Cretons

[Rocklobster]

Cretons is a French Canadian meat spread made from pork and spices...almost like a French rillettes..it has been in our family for generations and I make it once and a while, put it in ramekins and freeze them...the recipe we make is usually pork cooked in milk with cloves, allspice and pepper, maybe a few other things like onion and garlic..It is simmered for an hour until the ground pork gets very tender, then it is cooled and packed in ramekins or small bowls...after it has chilled for a day, it can be spread on toast, or crackers..and eaten with gerkins...it isn't the healthiest thing but, a little bit never hurts..

 

[rascal]

A new one on me.

Russ

 

[ThatDude]

I'd eat that!

Do you do a clarified butter top on it like rillettes, or just let it's own fat and juices congeal?

 

[Rocklobster]

You just pack it down and it congeals on it's own..Just make sure there is enough liquid from the milk and the juice from the meat. If you think it is drying out just add a bit of beef or chicken stock......Cretons is a less refined product..coarser grain as it is made with ground pork.You could proccess it finer if you wanted to get your pork double ground or put in a food processor..but that is more work..we've always just done it with reguar ground pork..nice and fatty..there are many recipes on the internet. I make small batches around Christmas time with one pound of pork..We give a few away and eat two or three over a month or so..