust the seasoning as necessary.
6. Transfer the pâté to a bowl and fold in the spinach, sweetbreads, and pine nuts. Shape the mixture into a log that will fit inside the pounded rabbit. Lay it in the center, between the loins. Smooth the surface and enclose the log in the pounded rabbit, making sure the flanks overlap.
7. Shingle the bacon on a piece of plastic wrap, overlapping the edges slightly. Place the rabbit roulade on the bacon and roll it in the plastic wrap so that the bacon encloses the rabbit. Twist the ends tightly to compact the forcemeat. Remove the plastic wrap and rewrap in a sheet of oiled aluminum foil, again twisting the ends tightly.
8. Place on a rimmed baking sheet and roast to an internal temperature of 145°F/63°C, 25 to 30 minutes.
9. Allow the roulade to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing into ½-inch/1-centimeter disks; serve.
YIELD: 4 ENTRÉE PORTIONS
La Caillette (Rhône Valley Meatballs)
Pronounced “ky-YET,” these meatballs hail from Ardèche in south central France in the Rhône Valley, an area famous for chestnuts, sheep, the Rhône River, and the country-style cooking embodied by this dish. These meatballs were traditionally made from scraps on the day of the slaughter and eaten as the main meal when the work was done. Cabbage or Swiss chard is usually used, but these meatballs—which should be rolled large—are always wrapped in caul fat, which bastes the meat and helps retain moisture while cooking. Caul fat can be hard to come by and is more easily found online.
1 pound/450 grams Swiss chard; make sure there are enough large leaves to wrap 12 (3-ounce/85-gram) meatballs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced shallot
2 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup/120 milliliters port
1 pound/450 grams pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch/2.5-centimeter pieces
8 ounces/225 grams pork liver, cut into 1-inch/2.5-centimeter pieces
8 ounces/225 grams fresh pork belly or slab bacon, cut into 1-inch/2.5-centimeter pieces
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 large egg
1 tablespoon/15 grams kosher salt
1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
12 (6-inch/15-centimeter) squares of caul fat (see page 137), soaked in cold water
Dry white wine as needed
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare an ice bath. Remove the stems from the Swiss chard and reserve them. Blanch the leaves in the salted water for 30 seconds, then transfer them to the ice bath. When they’re chilled, drain and pat dry, keeping the leaves as intact as possible.
3. Mince the chard stems. Melt the butter in a sauté pan and sauté the stems until soft, 30 seconds or so, then add the shallot and garlic. Cook until soft, another minute or two, then deglaze with the port. Set the pan aside to cool.
4. Grind the pork shoulder, pork liver, pork belly, and parsley together through a ¼-inch/6-millimeter die into a metal bowl set in an ice bath. Add the chard-garlic mixture, egg, salt, and pepper to the ground meat and mix well by hand. Form the mixture into 12 meatballs, each about the size of a lemon.
5. Choose an oven-safe vessel that is just big enough for all the meatballs to fit snugly in a single layer. Lay a square of caul on a work surface and place one or two blanched chard leaves on top. Place a meatball on top and enclose it in the chard and caul fat. Press the meatball into the baking dish to flatten it. Repeat with the remaining meatballs.
6. Add enough white wine to go halfway up the meatballs and bake until cooked through, 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm.
YIELD: 12 APPETIZER PORTIONS
Ham and Parsley en Gelée
With the help of a rich broth, trim (ham) and an inexpensive herb (parsley) combine to make an elegant and satisfying first course. Serve it with a simple mustard vinaigrette. Brian learned this classic dish from Jacques Pépin, and it’s an honor to bring it into the spotlight. Jamon de Paris, a beautiful boiled ham, is ideal for this preparation, but any cooked or smoked ham will work.
¾ cup/180 milliliters cold water
1½ tablespoons powdered gelatin
3 cups/720 milliliters rich chicken or pork broth (preferably clarified; see box below)
2 tablespoons/30 grams kosher salt
2 pounds/1 kilogram ham, cut into ½-inch/1-centimeter dice
1 cup/90 grams roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1. Pour the cold water into a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let it sit for 3 to 4 minutes to bloom (that is, absorb the water without forming clumps).
