Le Creuset

A few years back I was introduced to Le Creuset through Lauren's dad. We were making pasta, a trial by fire as this was my first time meeting him, let alone making pasta. I was busy cranking out the ravioli and he was getting saucy, drinking gin tonnies while slowly simmering, a perfect match in my book. I offered a hand at watching over it while he fashioned me a drink and was promptly denied, no stranger was going to be messing around with Bob's Dutch oven. Dissapointing yet understandable. 

That beautiful red enameled cast iron was love at first site. I wanted it and needed to get my hands on one. The following years I hoped I'd find one at a flea market or and estate sale, a pipe dream at best. Finally, last week, I decided to drop a chunk of change and spoil myself. Classic red it was, right off the showroom floor with a $30 discount. Score.

All week I debated what meal to christen her with. Eventually I landed on something from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook, a tribute to the French and because it involved pork, naturally. The majority of his book is comprised of classic bistro meals that Les Halles is known for, all prepared with simple ingredients and straight forward cooking methods. After a year of owning it, this was to be my first recipe.

Rôti de porc au lait is a simple meal, pork loin, first browned and then slowly simmered in a hardy milk sauce. The prep work was straight forward with a few basic ingredients and the majority of my time was spent drinking wine and rotating the roast every few minutes to avoid scorching. This is the sort of cooking I enjoy starting the week with. The past was a busy one, filled with surprise visits from friends, seeing the Cowboys play and a last minute photo shoot with Reebok. 

I served mine over rutabaga with a side of brocollini. First time success in French cooking, boom! Fortunately for my belly, the recipe served six so I will be in pork heaven over the next few days. This meal will be seeing a lot of rotation in the future, especially come the colder months if Dallas even gets proper cold.