Berkshire Pork got hyped about 10 years ago. Rumors about its rich, sweet and nutty flavor filtered in from the other side of the pond reminding us that pork is NOT “The Other White Meat”.  Ever since it has been gaining popularity, moving slowly into the mainstream.

 At Cherry Grove Farm the Berkshires hogs are fed whey,  which is a by-product of the cheese-making process. They also devour the cheeses that didn’t come out so well (Kelly, the farm manager, calls them “the farm’s cleaning crew”). All that great food from grass renders them particularly  juicy and tasty.

Last week I got  Boston Butt from the farm and planned on braising  it slowly for 6 hours. But life interfered and I found myself at 5:00 pm on a weeknight with only the pork, some onions, fennel and fresh thyme in my fridge + my New Year resolution not to order in.

So I seared the Boston butt  on the stove, and  then used its fat to caramelized the vegetables.  This cut is known to shine in slow cooking but after only an hour and a half the house was filled with the great aroma of a roasting meat.  My kids were famished, so I decided to serve it, no matter how much chewing it would take…

The result was nothing short of the best pork I’ve ever had – succulent, melt-in-you-mouth, sweet and nutty. Delicious.

The next  day the leftovers were covered with a white  layer of fat. I chopped them and made a mock rillettes. Then I made a soup from the leftover fennel and onions (with celery root). Everything was almost magically delicious.

Here are the recipes. If you’re using conventional Boston butt, braise it for at least 4 hours (in a 250F oven), but I hope I convinced you to  choose a local, delicious Berkshire pork.

Weeknight Berkshire Boston Butt

1 small high quality Boston butt
Some oil to brown the pork
White wine or chicken stock to deglaze the pan.
2 onions, sliced into ½ moons
1 fennel bulb, cut into wedges
2 sprigs fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 350F. Season the pork with Kosher salt and pepper.
In a heavy ovenproof casserole, brown the pork on all sides. Remove from the pan. Pour some wine into the pan and with a wooden spoon scrape all the flavorful brown bits that got stuck to the bottom.
Add the sliced onions and fennel to the pan and cook until soft and starting to brown, 7-10 minutes.
Return the pork to the pot and nestle between the caramelized vegetables. Bury the thyme sprigs between the vegetables. Pour in a cup of liquid (wine, stock, water…) and bring to a simmer on the stove. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven. Roast for a at least 2 hours in 350 F, or lower the oven to 250 F and roast for as long as 6 hours.

Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

The next day, make soup and rillettes from the leftovers:

Rillettes:

The next day  remove the fat from the top  of the dish into a small sauce pan. If the pork didn’t produce enough fat (and a conventional pork most likely won’t), use rendered fat from a pork belly. Melt the fat over  low heat.
Shred the leftover pork, discarding any gristle and heat them up. Stir in some of the melted fat and season with salt. Pack the meat into a ceramic bowl or individual ramekins.
Ladle a 1/2-inch-thick layer of fat on top of the pork. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Serve the rillettes with toasts and cornishons.

Celery Root and Fennel Soup

You can either use the cooked onion and fennel from the pork recipe or just saute fresh onions fennel  in butter until soft. Add  celery root – peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks - and cover with chicken or vegetable stock.

Simmer for about 20 minutes until celery is soft. Puree with an immersion blender. Finish with milk.

 

Nirit Yadin

Rillettes image courtesy of Wikipedia.