Red Redemption

Last time, I made lamb neck rillettes that I tried to model after merguez sausage.  While the product was good, it wasn't as I intended it to be, oozing red goodness.  In hindsight, folding in harissa would have been a good idea, but I've been too eager to try my next idea, which is chorizo rillettes.  It sounds scary, but I really want to make a red, eye-catching product of infinite desirableness.

To achieve the color, I decided to develop the same kind of chile paste that is used for fresh, Mexican chorizo sausage.  Don't let the dried chiles be intimidating, they're already dead.

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Gateway Charcuterie

As proscuittos and sausages are most people's introduction to dry cured foods, rillettes are the gateway to spread-able meats. Three years ago, I had my first charcuterie plate, and while I didn't realize it at the time, it was a life changing experience. It was then I had my first batch of rillettes and was hooked into charcuterie, seeking and consuming all offerings in Chicago. Shortly after going down that porcine road, I attended my first butchering demo and learned the ways of various cured meats and old preservation techniques. Today, after much practice, I have a decent approach to the art.

Luckily for me, for the second week in a row, I got the one lamb neck in stock at my local butcher. This is a great piece of meat for making rillettes, since it's very flavorful and tender. Due to the uniqueness of the cut of meat, I salted the neck then slow roasted it in a 200 Dg oven over-night while I slept. This allowed for the fat to slowly seep out of the meat and essentially baste itself while roasting. Once morning came, the meat was easily shreddable. Traditionally, the cooking process for rillettes would take place in a covered pot with simmering liquid, but that's another post.

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Meadow Haven Rillettes

The Green City Market opened for the first time since the Holidaze this weekend with a snout-to-tail themed market.  To properly honor the market and its theme, I set out to do a pork liver pate to pick up the slack for the less adventurous market-goers.  Unfortunately for me and you, there was no liver to be found.  Not being able to revise plans very well on early Saturday mornings, I spent a lot of time gazing across the market while munching on an apple galette from Floriole (no market venture is complete without one).

Perhaps a terrine of thymus would have been good, but in my panic I decided to stick with what I know, the pig.  This decision was made infinitely easier by the great folks from Meadow Haven Organic Farm out of Sheffield.  Buckets of lard, pig parts, farm fresh eggs, chickens and ducks lay prized in their cache.  Pork necks selling for $2/lb?  Why yes, I know what to do with these often overlooked parts: spend the rest of my Saturday making rillettes.

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Rillettes

Update on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 5:51PM by Stash

I know this isn't super traditional, but I'm not intending on serving it to Charlie Palmer, or anyone from France.  The tuna, also known as prickly pear, from cacti, has very little pectin in it.  This is why, third party pectin is required to make a jelly.  Since tuna jelly was made long before liquid pectin was available in stores, I attempted to stew the rinds to get more pectin into the mixture.  This created more of a thick syrup.

I asked Rick Bayless about the matter, and he replied, "To my knowledge you have to use pectin. Doubt there's enough pectin in rind. Could use apple cores."  I think this is a good workaround for the jelly.  Also, I've theorized that the term jelly meant something different 100+ years ago compared to today.  So when I say tuna jelly, be open-minded, and don't think about fish.