Milk is such a versatile ingredient that it can be used with pork, seafood or as part of a dessert.
Eggs, butter and milk make up a trinity of ingredients that forms a foundation for so many recipes, providing moisture and body. Although it is difficult to define, the sweet yet balanced flavour of milk can provide different qualities depending on how it is cooked. In chowders and sauces, it gives a degree of saltiness. In desserts, where it tends to be cooked more slowly, it provides sweeter caramel and almond flavours.
In the following recipes, the pork loin cooks slowly in the milk, even?tually reducing to small clusters of deliciously caramelised nut-brown solids. The recipe is based on one from The Essentials of Italian Cooking (1992), by Marcella Hazan. The chowder is a great weekend soup that seems to taste better if you are eating it by the sea. The rice pudding is possibly a special-occasion dish, as it requires spending a bit of time at the stove, but it’s well worth the effort.
PORK LOIN BRAISED IN MILK, BOLOGNESE STYLE
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1.2kg loin of pork, ribs removed
salt and freshly ground black pepper
600ml milk
Keep the fat on the loin – it will render during cooking, keeping the loin moist as it does so. The fat will be poured off and discarded later. Heat the oil in a casserole pan large enough to contain the pork loin. Add the butter and when it foams, add the meat fat-side down. Brown the meat on all sides, lowering the heat if the butter browns too much. Season with salt and pepper, then slowly add 250ml of the milk, ensuring that it does not boil over. Allow the milk to come to a brisk simmer for 20-30 seconds, then lower the heat and cover with a lid, leaving it slightly askew. Cook at a lazy simmer for 1 hour until the milk has thickened to a nut-brown sauce. When it reaches this stage, add another 250ml of milk, simmer for 10 minutes and then cover again, this time with the lid on tightly.
After 30 more minutes, set the lid askew again and cook until there is almost no liquid left in the pot. Add the remaining milk and cook until all the milk has coagulated into small nut-brown clusters. The whole pro?cess should take 21?2-3 hours. If all the milk evaporates before the meat is fully cooked, add another 100ml or so.
Transfer the meat to a cutting board and pour off the fat, leaving behind the milk clusters. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of water to the pot and bring to the boil, scraping all the cooked residues from the bottom and sides of the pot. Slice the pork and spoon the milky juices over it. Serve immediately, accompanied by green beans, broccoli or spinach.
Serves 8.
FOR THIS RECIPE, you can use any firm, white-fleshed fish, cockles, oysters or a mixture. Sprinkle with bread or crumbled water crackers just before serving.
CHOWDER
1 medium onion 80g unsalted butter
1 litre milk
500ml cream
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
500g peeled potatoes, diced
1kg white-fleshed fish, cut into 3cm
cubes or 1 cup of steamed cockle meat
or 2 dozen oysters sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
100g bacon, diced and precooked (I do this in the microwave)
garnish: 2 tbsp chopped parsley and water-cracker crumbs
Finely chop the onion. Melt the butter and sauté the onion until translucent and without colour – about 2-3 minutes. Add the milk and cream and simmer for 20 minutes. Dice the thyme leaves and add to the chowder. Add the potatoes and simmer until tender. Add the seafood and simmer until just cooked through. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then add the bacon. Serve the chowder sprinkled with parsley and crumbled water crackers if desired.
Serves 6.
RICH RICE PUDDING, POACHED TAMARILLOS AND MARMALADE
½ cup short-grain rice
3 cups milk
1 vanilla bean
1 tbsp grated orange peel
2 tbsp grated lemon peel
½ tsp salt
100g sugar
2 egg yolks
50g unsalted butter
Bring a pot of water to a vigorous boil. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes, then drain, discarding the water. Over a medium temperature, heat the milk in a deep saucepan. Add the vanilla bean and citrus peels. Add the rice and salt. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 50 minutes. Remove the lid and stir the rice until any remaining milk has evaporated. Stir in the sugar and yolks. Keep stirring until the rice has thickened slightly. Add the butter and stir until it melts. Divide the rice between 6 bowls. Serve with sliced poached tamarillos and a drizzle of marmalade.
Serves 6.
POACHED TAMARILLOS
8 tamarillos, peeled
750ml water
250g sugar
2 cinnamon quills
6 cloves
125g quality marmalade
First, prepare the tamarillos by scoring a cross in the base of the fruit and then immersing them for a few seconds in boiling water. The skin will peel off easily. Bring the water, sugar and spices to the boil. Lower the heat, add the tamarillos and cook for 5 minutes until just tender. Remove the tamarillos and set aside, reserving the syrup. Allow the tamarillos to cool, then slice into quarters. Whisk a little of the syrup into the marmalade to loosen it slightly.