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Recipes Nugget Markets Signature Recipes

Pork Roasted in Milk

Prep time
2 hours PT2H
Cook time
1½ hours PT1½H
Yield
Serves 5-6
Difficulty
2 out of 5 on the difficulty scale
pork_roasted_in_milk031 Nugget Markets signature recipes

Ingredients

  • 1, 7-bone pork loin (ask your butcher to remove the chine bone)
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 8 cloves garlic
  • 1 bunch sage
  • 1 bunch thyme
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 4-6 cups milk
  • Grated zest of 2 lemons
  • Kosher or sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
  • 6 scrapes of nutmeg (or 2 pinches)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Season pork rack liberally with salt and pepper and sear in a pan over high heat, adding olive oil just prior to searing. Brown all sides to ensure the pork remains as moist as possible.

Place herbs and garlic in the bottom of a small roasting pan. Set the pork over the herbs and then add the lemon zest and nutmeg.

Pour milk over the pork and place in the oven on the center rack. Cook for 20 minutes, uncovered, and then reduce the temperature to 300ºF.

Continue cooking the pork for another 1-1½ hours, depending on its thickness. Baste the pork every 20 minutes or so. If the sauce reduces, feel free to add a little more milk so you have a sauce for serving. After cooking 1 hour, use an internal thermometer to check the temperature of the pork in the center; it should read 130ºF. Cook an additional 15 minutes for every desired 5°F increase thereafter. Total cooking time should not exceed 1½ hours.

Remove pork from oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes before carving.

Techniques used in this recipe:

baste
baste: to moisten food during cooking with pan drippings, sauce, or other liquid. Basting prevents food from drying out.
roast
roast: a dry heat cooking method in which items are cooked in an oven or on a spit over a fire.
sear
sear: to brown the surface of food in fat over high heat before finishing by another method (for example, braising) in order to add flavor.

Glossary:

bay leaves

Sweet Bay of Laurel is native to the Mediterranean region where it grows to an evergreen tree up to 40-feet high. It is found extensively in the milder climates of North America; the leaf of the California Bay Laurel is long and tapered, bright green in color, and extremely pungent - from two to three time more pungent than that of the European variety.

The uses of Bay are many and varied. Eggs, meats, game, soups, casseroles, and sauce benefit from the judicious use of this herb; use it sparingly, however, for it is dominant by nature.

zest

Colored part of the peel of citrus fruit which contains flavorful oils.

Pair with

  • Riesling

    Considered by many to be the most noble and unique wine grape varietal in the world. These kings of Alsace's wines are known for their soaring acidity and considerable concentration. This wine is often lower in alcohol, giving it less body. Rieslings are dry, with a fruity yet firm taste.

  • Viognier

    Viognier is responsible for the prestigious wine Condrieu and is quickly gaining popularity with Californian producers. Its aromas suggest exotic honeysuckle and stone fruit, and it has a lanolinish flavor with a heavy, oily texture.

  • Albarino

    A delicious, light, lemony, often slightly fizzy wine. Not as full bodied as Chardonnay, as minerally as Riesling, or as herbal as Sauvignon Blanc. Albarino's flavors range from zingy citrus-peach to almond-honeysuckle.

  • Roussanne

    An elegant varietal of the French Rhone, often blended with its sister, Marsanne.

Images

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