cooking thursday: recipe for cretons

This year I am so excited to try lots of new recipes and share them with you! Over the last few years, some of my favorite recipes have come from online friends and Sandra has some of the best. Every Thursday she has an excellent recipe sharing feature — you should join in the fun!

For the first recipe of the year, I’m sharing a recipe that admittedly looks less-than-appetizing. It’s a breakfast spread called cretons that originates in Quebec. Drew’s grandmother used to make it and when he and the boys visited Quebec last summer, he reignited his love affair with this pork dish. He begged me to try making it, and although I didn’t know what it was really supposed to taste like, I gave it a try. I looked at several recipes online (everyone seems to have their own way of making this) and combined ideas and tweaked proportions until I came up with something that sounded right. As it cooked, Drew nodded and approved of the smell, and when it was finished he told me that it tasted like Grandma’s. (Whew!) Traditionally, this spread is served on buttered toast, but we discovered that it is supremely delicious on English muffins because the nooks and crannies hold the butter.

Cretons

1 lb. ground pork
1 med. onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (do not used seasoned)

Saute pork in a large pan until it is no longer pink. Add the onions and garlic, and cook for 1 minute, stirring to incorporate the vegetables. Stir in the salt, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and cook for 1 minute. Transfer pork mixture to a food processor and pulse until the meat reaches an extremely fine consistency.

Return the pork mixture to the pan and add the milk and bread crumbs and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat. Stir well to blend everything together. 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. Remove the lid and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick and all the liquid is evaporated, about 10 min. Remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning, to taste.

Transfer to a pretty bowl (though a Tupperware-type container is fine, too), and smooth the top with a spatula. Cover tightly with plastic wrap (or a lid) and refrigerate until well chilled and firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.

Serve on buttered toast or English muffins.

Be warned: this pork pate is incredibly addictive. I didn’t plan on trying it because it looked and smelled a little weird to me, but because I made it I figured I needed to give it a try. I am fairly sure that the cretons is to blame for my holiday weight gain, LOL!

Be sure to visit Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom to check out other delicious recipes!