Cretonsgroton Recipes

CROISSANTS

Steps:

• In a mixer with a dough hook, place the yeast, flour, sugar, salt and the milk and mix for 2 minutes until a soft moist dough forms on the hook. If most of the flour isn't moistened with this quantity of milk, add more, a tablespoon at a time until it is moistened and smooth, using up to 4 tablespoons. Turn mixer on high and mix for another 4 minutes until very smooth and elastic.
• Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured board, cover with a damp tea towel and allow it to rest for 15 minutes to relax the gluten. Remove the towel and, using a French rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10 by 9-inch rectangle 5/8-inch thick. Wrap in plastic then chill for 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Ten minutes before the dough is done resting in the refrigerator, prepare the butter. Beat it with your rolling pin on a floured surface to soften it and form a rectangle 6 by 8 1/2 inches. Place it between parchment paper or plastic wrap and set aside.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it on a floured work surface into a 10 by 15-inch and 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Brush any excess flour off the dough. Place the shorter side of the dough parallel to the front of your body on the work surface. Place the butter in the middle, long-ways. Fold the bottom up over the butter and brush off any excess flour and then fold the top down over the butter to overlap and encase the butter. Press down lightly with the rolling pin to push all the layers together and make sure they have contact.
• Continue rolling the laminated (layered) dough to form a new 10 by15-inch rectangle, patching any holes with a dusting of flour where butter may have popped through. Fold into thirds, like a letter, brush off any excess flour and mark it with an indentation made by poking your finger once at the corner of the dough meaning you have completed the first "turn".
• Wrap well in plastic and chill 1 hour and up to overnight. Do this again three more times (some people only do 3 turns total, some do 6, some do 3 plus what's called a "wallet" turn for the last one which is a 4 fold turn that's folded into itself like a book jacket) marking it accordingly each time and chilling in between each turn.
• After the fourth turn, you can let the dough chill overnight, or, for 1 hour, or, roll it out to a 13 by 24-inch square that is a little less than 1/4-inch thick and cut out your croissants and shape them.
• I roll out my dough and cut it with a sharp large knife into 6-inch strips then cut them into triangles, 4 inches wide at the base of the triangle (or for a more curved croissant cut the triangles 6 inches wide). Stretch these triangles again 9 inches long, then place on the work surface and put a piece of scrap dough in the center of the wide end to enclose, which will plump up the center. Roll the triangles up towards you starting at the wide end and place them 2 inches apart on a parchment lined sheet pan with the tip tucked under and the ends slightly curved in to make a crescent shape. You may freeze the croissants at this point, or, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk and brush the croissants with this egg wash.
• To proof the croissants, place them in an oven that is warm but not turned on, with a pan of hot water in the bottom to create a moist environment like a proof box. Set aside to proof for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours until puffed up and spongy to the touch. Remove from the oven.
• Spritz a preheated 425 degree F oven with water, close the door, and get the croissants. Place the croissants in the oven and spritz again, close the door and turn the oven down to 400 degrees F. After 10 minutes, rotate your pan if they are cooking unevenly and turn the oven down to 375 degrees F. Bake another 5 to 8 minutes until golden brown.

EMERIL LAGASSE'S CRETON

Steps:

• In a large saute pan, add the pork and cook until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.
• Add the onions and garlic, and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the salt, pepper, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the milk and bread crumbs and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring to break up the meat.
• 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 and 15 minutes.
• Remove the lid and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick and all the liquid is evaporated, about 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning, to taste.
• Transfer to a decorative bowl or several smaller ramekins, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula.
• Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled and firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.
• Serve with thinly sliced French bread or toasted French bread croutons.

CRETONS

Steps:

• Place the ground pork, milk, onion and garlic into a large saucepan. Season with salt, pepper, cloves and allspice. Cook over medium heat for about 1 hour, then stir in the bread crumbs. Cook for 10 more minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. Transfer to a small container and keep refrigerated.

