Bones_ Recipes, History, and Lore - Jennifer McLagan [30]
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1 large onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
4 cups (1 l) Pork Stock (page 58)
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (250 ml) kimchee, chopped
1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chili powder and stir for 30 seconds. Add the carrot and onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables start to stick to the pan and color. Add the garlic, stock, potato, and salt and bring to a boil. Skim off any foam, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the potato is cooked.
2. Stir in the kimchee and check the seasoning. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.
Pork with Caramelized Milk Sauce
I’ve always associated this dish with northern Italian cooking, so I was interested to learn from one of Paula Wolfert’s cookbooks that it is also a popular way of cooking in the Basque country. This dish is best cooked on top of the stove so you can keep your eye on it. It is important to use whole milk and to scrape the bottom of the pan every so often so that you can incorporate the caramelized bits into the sauce. By the time the pork is cooked, your sauce will resemble curdled dulce de leche. Don’t despair—that is exactly how it should look. The taste will win you over. If by chance you have any left over, it is delicious cold.
Depending on your casserole the sauce will reduce by various amounts. Add the extra 1 cup (250 ml) milk only if necessary. (The bottom of the pot must always be covered with milk. If the milk evaporates too quickly add extra.)
1 bone-in pork shoulder roast, about 4% pounds (2 kg)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 ounces (60 g) pancetta, finely diced
1 red onion, diced
6 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, halved
3 to 4 cups (750 ml to 11) whole milk
1. Pat the pork dry and season with salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven or flameproof casserole, heat the oil over medium heat. Brown the pork on all sides, starting with fat side. Transfer the shoulder to a plate, lower the heat, and add the pancetta. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, or until crispy. Add the onion and cook for another 3 minutes, or until the onion softens.
2. Add the bay leaves and garlic, then pour in 1 cup (250 ml) of the milk. Bring to a boil, deglazing the pot by scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. Add the pork fat side down to the pot along with any juices. Adjust the heat so that the milk is bubbling gently, partially cover, and cook for 30 minutes.
3. Turn the pork and scrape the bottom of the pot, then add another 1 cup (250 ml) milk. Return the liquid to a gentle boil and cook, partially covered, for 30 minutes.
4. Stir the sauce, and baste the meat with it. Cook, partially covered, for another hour, turning the pork after 30 minutes.
5. Add the final 1 cup (250 ml) milk. Cook, uncovered, at a gentle boil, for another hour, or until the pork is very tender; baste the pork 2 or 3 times. (The pork is cooked when the internal temperature registers 160°F [71°C] on an instant-read thermometer, but I like this cut almost falling off the bone, so I cook it until very tender.) During this final cooking, pay attention that the milk doesn’t burn and that the meat doesn’t stick. Move the meat in the pot when you baste it, and scrape the sides and bottom of the pot to incorporate all the caramelized bits into the sauce. Transfer the cooked shoulder to a platter and let rest, loosely covered with aluminum foil, for at least 15 minutes before slicing.
6. Tip the pot and skim off any fat from the sauce; discard the bay leaves. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until the reduced to about 1½ cups (375 ml). Stir any juices from the resting pork into the sauce, and then check the seasoning.
7. Slice the pork and serve with the sauce.
LACE BONES
The discovery of bone drop spindles