2. Bring the broth to a low simmer in a saucepan. Add the salt, then stir in the bloomed gelatin and water. Taste the broth and add more salt if necessary. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Stir in the ham and parsley.
3. Line a 1½-quart/1.5-liter terrine mold with plastic wrap. Pour the ham and parsley mixture into the mold. Fold the plastic wrap over the top. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled and the gelatin has set. Unmold, slice, and serve (see page 30).
YIELD: 8 APPETIZER PORTIONS
HAM AND PARSLEY EN GELÉE
Chicken Quenelles with Mushroom Cream Sauce
When Brian and I traveled to Lyon to attend the Pâté en Croûte world championship an hour south of that culinary capital, we ate in a few bouchons, small bistros that serve a limited traditional menu. The type of restaurant and menu is so specific that the city designates only about twenty that are considered to be vrais (true) bouchons. One of those menu items is a pike quenelle with some sort of fish velouté, or creamy sauce. Pike is flavorful but impossibly bony, so the fish is pressed through a tamis to separate the bones from the fish for a perfect use of the quenelle technique: Puree meat with cream, egg, and seasonings, then drop spoonfuls of it into simmering liquid until set, and serve with a cream sauce.
Brian uses this technique for all the chicken tenderloins he pulls off the breasts for a sautéed breast preparation. They tend to separate from the breast when cooking, making them problematic in a restaurant situation. He could throw them into a family meal of some sort, but he’d rather make money from them. So, he creates a delicious and satisfying starter course, chicken quenelles speckled with fresh chives and spiced with nutmeg, served in a rich mushroom cream sauce. We think these quenelles are so good that they’re worth making on their own, not waiting until you have the trim. These also make for a very elegant garnish in a chicken soup.
FOR THE QUENELLES:
3 cups/720 milliliters chicken stock
Unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
8 ounces/225 grams boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch/2.5-centimeter dice
1 teaspoon/5 grams kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Grated nutmeg to taste
1 large egg white
¾ cup/180 milliliters heavy cream
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
FOR THE SAUCE:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 pound/450 grams assorted mushrooms, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ cup/120 milliliters dry sherry
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ cup/120 milliliters chicken stock
1 cup/240 milliliters heavy cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1. To make the quenelles, warm the chicken stock to 170°F/76°C on the stovetop. Butter a baking pan or other dish that can sit on a burner.
2. Season the chicken with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Put it in a food processor with the egg white and puree until smooth. With the machine running, slowly add the cream, scraping down the sides at least once. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and fold in the chives.
3. With two medium-size spoons, shape the mousseline mixture into 12 three-sided dumplings. Gently place the quenelles in the buttered dish. Carefully pour the warm stock into the pan and gently poach the quenelles, never allowing the stock to get above 170°F/76°C, until firm and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and keep warm.
4. To make the sauce, melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallot and garlic and sauté until soft. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes. Deglaze with the sherry and continue to cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Dust with the flour and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, then add the cream. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the sauce is smooth and creamy, adjusting the consistency with more stock if it gets too thick.
5. To serve, place the quenelles in a serving dish, spoon some sauce over each, and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.
YIELD: 6 APPETIZER PORTIONS
Turkey Ballotine
The term ballotine denotes a pâté that is shaped into a roulade, roasted, and served hot. Traditionally, a ballotine is like any other pâté, inlayed down the center with a whole cut of meat, with the skin serving as the casing. Duck Pâté (page 36), for instance, would make a great ballotine. You would lay out a rectangle of duck skin, scraped of its fat, lay a strip of forcemeat down the center, place the duck breasts on top and cover them with the remaining farce, shape it into a roulade, tie it, then roast it on a bed of mirepoix (diced onion, carrot, and celery).
Here, Brian wanted to use as much of the turkey breast, and only the turkey breast, as possible, so he reverses this strategy, pounding out the whole breast and using that to encase a rich farce of pork, pork fat, and turkey tenderloin. For flavor and fat, the breast is wrapped in bacon.
