Appetizers & Drinks

Roasted peppers add a sweet and earthy dimension to the traditional French-Canadian spread.
Resembling French rillettes, creton is excellent served with rustic crackers or crostini, cornichons and stone-ground mustard.

Makes about 3 1/2 cups, serves 12 – 14 as a cracker spread

3 SUNSET® Ancient Sweets™ Peppers
1 lb ground pork
1 cup cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp ground mace
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup minced onion
1 Tbsp very finely minced fresh garlic
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp crushed red chili flakes
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme

Preheat an oven to 375°F.

Place peppers on a baking sheet and roast in oven for about 30 to 35 minutes or until just starting to char on the outside. Immediately transfer peppers to a bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let sit, covered, until cool.

Once peppers are cooled, skin should easily slip off. Remove skin, seeds and stem, and discard. Coarsely chop the peppers. Refrigerate until needed.

In a food processor, pulse the pork for 30 seconds. Add cream and pulse, then add milk and mace and pulse until well combined.

In a non-aluminum large sauce or sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil and sweat the onions for about 5 minutes, or until translucent. Then stir in the garlic. Add the pork mixture and reduce the heat to medium-low; continue to cook, stirring, until pork is no longer pink, about 15 to 20 minutes. Do not brown the pork. Remove from the heat. (The mixture may look at bit separated.) Stir in bread crumbs, salt, chili flakes and thyme. Let cool for 10 minutes then fold in roasted peppers.

Pack mixture into ramekins or a terrine mold, and press gently to compress. Refrigerate overnight or until well chilled before serving.