If it was good enough for Cleo, it's good enough for me – or at least for my meatand fish. Asses' milk isa bit hard to come by, socow's orgoat's will have to do. This week, I'm marinating, poaching and simmering meat and fish in the white stuff, using milk – and buttermilk – to keep the flesh moist and to carry, round out and deepen flavour.
Incidentally, rumours of my vegetarianism have been somewhat exaggerated. Part of my treatise on the matter is that the more veg we eat, the more we'll enjoy our fewer and more precious outings with meat. Today's recipes reflect that notion nicely, I think.
Milk as a cooking medium for meat and fish is a well-worn tradition across many continents. The fishwives of Cullen in Morayshire have known for more than acentury that it mellows the taste ofsmoked fish in their eponymous soup (see today's Cullenskink recipe). And the Italian-American food writer Marcella Hazan recommends – I only just resist saying "orders" – that we simmer the meat for her bolognese ragù inmilk, to tenderise it, before introducing it to the bracing acidity oftomatoes. Insome Indian curries and Turkish lamb dishes, meanwhile, meat is marinated in yoghurt before cooking. In the US south, they've long bathed chicken and other meatin buttermilk for a few hours to soften it and make it more moist. In all these cases, it is the lactic acid in the dairy produce that helps tenderise the flesh, making it more juicy to eat and more receptive to soaking up other flavours.
But one word of caution: when using milk, if the dish contains acidic ingredients, you run the risk of sauces curdling if cooked at high temperatures. Very occasionally thisis desirable, as in the classic Italian arrosto di maiale al latte (see today's first recipe, which is inspired by it), where the milk curdles and cooks down to flavoursome, nutty sweetness. Butusually that's not what we're after. Raw or only lightly cooked onions can curdle milk – which is why, in my Cullen skink, Icook them down to atender, golden mass.
You can also improve your chances by using whole- rather thanreduced-fat milkand being particularly careful when heatingsomething containing naturally low-fat buttermilk. Begentle with it and you'll create dishes certainly fit for a queen to feast on, if not to bathe in.
Pork in milk
This is River Cottage head chef GillMeller's take on the Italian classic, arrosto di maiale al latte, orpork in milk. The results are tender, juicy and flavoursome. It'sdelicious hot, or cold the next day in sandwiches or salads. Servesfour to six.
About 1.2kg boned pork loin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
10-12 garlic cloves, peeled
Strips of lemon zest from 1 lemon, thinly pared with a vegetable peeler – remove any white pith
4-6 sage leaves, shredded
1 tbsp thyme leaves, chopped
3 bay leaves
About 1 litre whole milk (cow or goat), warmed
1 small sprig rosemary
Cut the rind from the pork, leaving athin layer of fat (use the rind to make crackling – score it, scatter it with salt, and bake at 220C/425F/gasmark 7 until puffed up, crisp andgolden). Score the fat and season the meat well all over, rubbing it into the surface. Tie the meat in a couple of places with kitchen string, so itwill hold its shape, and set aside.
Warm the oil in a large casserole over a low heat and poach the garlic cloves until they just begin to take on a light golden colour – be careful they don't burn, or they'll add an acrid flavour to the sauce. Scoop out the garlic with a slotted spoon and raise the heat under the pan to medium-high. Brown the pork on all sides, then set aside again. Take the pan off the heat and let the oil cool down quite a bit. Add the lemon zest, sage, thyme and bay, and sauté gently for a minute. Return the pork to the pan, turn it over in the seasoned oil, then pour over enough milk just to cover the meat. Add the rosemary and bringto a simmer.
Cook the meat at a very gentle simmer, uncovered, until cooked through and tender, turning it occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pan to keep the curds that form as a result of the interaction between lemon and milk from burning. This should take about one and a quarter hours, by which time much of the liquid will have evaporated – if it hasn't, reduce thesauce while the meat is resting.
Before serving, let the pork sit forabout 10 minutes before cutting into thin slices and serving with the curdy sauce spooned over the top.
Buttermilk chicken
The acidic quality of buttermilk tenderises the chicken and helps thespicy coating cling to the flesh before you fry it. Serves four to six.
1 chicken, jointed, or about 1.5kg chicken pieces
For the marinade
700ml buttermilk
1 small onion, peeled and grated
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 tbsp chives, finely chopped
1 tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the coating
250g plain flour
1½ tsp salt
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
2 tsp sweet paprika
½-1 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on how spicy you want it
100ml whole milk
Vegetable oil, for frying
In a large bowl, mix 500ml of the buttermilk with the other marinade ingredients. Put in the chicken and turn until the chicken is well coated. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Thenext day, take the chicken out of the fridge about an hour before you want to cook it, to allow it to come to room temperature.
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, pepper, thyme, paprika and cayenne. In a jug, whisk together the rest of the buttermilk and the milk. Trickle this mixture into the flour and use a fork to mix it lightly together – the batter should be floury with some little lumps mixed in – this is what makes the coating extra crunchy.
Heat about 5cm of vegetable oil ina deep-sided pan until it reads 180C on an instant-read thermometer. (If you don't have athermometer, at that heat a slightly stale cube of white bread should turn golden in 15 seconds.) Working in batches, roll the chicken in the coating, pressing gently to make sure it sticks.
Fry the chicken a few pieces at atime, for about eight minutes. Aseach piece is cooked, place it in aroasting tin while you carry on cooking the rest. When you've fried all of them, finish off the chicken in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until cooked through.
Cullen Skink
My version of this classic Scottish soup. If you can't find smoked pollock in your fishmonger, Hamiltons Fresh Fish sells it via mail order. Serves four to five.
50g butter
50ml olive oil
About 1kg onions, peeled, halved and finely sliced
600g smoked pollock or other cold-smoked white fish
500ml whole milk
650ml fish stock
500g white potatoes, peeled and cutinto 2cm cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat the butter and oil in a large saucepan until the butter begins tofoam. Add the onions and a pinch of salt, and cook over a low heat for 45-60 minutes, stirring regularly, until golden and buttery-soft. Don'tlet them catch on the pan.
Put the smoked pollock in a pan and pour over the milk. Cover the pan and bring to a gentle simmer. By the time the milk is simmering, the fish should be perfectly cooked and you should be able to remove it straight away. However, if you've got a particularly thick fillet from amonster fish, it might need to be left in the hot milk for a minute or two extra. When it's done, carefully remove the fish from its milky bath.
Strain the poaching milk, and add it to the onions, along with the fish stock and potatoes. Bring up to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender – about 15 minutes. To thicken the soup slightly, crush some of the potatoes against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon and stir them back in.
Flake the pollock from its skin, discarding any bones. Add the fish to the soup, bring back to a gentle simmer and season to taste. Ladle into warmed bowls and serve with some good bread.
