confit pork shoulder

Yes, I know this is a picture of flowers and not food.  I cannot find the picture of the confit pork shoulder I made.  I mentioned yesterday that I made cassoulet.  One of the pieces of that was to confit a pork shoulder.  The preparation takes 36 hours and then you wait a month.  That is how I lost the picture.  Or maybe when the computer crashed.

All I know, confit pork shoulder is so yummy you do not need to wait to eat it for a cassoulet but - oh my!  I actually found that true for all the bits of the cassoulet.  Each was worthy to eat by itself.  

confit pork shoulder

Note:  adapted from local milk.  The shoulder sits for 24 hours and cooks for 12 hours so plan enough time

2 pounds boneless pork shoulder cut into 3 inch cubes

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

a pinch allspice

a pinch of nutmeg

1 bunch of green onions, sliced 

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 teaspoon thyme

about 1/2 quart melted lard, enough to cover the meat by 1 inch.

Put the pork in a gallon freezer bag.  Mix everything up to the onion together.  Pour over the pork.  Close the bag.  Massage the spices in.  Let sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours

Heat oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

Layer the onions, thyme, and garlic in a pot big enough to hold the pork and lard.  Melt the lard.  Layer the pork on top of the onions.  Pour the lard over and make sure it covers by 1 inch.  Put in the oven for 12 hours.

After 12 hours, the pork is very tender.  Strain, reserving the lard.  Place the pork in a container.  Cover with the lard.  Cover by 1 inch.

Let sit in the refrigerator for at least two weeks.  The longer it sits the better it tastes.  You can eat it earlier if you wish.

To eat, rewarm and strain the pork when ready to use.  Save about 1/4 cup of the lard for use in the cassoulet if you end up making that.

This smells so good when baking that it is hard to resist.