Pork rillettes

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 ½ kg pork neck, with bone
• 250 g fresh and fatty bacon
• 300 g onion(s)
• 2 liters of water
• 30 g salt
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 juniper berries
• 3 tbsp marjoram, dried
• 1 tbsp thyme, dried
• Pepper, mixed, freshly ground
• 60 ml gin
• 250 ml broth

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 16 hours

with juniper and gin

Roughly cut the meat from the bone, remove the rind from the bacon, and roughly dice the bacon and meat. Place the bones as flat as possible in a pot and arrange the bacon and meat cubes on top. Place the rind on top. Peel the onions and cut them into large wedges. Place the bay leaves and juniper berries in a spice bag or tea bag, seal it, and crush the juniper berries with the back of a knife. Add the salt and herbs to the pot and grind plenty of mixed pepper over it. Add enough water to just cover. Cover and bring to a rolling boil. Continue simmering over low heat until the meat is very tender. This will take about 3 hours. Remove the rinds and spice bag, and remove the meat from the broth with a slotted spoon. Loosen any meat still attached to the bones, removing any cartilage, membrane, and small bones. Cut the meat into cubes. The meat should be so tender that it almost falls apart. It will then be easy to pull apart with a fork. You can also mash everything with a potato masher and then pick it apart a little. Let the broth cool so the fat settles on top. Heat as much of the fat as possible with about 250 ml of broth, add the meat and bring back to a boil briefly. Add 60 ml of gin, or a little more if needed, mix everything well, season to taste and fill into bowls or jars. Press firmly when filling to prevent air bubbles from forming. Seal jars with boiled lids or cover bowls with film and leave to set in the refrigerator overnight. It’s easy to make, but takes a long time due to the long cooking time. So it’s worth cooking larger batches and sharing some with family or friends. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. I’ve tried canning the rillettes, but they went bad very quickly.