home & food: Thursday!! Potato Croquettes and Duck Rillettes

Potato Croquette
The croquette (from the French croquer, "to crunch") was a French invention[citation needed] that gained worldwide popularity, both as a delicacy and as a fast food. - Wikepedia

Duck Rillettes
Like cassoulet or fondue, this French dish has its many regional definitions. In general most rillettes are served at room temperature, as a spread with toast points, much like a paté. Pork rillettes from the Northwestern regions of Tours and Anjou are famous for their rich texture and bronze color achieved during the cooking process. These rillettes have lovingly been referred to as "brown jam." Rillettes from the adjacent département of Sarthe are distinguished by a more rustic texture, complete with larger pieces of pork and less color.
In Quebec, cretons are similar to rillettes. - Wikepedia

I finally got around to making duck rillettes! I have been wanting to try it for a couple months now, but it is such a process getting to the end result! If you've been following this blog for a month or so you will have seen the first few obstacles I had to overcome to get here. But if not, here's a quick run down:
- Buy whole frozen duck
- Defrost whole frozen duck
- Carve thawed duck, seperate breasts and legs
- Start Confit process;
- Salt and store breasts and legs in a tuperware with shallots, garlic, and thyme
- Refigerate for one to two days
- Remove and clean off breasts and legs
- Place in a deep baking pan and cover to top with duck fat
- Add bay leaf and any other seasonings to oil around the pieces (black cardamom, garlic)
- Slow roast at 250 f for 3.5 hrs

Now if you had the time from this point, you could start making the rillettes. I, on the other hand, did not have time at 10:30pm on a Tuesday night so my duck breasts went into a tuperware container topped off to the brim with duck fat and into the fridge. And then when I realized that it would be days or weeks before I got back to it, I put it in the fridge (this was about 3 weeks ago). Finally, today I mustered up the ambition to give it a go!

Melt fat by placing dish in a pot with simmering water.

Use two forks to shred the meat


Season meat and mix with a bit of the fat so it becomes smooth. Press into dish and top with a layer of fat.

Store in fridge until sets ( 1 - 2 hrs)

Serve on a croustini with baby pickles or lingon berries. ( I like both! )

These rillettes turned out perfectly!! Just like we had in Canmore for my birthday. The only thing I would have done differently, was used plain croustinis, or made my own. I used store bought Italian Seasoned ones, and while they were good, plain would have better suited the flavors of the rillettes.

In addition to the rillettes I made Potato Croquettes! The first time I had a potato croquette was in Amsterdam November 2007. I recently saw these delicious little wonders on the food network and it inspired me to give those a try to! While still a lengthy process, these guys were much easier to make.