Ila Douglas’s Corton Pâté

Sunburst, Montana
“I was born in Sunburst and I lived there most of my life,” says Ila Douglas. “My grandfather moved
south from Canada into eastern Montana when he was a young man, around 1830. My mother told me
stories about prairie life. It was backbreaking and unending work, clearing the land of rocks in order to
plant, herding buffalo, and driving cattle. The winters were brutally cold. Now I live with my daughter
in Portland, Oregon, where the weather is milder, but it is not as easy to get good, fatty pork or leaf lard.
No matter how tough it was, the family gathered at Christmas and there was corton, a pork pâté that you
spread on fresh bread. We always had it after midnight Mass.”

3 pounds pork belly or pork butt, rind discarded

and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt
6 whole black peppercorns
2 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 pound leaf lard, cut into 1-inch chunks
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cloves
1⁄2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Freshly ground black pepper
1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice

1. In a Dutch oven, cover the pork with coldwater. Add half of the onion, 1 tablespoon salt, the pepper-
corns, whole cloves, bay leaf, and thyme and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat
to low, cover, and cook for 3 hours, until the pork is tender. Remove from the heat and cool to room
temperature in the broth.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook the lard over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the crack-
lings are golden brown. With a slotted spoon transfer the cracklings to a large bowl. Pour off and
reserve all but two tablespoons of the fat from the skillet.
3. Return the skillet to medium heat, add the remaining onion, and cook about 4 minutes, stirring oc-
casionally, until the onion is soft. Transfer the onion to the bowl with the cracklings.
4. Transfer the pork to the bowl with the cracklings. Pour the broth through a fine-mesh strainer and
reserve. Add the ground cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper, and the allspice to the pork
and stir until the ingredients are combined. Using a traditional hand-cranked meat grinder or a food
processor, grind or pulse the pork mixture.
5. Add the reserved pork fat and pork broth as needed until the mixture is a spreadable consistency. Sea-
son with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the pâté to a crock or a bowl, pour 1⁄4 inch of the reserved
pork fat over top, and refrigerate for 3 days before serving.

Makes about 20 servings

From ONE BIG TABLE by Molly O’Neill. Copyright © 2010 by Molly O’Neill. Reprinted by permission
of Simon & Schuster, Inc, NY