CRETONS (GROTON)

Steps:

• In a large sauce pan, add all the ingredients except the bread crumbs.
• Cook over medium heat, breaking up the meat mixture as it begins to cook over medium heat.
• Cook for at least 1 1/2 hours stirring often and breaking up the meat.
• The meat should be as fine as possible.
• When done, add the bread crumbs and cook for 15 minutes more.
• Remove from heat, and take out the cloves and bay leaves.
• Cool and place in small tin foil loaf pans.
• Wrap each pan well with plastic wrap and then tin foil.
• Keep in fridge or freeze.
• NOTE:.
• A suggestion has been offered to lessen the amount of breadcrumbs. Think about it before you commit to 1 1/2 cups.
• A layer of fat may coat the top; you can remove this as you use the spread.
• Spread on warm, unbuttered, toasted crusty bread. Yummy!

CRONUTS

Steps:

• Unfold your puff pastry sheets (they come folded into thirds) and leave them out at room temperature to defrost - about 15 to 20 minutes. Brush the top of each sheet with your beaten egg. Fold the sheets back into thirds and set in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
• Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Once oil starts to bubble, it's ready. Take puff pastry out of the freezer, and without unraveling, cut out 3 donut shapes out of each sheet. If you don't have a donut cutter, then use a small glass. Use a pastry tip (or other small round object) to cut out small holes from the center.
• Fry each donut ring in the oil for about a minute each side. The first one may take more than 1 minute since the oil may not be at optimal heat, but the goal is to get a deep, golden color. Once done, move the cronut to a paper towel to slightly cool on.
• While you continue to fry the rest of the cronuts, dip and roll the already made, slightly warm cronuts into your sugar-cinnamon mixture. If desired, pour crème anglaise over the top.

MY MOM'S CRETONS (AKA GORTON) AND TOURTIERE

Steps:

• If your meat is too lean, cut up 1/4-1/3 pound Salt Pork, and render into lardons. Remove the salt pork bits, then continue the recipe, omitting the salt. Do not use bacon for the extra fat, bacon is smoked. You can use Lard, 1-2 T, in a pinch.
• Put all ingredients into a large sauce pot, just covering by an inch with the water.
• Mix together.
• Simmer on low, stirring frequently for 3-4 hours.
• Add water as needed to keep moist and from sticking.
• After the allotted cooking time you should have simmered the mixture down till there is about an inch of combined fat and water.
• Taste to check the seasonings. If your spices are old, you may need to re-spice the mixture
• (with the same amounts), then cook out the raw taste a bit.
• Transfer to a bowl to cool, stirring to keep fat suspended in meat.
• Serve warm on toast, or cold for sandwiches.
• For Tourtiere mix the same mixture with 3 0r 4 mashed (dry) potatoes,
• allowing them to suck up the moisture.
• Allow to cool, and ladle into pre-pared pie crusts.
• Egg wash and bake to specifications.

HOW TO MAKE CROUTONS

Steps:

• For oven method croutons:Preheat the oven to 375º F.In a large bowl, combine the bread, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Toss well to distribute the ingredients.Spread the bread cubes out on a sheet pan, giving them plenty of space in between. Bake the bread cubes for about 10 minutes, or until slightly golden brown and crisp. Keep in mind that the staler and older the bread, the quicker it will brown, so color is a good indication of when it's done.Remove the croutons from the oven, and enjoy!For skillet method croutons:Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the torn bread pieces to the pan, and sprinkle with the dried thyme. Let the bread cubes sit in the pan for a few minutes until golden brown on at least one side, then you can give it a stir. Keep cooking for a total of about 10 minutes, until the croutons are golden and crisp. Enjoy!Storage: Croutons will keep in an airtight container for a couple days at room temperature. Make sure the croutons are completely cool before storing.Note: Recommended bread for croutons are any of the crusty loaf varieties, like sourdough, ciabatta, boule, etc.

CRETONS DE QUEBEC

Steps:

• Place pork in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown.
• Drain off fat. Add milk, onion, garlic, mixed spice, salt and pepper. Continue simmering on medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until milk evaporates. Let cool and serve.