LOVED this dish tonight! I know I’ve put this recipe up earlier this year, but had to share it again… with the “NEW”photos!
The nights are cooler, Benji is now in harvest swing and it’s time to cook up some warm, slow-cooked meals… Bon app.
I was on the phone to Mum and Dad last week and mentioned that I’d just cooked up some Milk Pork – ‘Porc au Lait’ – for the next day’s dinner. It’s funny, these conversations about food are always totally out of whack with our time zones. It was 11pm my time and 8.30am the following morning, their time. Normally it’s me cleaning up the breakfast dishes as Dad explains with excitement what he’s got on the stove for dinner.
I’ve never served them Porc au Lait but I know they’d love it. It ticks all our family’s favourite food boxes: MEAT, lots of sauce, herbs, garlic and the required ‘three veg’ – and it is easy to prepare. It’s one of those old-fashioned French dishes that is simply delicious comfort food. My husband and mother-in-law showed me how to cook this years ago and I can’t count how many times I’ve prepared it since. We had the poker men for dinner + a few UK visitors and it went down a treat with the new ‘Boulevard Napoleon‘ wines – white and red.
serves 6-8
ingredients:
1.5kg roll of roasting pork – preferably of shoulder (fillet is drier and less fat, don’t want that)
1 litre full cream milk
2 large onions, sliced
6 carrots, cut into in large chunks
8 potatoes, as above
8 small turnips, as above
4-5 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs fresh thyme
bunch fresh sage (about 10-12 leaves)
2 sprigs rosemary
oil, butter
salt, pepper
method:
Fry up the onions in heavy cast iron pot with a big chunk of butter (30-40g) and a little olive oil, until golden.
Add the roll of pork and brown on each side over medium -high heat.
When the meat is almost all browned, add the garlic and salt, pepper to taste. I find garlic burns very easily, so I add it near the end of the browning.
Pour over the milk (meat should be 3/4 covered, if not add more ) and add the herbs.
Cover with lid and let simmer for an hour.
Add the carrots and turnips and keep simmering for another hour.
Add potatoes and keep simmering until they are tender.
Serve with lashings of dijon mustard on the side and a big white or red wine!
N.B. If this is prepared the night before eating, I don’t add any of the vegetables until the next day.
And. I cook this for a few hours, the longer the better. I like it when the meat falls apart. A lot of recipes cook it for less though, and you keep the form of the pork roll and then slice it. As the French would say, ‘as you want’…
The Vigneron's Wife 
Looks truly wonderful..will definately try it soon…might chuck in a couple of sliced apples as well..
Thank Jill – and what a great idea. I love pork and apple.
Hi Kat, made this the other day and absolutely it’s delicious and so easy to prepare!! I love it!! A word about the apples though, I think they would make the milk curdle – happened to me in another dish where the two were combined.
I am happy to hear that Andreas, thanks for letting me know how it went! I really think that the touch of fat on the meat makes the difference and yes, how easy is it?!
When I try it with apples, it will be on the side…
That looks delicious. I have never heard of cooking meat in milk before so i will try this! I have a roll of pork ready and waiting, just by chance! I will probably slow cook the meat overnight in my slow cooker and add the veg the next day. Merci beaucoup xx
Thank you for letting me know you’ll give it a try Valentine! I hope it was delicious! Kat
So wonderful! I also added apples in lieu of turnips and used pork shanks. It was so delish.
Oh that sounds DELICIOUS April! Thank you for sharing ; )
Hi. When do you add the sage, rosemary, thyme?
Hi there Raducu! There’s two different ways – I either rub the pork in oil and the herbs right at the very beginning before browning in the pot, or I add them to the onions, when the onions are just about cooked, give them some quick frying time to open up their aromas and then add the pork, milk etc. I hope that helps! Kat
Cooked this last night, unfortunately the milk curdled 😦
Any idea why this might have happened and how to avoid it? I’ve followed the recipe without substitutions or amendments.
Hi Nats. I am sorry to hear you had this problem of the milk curdling 🙁. You have reminded me that this has indeed happened to me on a few occasions and I have a couple of ideas… First, was the milk a full-fat milk or semi or skimmed? The higher the fat content I believe, the lower the possibilty of your sauce curdling? I have used skimmed milk (half-fat) on occasion and am wondering if this could be a trigger? The other thing would be to make sure that you hear the milk in the pot on a low, gentle heat, don’t let it boil. You could even gently heat the milk in a separate saucepan first? I do hope this might help!
Otherwise, after a quick browse online, I have just read that adding a small amount of flour or cornstarch can help stabilise the milk. And try to add only a little salt at the beginning as salt can cause milk to curdle.
Good luck!
Kat xo
Thanks for the reply and tips. I’ve managed to save it by blending the sauce, and the taste was still good. I might give it another go, watching the temperature or even using a slow cooker 😃
I am glad you could 😊. I seem to remember blending it one time too!
Fantastic! I love soups and stews in general, and this now rates as one of my favorites. Easy to make. Paired it with Ben’s Cote Doree 2018 Chardonnay, and it was the perfect finale to a chilly and cloudy Western Oregon day. Thanks for sharing your recipe, Kat!
Hi Laura. I am so pleased you made and enjoyed this dish! – and alongside Ben’s Chardonnay 😊 !
Kat xo