Pork Butt Braised in Milk and Spices
If you don't know this Italian classic, it's high time you got acquainted. It's sumptuous: the pork sweet and tender as it slowly cooks in the milk.
Milk? Sure enough. Milk is one of the few protein structures on our planet that will not coagulate over heat. Put a piece of chicken on the grill and the proteins begin to coagulate into those layers of "done meat." Same goes for the proteins (a. k. a. glutens) in bread.
But not those in milk. That's because the basic milk protein, casein, is negatively charged. The molecules can't get near each other--unless you add an acid and cause the calcium ringlet that holds the casein strands together to come undone so that the proteins float free and get diluted in the surrounding water, thereby losing their group strength. Voilà, very loose curds. Or unless you add cultures that give the casein a negative-ion hair cut. Voilà, much stronger curds--also called "cheese making."
But without all that fandango, you can boil milk down to almost nothing and it won't coagulate--except for that milk skin on pudding, a skin that's actually a layer, not of coagulation, but of casein drying out. But with enough pork fat in the mix, you don't have to worry about that skin. And you've got the best braised pork imaginable.
Figure on serving four if it's all you've got, six if it's part of a coursed sit-down. OK, so let's get to it.
First, start with a 2 1/2 pounds (1.2 kilogram) Boston butt--that is, the upper part of the pork shoulder, sitting above the so-called "picnic ham" on the front leg. I realize these are American cuts and make little sense in other countries. Basically, you want a hunk of pork shoulder on the bone. Ours came from our own pig!
You need a pot that's about the size of the piece of pork with just a little room to spare. Heat 2 tablespoons (30 grams) unsalted butter and 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil in the pot over medium heat. Salt and pepper the pork, then brown it on all sides.
I mean it: all sides. Look what Bruce is doing: he's turning the piece of meat on its side to make sure every single space is browned on the outside. Don't cheat this step. It's a pain and you'll seriously mess up your stove. But that brown is flavor--and worth every second you spend cleaning up the splatters. Figure on about 15 minutes for the task.
Transfer the pork to a cutting board and drain out all but about 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of the fat from the pot. Return the pot to the heat and add 4 chopped garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons (6 grams) crushed fennel seeds, 2 teaspoons (3 grams) dried sage, and 1 teaspoon (1 gram) red pepper flakes. (You can cut down the red pepper flakes if you're afraid of its being too hot--it's not very hot at all since most of the heat breaks down, but still. . . .)
Stir these around until aromatic, maybe a minute or so, then pour in 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) dry white wine. It's important the wine's dry to balance all the natural sugars in the milk to come. Stir that wine around the pot as it comes up to a full simmer, scraping up any browned bits on the pot's interior bottom.
Pour in 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) milk. There it is. And I'll make a confession here: Bruce used 1%, low-fat milk. You could use 2%--or even go whole (ahem) hog and use whole milk.
Settle the pork back into the pot as the milk comes up to a boil. Cover, lower the heat to very low, and cook very gently for 1 hour. Then set the lid askew and continue cooking, still at a small simmer, until the meat is incredible tender, about 2 more hours. And do two things: check the pot once in a while. If the liquid is boiling away, reduce the heat further and cover the pot again. Second, use big metal tongs to turn the meat about once an hour so that different sides sit in and out of the simmering liquid at different times.
Remove the meat from the pot and let it stand on a cutting board for about 10 minutes before hacking it up into chunks and bits. It'll fall apart, so don't plan on neat slices. Meanwhile, bring the heat under the pot back up to medium-high and boil down that cooking liquid until it's a tasty sauce. Check to see if it needs any salt.
There's ours. We had it with some barley in the bowl. It was real food. And darn fine. So much so I want it again real soon.
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at 4:04PM | in Comfort Food, Hunks of Meat, Main Courses Boston butt, braise, braised pork, comfort food, main course, milk-braised pork, pork
Reader Comments (9)
Oh, yay! I have a pork shoulder from 8 O'Clock Ranch sitting in my freezer, just waiting for me to do something new and exciting with it. Perfect!!
Jennifer: You've got to try it. Got to.
M.
Oh yummy! Would this work in a crock pot? Brown the meat, do the aromatics, combine the wine and milk bring to boil then put in a crock pot on low for 8 hours or high for 3-4? Then reduce the sauce while the pork rests. Have to check the grocery sale flyer... :))))))
I believe it would, but the sauce would need to reduce on the stove. And you'd want to do the whole thing in a pot on a stove, then dump it into the slow cooker. You don't want to miss that luscious sauce formed by the browned bits in the pot.
M.
Oh, my, I think I know what I'll be doing this weekend! BTW, what size Dutch oven should I use? I have a 5-qt oval and a 7.25 qt round.
Mark, Jennifer at Bread and Putter sent me the link to this after I posted about Milk Braised Chicken this morning. Now I know what my next savory milk based adventure will be.
Hi, guys. Sorry to have been so out of touch over the last couple of days. I'm under ridiculously deadlines and can hardly breathe. Until this afternoon--when it's all done.
Petra: I'd say you're going to have to look at the pot and look at the cut you end up with and then figure out which one it best. Some pork shoulders or butts are wider, flatter; some, as ours, narrower. But use the smallest pot you can, so that the meat sits about halfway in the braising liquid. Less here is more. And a slower simmer is better at all costs.
Wendi: Thanks and welcome. I did love this--and have already asked for it again. I love your post for milk-braised chicken. Yum. Must try it very soon.
Mark
Hi Bruce and Mark:
Just saw your recipe for Lamb Shanks in American Profile in our local paper! I was so excited because my family and I raise sheep and lamb. Thanks. I am always looking for lamb recipes to give my customers that I meet at local farmers markets. I know how many people get that flyer so it will help all us sheep farmers!
I too write knitting books but most knitters get a little off-put that I can design with wool, raise the sheep and eat them too. People are so incredibly disconnected with the source of meat - it is scary.
Looking forward to your goat book - There are goat meat vendors at our local farmers markets and the increase in that meat seems to be increasing exponentially. I pretty much think that anything you can do with lamb you can do with goat (but maybe I am wrong).
Anyway, sorry to ramble on but thought I would connect with you here. Hope your knitting book went well. It is a tough racket for sure!
My Best, Kristin Nicholas
Hi, Kristin. It's Mark here, not of the knitting fame. I maintain the blog. I guess it's the writer's job. Anyway, it's lovely to hear you ramble--do so more! I think people are far too disconnected from their food sources. If you'll look back through these posts, you'll see one on "The Silence of the Goats." You'll get the picture--but you already do anyway!
M.