*crispy waffle*

One of my favorite categories of foods to cook is the low-effort, high-reward dishes. And one of those, which demonstrates some of the magic that happens when simple ingredients are heated for long periods of time, is pork shoulder braised in milk.

The version I make is a slight variation of one I learned from Marcella Hazan's books. Her original is done on a stove and involves a bit more fussiness, but I prefer mine for overall simplicity -- I do it in a crock pot instead.

Here's the recipe... don't blink and miss it.

Brown your pork shoulder (also known as a boston butt) in a bit of olive oil and butter.
Put the pork shoulder in a crock pot.
Pour a few cups of milk in around the pork shoulder. I use a quart of whole milk because I'm usually cooking for a crowd, but with a smaller chunk of meat you'll want to use less.
Add salt and pepper. You could also add sage or garlic or something here -- that's what I did the last time I made this dish -- but it really doesn't need it.
Cook on low for eight+ hours. I've let it go 12 with no ill effects.
Remove the pork shoulder.
De-fat the cooking liquid using whatever method you prefer, pour the remaining cooking liquid and beautiful nutty milk bits into a pan, and reduce by half.
While the liquid is reducing, slice the pork if you can, or shred it if it's too tender to slice well.
Pour the liquid and the beautiful nutty milk bits over the top.
EAT

Unfortunately I was too distracted by the smell to snap a picture of the end product the last time I made this, but I can show you the beginning, at least.

Labels: recipes, the savory and salty

posted by david adam edelstein | 5:50 AM |

That sounds outrageously good. As a Brooklyn boy who grew up kosher, I'm always looking for great (and easy) pork recipes, and this one seems to fit the bill. Smoke some pot for me in your new home copuntry, you lucky bastards. I miss Amsterdam, my favorite city ever (definitely not just for the pot).
By

J-Dawgz 12/12/05 6:13 PM

I agree. Although all my friends who seem to love pork the most grew up Jewish (!), I'm Filipino so that automatically puts me in the category of frequent consumer of pig. And this recipe is right up my alley because the pork-to-other-ingredient ratio is, like, 50:1-- the bare essentials!

Oh and j-dawgz: David is in Seattle, Sheryl is the one in Holland, Sonja is in France, etc. etc. (Time to post some Crispy Waffle member profiles!)
By

sheryl 12/12/05 6:28 PM

I didn't grow up eating kosher, but I always love the pork in milk thing (although my frum brother points out that technically it would have to be beef in milk to be really outrageous)

I'm always wondering if I can somehow add shrimp to this dish to hit the treyf trifecta!
By

David Adam Edelstein 12/12/05 8:29 PM

I made this last night, and it's just as delicious and easy as all that.
By

Anonymous 2/18/06 8:12 PM