Ila Douglass Corton Pate Food

ILA DOUGLAS'S CORTON PATE

Steps:

• Place pork in a Dutch oven and add enough cold water to cover. Add half the onion, 1 tablespoon salt, peppercorns, whole cloves, bay leaf, and thyme; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until pork is tender, about 3 hours. Remove from heat and let pork cool to room temperature in the liquid.
• Meanwhile, melt lard in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Pour off and reserve all but two tablespoons fat from saucepan.
• Return saucepan to medium heat and add remaining one-half onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 4 minutes. Transfer onion to a large bowl.
• Transfer pork to a large bowl with onion. Pour cooking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve and set aside. Add cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and allspice to bowl with onion and pork and using a hand-cranked meat grinder or food processor, grind or pulse pork mixture.
• Add reserved melted lard and broth as needed to make mixture a spreadable consistency; season with salt and pepper. Transfer pate to a crock pot or bowl, pour 1/4-inch layer of reserved pork fat over top, and refrigerate 3 days before serving.

GORTON (FRENCH-CANADIAN PORK SPREAD)

Steps:

• Stir the pork fat, ground pork, onions, water, cloves, and nutmeg together in a large pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the pork is tender, at least 1 1/2 hours. Use a potato masher to mash the pork mixture every 15 minutes as it cooks.
• The longer you simmer the gorton, the better the flavor will be. Add water as needed to keep the mixture from boiling dry. When you're ready to stop cooking, let the liquid reduce as much as possible without letting it burn. Refrigerate the gorton overnight. Remove and discard the fat layer, or stir it into the meat for a creamier spread.

CROUTONS

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large (10-inch) saute pan until hot. Add the bread and cook over medium heat, tossing frequently, until the bread is evenly toasted and browned. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

CRETONS

Steps:

• Place the ground pork, milk, onion and garlic into a large saucepan. Season with salt, pepper, cloves and allspice. Cook over medium heat for about 1 hour, then stir in the bread crumbs. Cook for 10 more minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. Transfer to a small container and keep refrigerated.

EMERIL LAGASSE'S CRETON

Steps:

• In a large saute pan, add the pork and cook until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.
• Add the onions and garlic, and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the salt, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the milk and bread crumbs and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring to break up the meat.
• Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pork is very tender and most of the liquid is evaporated, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
• Remove the lid and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick and all the liquid is evaporated, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning, to taste.
• Transfer to a decorative bowl or several smaller ramekins, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula.
• Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled and firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Serve with thinly sliced French bread or toasted French bread croutons.