1 (3-pound/1.5-kilogram) whole boneless, skinless turkey breast
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
¼ cup minced shallot
¼ cup minced garlic
¾ cup/180 milliliters dry sherry
4 ounces/110 grams pork back fat, diced
2 ounces/60 grams pork butt, diced
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon/15 grams kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon All-Purpose Spice Mix for Meat Pâtés (page 33)
½ cup/15 grams fresh spinach chiffonade
1 ounce/30 grams dried tart cherries
12 thin slices bacon
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
2. Trim the edges of the breast and remove the tenderloins. Clean the meat of all sinew. Weigh out 6 ounces/170 grams of tenderloin and/or lean trim meat and dice it for grinding. (You’ll have considerably more than that, so reserve the remaining trim for another use—add to soup; pound flat, coat with panko, and pan-fry; or make quenelles, page 28.)
3. Each breast half is shaped like a triangular lobe, with a thick wide top tapering to a thin point. Butterfly the breast by slicing through the thick part about two-thirds of the way down, using your judgment to create one uniformly thick piece once it’s pounded. Place between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound slightly to obtain an even thickness.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat and sauté the shallot and garlic until translucent, a minute or so. Add the sherry and reduce it to a syrup. Cool to room temperature.
5. Grind the 6 ounces/170 grams of turkey trim with the pork fat and pork butt through a ⅛-inch/3-millimeter die into a metal bowl set in an ice bath. Transfer the mixture to a food processor, add the egg white, salt, pepper, spice mix, and the cooled reduction, and puree until smooth. Transfer the puree to a bowl and fold in the spinach and dried tart cherries.
6. Cut a piece of aluminum foil longer than the length of the turkey breast. Lay the foil out on a work surface. Shingle the bacon slices on the foil.
7. Spread the forcemeat down the center of the turkey breast and roll the breast into a log. Place the log on the center of the bacon slices. Wrap the bacon-lined foil around the turkey. Twist the ends of the foil tightly to compact the turkey.
8. Place the turkey on a rack set over a roasting pan and roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 155°F/68°C, about 1 hour.
9. Let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes, then unwrap, slice, and serve.
YIELD: 12 FIRST-COURSE SERVINGS
Seafood Galantine
Galantine generally refers to one of the basic forcemeats wrapped in its own skin and poached. Here we use a standard all-purpose shrimp mousseline, loaded with spinach and nutmeg, combined with a whole cut of salmon. We roll the two together jellyroll style, seal it in plastic, and poach it as a roulade. This preparation calls for butterflying the salmon, so you need salmon cut closer to the head rather than the tapered tail end. The thickness of the fish and forcemeat are important to ensure even cooking—each should be about ½ inch/1 centimeter thick.
1 pound/450 grams skinless salmon (cut from the thicker, or head side)
6 ounces/170 grams rock shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon/15 grams kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ cup/60 milliliters heavy cream
1 cup/30 grams fresh spinach chiffonade
1. Butterfly the salmon, cutting through the thick part of the fillet. Place it between two pieces of plastic wrap and gently pound it to even out the thickness to about ½ inch/1 centimeter. It should be a rectangle of about 8 by 12 inches/20 by 30 centimeters.
2. Combine the shrimp, egg white, and seasonings in a food processor and puree until smooth. With the machine running, slowly add the cream. Transfer to a mixing bowl and fold in the spinach.
3. Lay the salmon fillet, skin side up, on a sheet of plastic wrap much larger than the rectangle of fish. Spread the mousseline evenly over the salmon, about the same thickness as the salmon.
4. Using the plastic wrap, roll the fish into a roulade, tighten by twisting the ends, and tie off the ends. Rewrap the roulade in a second layer of plastic wrap to reinforce the shape, tightening and tying off the ends.
5. Bring a large pot of water to 160°F/71°C and poach the galantine to an internal temperature of 135°F/57°C. Transfer it to an ice bath to chill completely. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Unwrap, slice, and serve.
YIELD: 8 APPETIZER PORTIONS
Rillons (Crispy Pork Belly)
Rillons are pieces of meaty pork belly that have been slowly cooked in a little fat until they caramelize. They’re first cooked covered and then again uncovered, and removed from their fat before being refrigerated. Rillons are a great all-purpose meat to eat, hot or cold, for breakfast or lunch or as a component for dinner. Quatre épices (a spice mixture that usually includes four of the following: ground pepper, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, cloves) is often used to season, and it’s a good starting point. But you can change the spice to achieve the flavor profile you are looking for. While we call for skinned chunks of belly, it is cooked long enough that you can use skin-on belly if you like.
2 pounds/1 kilogram skinless pork belly, cut into 3-inch/8-centimeter cubes
2 tablespoons/30 grams kosher salt
2 teaspoons quatre épices
1½ cups/360 milliliters rendered lard
2 tablespoons sugar
1. Toss the pork cubes with the salt and quatre épices. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Melt the lard in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the meat and brown on all sides, about 15 minutes.
3. Lower the heat and cover the skillet. Cook the meat, stirring the pot every once in a while, for 1½ hours.
4. Remove the lid and sprinkle the sugar over the meat. Turn the heat to medium-high and continue cooking the rillons until they’re deeply caramelized and delicious looking, about 20 minutes more.
5. Remove the rillons from the fat. They can be served right away or refrigerated and then served cold, at room temperature, or reheated as you wish.
YIELD: 8 TO 10 APPETIZER PORTIONS
Puffy Chicharrón
Chicharrón are pieces of pork skin that are treated in such a way that, when dropped into hot fat—puff!—they turn light and crispy. There are two steps to making them. Pig skin is a network of connective tissue, collagen, fat, and water. Were you to simply deep-fry pig skin, it wouldn’t tenderize. But if you braise the skin until it’s tender and then deep-fry it, it pops madly as the water in the skin vaporizes. What you must do is cook it to tenderize it, remove as much fat as possible from the skin, and then dehydrate the skin. Brian believes that an initial step, adding baking soda to the cooking water, also contributes to the crispiness.
Because the initial cooking in water to tenderize the skin also removes most of the flavor, it’s important to give flavor back to the skin, with both salt and whatever additional enhancements you wish. Here we suggest a simple dusting of smoked paprika, chili powder, and cumin. But Brian has also dehydrated cheddar cheese, pulverized it, and seasoned the chicharrón with this to simulate our favorite commercial snack food, cheese puffs.
FOR THE SPICE MIXTURE:
¼ cup sweet smoked paprika (preferably pimentón de la Vera)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
FOR THE CHICHARRÓN:
6 quarts/6 liters water
3 tablespoons baking soda
2 pounds/1 kilogram pork skin, cut into large pieces
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Kosher salt to taste
1. Mix all the ingredients for the spice mixture until uniformly combined; set aside.
2. Combine the water and baking soda in a large pot. Add the pork skin, bring to a simmer, and cook for 1½ to 2 hours. Drain the skin, then chill it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
3. Lay the skin on a work surface with the outer side down and scrape away the soft, excess fat with a spoon or a bench scraper. Pat the skin dry with paper towels.
4. Dehydrate the skin overnight, either in a dehydrator or in an oven set at 150°F/65°C, until completely hard and brittle. If your oven only goes down to 200°F/93°C, leave the oven door ajar. Break the skin into 1-inch/2.5-centimeter pieces.
5. Pour the oil into a large pot to a depth of about 1½ inches/4 centimeters and bring it to 375°F/190°C. Fry the skin pieces; they should puff immediately and be done in 10 seconds or so. Remove with a skimmer and drain on paper towels.
6. Dust the chicharrón with salt and the spice mixture and serve hot.
YIELD: 12 APPETIZER PORTIONS
Cracklings
Cracklings are simply crispy bits of pork skin. When making that golden elixir known as schmaltz (rendered chicken fat with onion), the by-product of the rendered fat is skin, out of which all the water and fat have been cooked, leaving mainly crispy protein, called gribenes, or chicken cracklings. Rillons (page 219) in a sense are like cracklings, given that the fat attached to the chunks of pork belly has been cooked and then crisped. Cracklings differ from Chicharrón (page 220) in a fundamental way: Chicharrón are cooked in water until they are tender and have rendered out most of their gelatin and fat. They are then scraped of any residual fat, leaving just the skin. Without all its encumbrances, the skin is free to puff when dropped into hot oil—to express its true nature, we like to think. Cracklings, on the other hand, are cooked only briefly, and the fat is retained (and helps cook them), so that when the skin crisps, you are left with a crispy, chewy, delicious protein-rich snack. Brian has concocted a simple seasoning for these addictive treats.
