Sweets have always been my forté in the kitchen. Naturally, when it comes to the serious matter of creating homemade edible gifts in the holiday season, baking and confectionery are my obvious answer. Over the last year, I've been devoting a lot of time and effort in becoming a more proficient homecook. Along the way, I picked up many new skills. Preserving and canning is one which translates well to edible gifts.
I've only been introduced to chutneys in the last couple of years but I am completely smittened. I love the balance of sweet, tangy, spicy, and savory in a simple condiment that pairs so well with meat and cheese. In terms of difficulty, it is so much easier to make than jams and jellies. All you need to do is to chop up a bunch of ingredients and simmer in vinegar, sugar, and spices. I came across a recipe recently over at BBC GoodFood for Pineapple Fig Ginger Chutney. It's a hodge podge of vibrant flavours with fresh pineapples, dried figs, russet apples, fresh ginger, and red onion. The headnote says it is perfect partner with cold meat and cheese so of course I take up the offer.
Charcuterie is the art of preserving meat and most cold meat preparation involves charcuterie one way or another. What started out as necessity in pre-refrigeration days is now a big culinary trend. As a complete novice, I chose to begin my foray with pork rillette, an entry-level project. Pork shoulder is slowcooked in fat and homemade stock until fork-tender. It is then shredded and tossed with the cooking liquid until it turns into a rustic meaty spread. A layer of lard is used to seal the spread for longer storage. Sounds pretty simple, no?
I followed the direction from Wrightfood with adaptation to ingredients available at home. My pork rillette was seasoned with Grand Marnier, orange zest, thyme and cooked in homemade beef stock, Berkshire lard, and duck fat. It is often said that "fat is flavour". I cannot agree more with this rillette. It's porky! The mix of lard and duck fat adds a silky texture to the shredded pork. Simply add a loaf of country bread and you have the makings of a quick picnic.
It is the idea of an instant picnic that inspires my savory holiday hamper. A good number of my friends actively avoid refined sugar so despite my good intentions, a gift of homemade cookies and candies is not terribly thoughtful of me. I filled a small seagrass basket with a jar of pork rillette, a jar of pineapple fig ginger chutney, a bamboo spreader, bacon pecan pralines, and macadamia pumpkin seed brittle. The sweets are included because no picnic is complete without dessert (and I strongly encourage sharing). I chose the more savory candies from my collection to continue with this theme of not-too-sweet gift. I would love to receive one myself, picnic-fanatic that I am.
This is part of my holiday gift 2010 series. See what other goodies I came up with this year!
