Since I don’t see the point in making delicious foods with un-delicious ingredients, I sourced my pork from local farmers. Traditionally creton is made with ground pork, pork fat, breadcrumbs, milk and added spices (actually, most creton in Canada – especially that from old Canadian grandmothers – is made with MSG. While that’s some tasty stuff, I figured that that wasn’t the health profile I was aiming for. And really, I don’t want to know what health food black-ops reign of terror I was going to bring upon myself if I attempted to buy MSG in Vermont). I read a whole bunch of recipes online and planned my attack. My first few attempts weren’t what I was aiming for (but still well consumed by all involved). Mr. French-Canadian Boyfriend said that my creton tasted more like tourtiere (a Quebecois pork and beef pie, that, while delicious, was not creton, and not something I was going to attempt, since Mr. French-Canadian Boyfriend’s mother regularly makes him one that he likes very much). I finally decided to stop trying to recreate creton that tastes exactly what I had had in Canada (after all, no MSG on hand) and just aim for making some darn tasty pork spread. And let me tell you, this is some darn tasty pork spread. Instead of mixing ground pork and pork fat, I let someone else take that step and just used raw sausage. You can add more pork fat if you’d like, but it’s not necessary. Interestingly, Mr. French-Canadian Boyfriend thinks that this tastes more like “authentic” creton than any of the stuff I made before I stopped trying to recreate “authentic” creton. And how fast it disappeared in both our houses might just be testament to how much no one cares about authenticity and how much everyone does care about yummy, yummy piggies on our toast.
Bacon Leek Creton
1 bulb garlic
1/2 of the white of a medium-large leek
2 strips bacon
1 tbs butter (or pork fat)
1 lb raw pork sausage (casing removed)
1 cup milk
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1) Mince the garlic, leek and bacon and cook with the butter over medium heat in a medium sauce pan until vegetables are softened.
2) Add the sausage and smash/stir the mixture with the back of a wooden spoon until the sausage is well broken up and cooked.
3) Stir in the milk and breadcrumbs and spread out in the pan. Cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has cooked out (about 15 minutes). Transfer the creton to a storage container and chill. Serve cold and enjoy!
Ok, I totally realize that Thanksgiving is a few months past and if you still have Thanksgiving leftovers in your fridge, you probably don’t want to be eating them. But this pizza is the reason you should celebrate Thanksgiving all over again.
1/2 cup warm water
1 lb turkey cutlets (or slice turkey breast)
1 large yellow onion
1 3- to 4 lb pie pumpkin
1 pie pumpkinFor some people it’s the smell of baking cookies, or a simmering curry, but the scent that always brings me back home is the delicious aroma of sautéing onions and peppers. That was the start to almost every meal in my dad’s house when I was little and I always feel warm and happy whenever I start a meal that way myself.
“Peppers” almost always meant pablanos in my house. A pablano is a slightly hot pepper that is perfect for a little kick of heat where you might otherwise put a bell pepper. Pablanos are called anchos here in Vermont and pasillas in California. An ancho might be called an anaheim, or visa versa. The many names for one kind of pepper have to do with the state the pepper is in (dried, smoked, old, young, etc.), but over time different regions have mixed up those names and just chosen one to represent all the states of the pepper. It can be confusing if you’re traveling and trying to find the pepper that you’re used to. Fortunately, here in Vermont, we have farmers! Spicy foods are relatively new to this New England state, so your farmer might not know the proper name for the peppers they’re growing, but your farmer can tell you what your pepper is going to taste like and give you an idea of what dishes it might go well with.
A grilled pablano or ahaheim, with it’s skin slipped off, stuffed with herbed goat cheese and baked for 10 or so minutes, is one of the best ways to enjoy a pepper. Another is this soup that I’ve given the recipe for here. My dad called this one “Grilled Soup” which always required explanation when I was serving it. But, I, as an adult, don’t own a grill (don’t tell my dad), so I needed to modify this recipe for the stove. If you own a grill, I highly recommend grilling the onions (quartered), peppers (whole) and tomatoes (whole). You get that nice char flavor and you get a chance to remove the skins. But if you’re looking for something a little simpler, sautéing plus liquid smoke (available at the co-op) is a delicious way to go.
Smoked Tomato Soup

3 anaheim/ancho/bell peppers, cored and sliced
1 large yellow onion, sliced
1 tsp salt plus more to taste
1 tbs olive oil
liquid smoke (optional)
6 medium tomatoes, rough chopped
1 tsp red pepper or chipotle pepper flakes (optional)
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1) Sauté the peppers, onions, salt, olive oil and 10 drops of liquid smoke over medium high heat until the vegetables start to soften. Add the tomatoes and pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have released their juices and cooked through.
2) Add the broth to the pot, remove the pot from the heat and puree everything together with an immersion blender (or transfer to a regular blender). Return the soup to the heat and add more salt and liquid smoke to taste.