Skip to main content

Wild Boar Rillettes {Afield}

Photo by Kevin Brookhouser

While working on my latest cookbook review, I needed some wild boar. Naturally, I asked my friend Brian, "the best killer in the family", according to Dylan.


Truth be told, this is not the creature we're eating. I think I cooked the pig before this one, or the one after. In any case, Brian gave me a piece of wild boar backstrap.

Before reading this cookbook, I had never heard of a rillette - much less eaten one. Rillettes are savory meats or fish that have been braised or prepared as confit.

This recipe - from Jesse Griffiths Afield: A Cook's Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish - was so easy to do and resulted in a salty, creamy, satisfying dish. Stay tuned for my full review of the book. But for now, enjoy this...

I started with the backstrap, rubbing it with a mixture of ground ginger, ground cardamom, ground coriander, and ground cinnamon. I placed the meat in a baking dish and filled the pan with water so that it covered the meat three-quarters of the way. Cover the pan with foil and place in a preheated 225 degree oven.


Let the meat braise for 8 hours. With a fork, shred the meat into a mixing bowl and blend in room temperature butter. While the original recipe called for lard, I subbed with butter. Season with salt to taste.


Now here's where the flavors really begin to sing. Serve the meat with crusty bread, pickles, and mustards. Cornichons are traditional. We served a jar of pickles that Riley made on New Year's Eve - pickled carrots, onions, and beets.


As a variation, I topped one piece with black truffle cream instead.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce