What’d You Do Last Weekend?
If you can get your hands on a heritage bird called a Poulet Rouge, try some of the recipes from my recent challenge!
Pork in Milk
This recipe came from a great book I got Todd for Christmas - Pork and Sons by Stéphane Reynaud. It's been published by Phaidon - odd for a cookbook - but as soon as you get your hands on it you can tell it's almost more of an art book than it is a cookbook. I saw it for the first time at a design store, and it stood out because of the padded pink gingham that makes up the cover of the book. The book is extensive in its attention to the love of the pig - and it covers everything from the butchering of the pig to sausage and pate making, to the kinds of dishes an older French woman might make.
In the Granny Pig section of the book (homey, traditional French dishes) is a recipe for Pork in Milk. I saw this recipe demonstrated on the Martha Stewart show late last year, and I waited eagerly for Christmas when I gave the book to Todd so I could break it open and make this dish. It was rich and luscious, but very easy to make. This picture was taken after it had cooked for about 6 hours.
Pork in Milk (Pork Boston Butt with Milk)
1 Boston butt, weighing about 3 1/4 lbs
8 3/4 c fresh whole milk
3 garlic cloves
1 fresh thyme sprig
1 fresh rosemary sprig
2 bay leaves
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Put the pork in a large (huge!) casserole, pour in the milk, and add the garlic, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves.
- Cover the casserole and bake, for about 2 hours, until the milk has almost completely evaporated. Discard the herbs.
The pork may be eaten cold or hot, served with the milk 'jam' taken from the base of the casserole.
Note: This took about 5 hours for the milk to cook down as much as I thought it needed to. at 2 hours, it was still very liquid-y and not 'jammy' at all.