2 pounds pork rind from the shoulder or belly, cut into 1-by-¼-inch/2.5-by-0.5-centimeter strips
1½ teaspoons/8 grams kosher salt
1 tablespoon sweet or hot smoked paprika (preferably pimentón de la Vera)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F/205°C.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the rinds and cook for 20 to 30 minutes. They should be tender enough to pinch a hole in them with thumb and finger. Strain, rinse, cool, and pat dry. Season with the salt.
3. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the rinds out in a single layer. Roast, turning the rinds a couple of times to ensure even cooking, until crispy, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
4. Toss the paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne together and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the cracklings. Serve hot.
YIELD: 12 TO 15 APPETIZER PORTIONS
Braised Pork Belly with Five-Spice Powder
This is an excellent way to use pork belly, either as a featured item or as a component in another dish. Brian often uses the preparation as an accompaniment to another meat, which allows him to extend the more expensive protein while adding the complexities of varying flavors and textures—for example, by serving miso-glazed duck breast with a slab of crispy pork belly, broccoli rabe, and sticky purple rice. Here the belly is first braised to cook and tenderize it completely; it’s then chilled, sliced, and sautéed as needed.
3 pounds/1.5 kilograms meaty pork belly, skin removed
6 tablespoons/90 grams kosher salt
2 tablespoons five-spice powder
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns, toasted and ground
2 heads garlic, sliced horizontally in half
¼ cup/60 milliliters vegetable oil
1. Season the pork belly with the salt, five-spice powder, and pepper. Place it and the garlic in a large zip-top plastic bag or a covered, nonreactive container and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C.
3. In an oven-safe sauté pan just large enough to contain the belly, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the pork belly and cook until one side is nicely browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip the belly and sear the other side. Add enough water to come halfway up the sides of the pork belly. Bring the pan to a simmer, cover it, and put it in the oven until the belly is fork tender, about 3 hours.
4. Pour off the water (and reserve for another use if you wish—it will have a porky Asian flavor). When the pork and the pan are cool enough to handle, cover the pan with plastic wrap and weight the belly evenly (using another pan) to compress the fat and make the belly more uniform. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
5. To serve, cut the belly in 1-inch/2.5-centimeter slices and sauté until heated through.
YIELD: 12 APPETIZER PORTIONS OR 8 PORTIONS TO COMPLEMENT A MAIN DISH
Chinese Crispy Pork Belly
This is similar to Rillons (page 219) in that the belly is crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. The technique is easy and yields a bubbly, crackling-type skin but tender, juicy meat and fat in the center, with the aromatic Asian spice blend that works so well with pork. This makes a lot and will last at least a week in the fridge.
Serve as a stand-alone appetizer or hors d’oeuvres (people can’t resist it), or use it as a component in an Asian noodle dish like pho.
5 pounds/2.25 kilograms thick pork belly, skin on
Dry sherry as needed
1 tablespoon five-spice powder
Kosher salt as needed
1. With a sharp, pointy utensil, prick holes all over the pork belly skin (known as “docking”)—the more the better for releasing liquid fat, but be careful not to go so deep into the fat below the skin that you pierce the flesh. Rub the belly well on all sides with dry sherry, then with the five-spice powder. Place in a large zip-top plastic bag or a covered, nonreactive container and refrigerate for at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.
3. Lay a sheet of aluminum foil on the counter that is bigger than the belly. Put the belly in the center and fold the foil edges up to create a makeshift roasting pan so that the juices stay close to the belly. The foil should come up the sides of the belly so that only the skin is exposed. Place the foil pan with the pork belly in a roasting pan.
4. Cover the skin with a thick, even layer of kosher salt, enough to form a crust.
5. Roast the belly for 1 to 1½ hours, depending on the thickness, until it’s fork tender. Turn on the broiler. Brush off the salt, then broil until the skin is crispy. Serve hot.
YIELD: 15 PORTIONS TO COMPLEMENT A MAIN DISH