Pork Braised in Cream

Porc au lait! Since we used Boston Butt pork in this recipe We thought it best to write about a famous 'Boston' marriage : the Ladies of Llangollen. Read about this pair after this revised French Academy recipe. 

 

 Pork braised in cream makes a very fancy French dish. Here served with egg noodles and a simple side of peas and carrots. 

 

 

INGREDIENTS: 

2 - 3lb Boston Butt steaks (Pork Steaks) 

3½ cups Half & Half 

pinch of salt and pepper 

8 cloves of garlic 

½ tsp thyme 

2 tablespoon of oil 

1 teaspoon of butter 

1 cup egg noodles 

Directions 

 Preheat oven to 325 degrees 

 

Do your cutting: mince the garlic. Trim the pork steaks of bone and to a size that will fit in the Dutch Oven. 

Heat butter and oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Brown the pork on each side until just a light golden color repeat with each steak. 

 

Remove and add garlic cloves and thyme. 

Pour in 1 cup of half & half. Using a spatula, deglaze the pot by freeing up any brown bits on the bottom (fond). 

 

 Stack the meat into the pot and pour in the rest of the half & half until just to the top of meat. Cover and place in oven for 1 hour. Turning meat over each half hour mark. 

At end of the hour, remove the meat carefully and stir in the dry noodles until completely coated and add the meat back on top. 

Cover and let cook for another half hour. 

Cook to 155 to 160 degrees on thermometer. 

Remove meat to platter carefully, it will tend to fall apart it is so tender, and cover with foil. 

Dish out the noodle mixture to a serving bowl. 

Now that the meat is resting, zap the peas and carrots in the microwave and serve. 

 

 What an elegant meal for my Master's table. The plain vegetables counter the rich noodles and sauce. The meat will be fork tender and juicy. As the garlic adds just enough acidity to the half & half to break down the collagen. 

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 The Ladies of Llangollen – Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby celebrated joint birthdays (1739 and 1755) and shared their lives for a half century. Both Irish aristocrats, they ran away  from their homeland to live in Wales together. 

Rather than being forced into unwanted marriages, they left County Kilkenny together in April 1778. Their families hunted them down and forcefully tried to make them give up their plans—but in vain. 

 They moved to Wales with a servant, Mary Caryll, who lived and worked for them without pay for the rest of her life, and who was buried in the same plot and memorialized on the same grave marker. 

 Putting their plan into motion, they undertook a picturesque tour of the Welsh countryside, eventually settling in North Wales. Living first in a rented home in the village of Llangollen, they moved in 1780 to a small cottage just outside the village they called Plas Newydd or “new mansion”. 

They proceeded to live according to their self-devised system, though they could rely on only a modest income from intolerant relatives, and eventually a civil list pension. 

 

 They "improved" Plas Newydd in the Gothic style with Welsh oak paneling, pointed arches, stained glass windows, and an extensive library, in which they received their many guests. They hired a gardener, a footman and two maids. This led to significant debt, and they had to rely on the generosity of friends. 

 They devoted their time to hosting a range of friends and curious visitors, extensive correspondence, private studies of literature and languages, and improving their estate. Over the years they added a circular stone dairy and created a sumptuous garden. Eleanor kept a diary of their activities. Llangollen people simply referred to them as "the ladies". 

 

 After a couple of years, their life attracted the interest of the outside world. Their house became a haven for visitors traveling between Dublin and London, including writers such as Anna Seward,  Robert Southey, William Wordsworth,  Percy Shelley,  Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott. 

They were the subject of several excellent books, they seem to have both scandalized and impressed their neighbors as well as London high society. 

The ladies were known throughout Britain, but have been said to have led "a rather unexciting life". Queen Charlotte wanted to see their cottage and persuaded King George III to grant them a pension. Eventually their families came to tolerate them. 

Butler and Ponsonby lived together for 50 years. 

Mary Caryll died in 1809. Eleanor Butler died in 1829 at the age of 90. Sarah Ponsonby died two years later, age 76. They are all buried together at St Collen’s Church in Llangollen.