Pork in milk

• Brine the pork loin for at least a day.  It needs all the help it can get.
• Preheat oven to 300F (or get your sous vide ready)
• Bring 4 cups whole milk to a boil and add .5 cup lemon juice (2 big lemons).  It will curdle, but you'll blend it together once the dish is finished.
• Wash the brine off of the pork and stick it in a cooking vessel with the curdly milk stuff.  Use a cooking vessel that is similar in shape to the loin.  Make sure the milk will cover the pork loin.  Add about 10 fresh tarragon leaves.  If using sous vide, stick all that junk in a bag and toss into the water bath.
• Cook until pork reaches 140F (or to whatever temperature you believe is safe.  If using sous vide, I'd have the temp at 138-148f)

After the pork is done, drain the liquid off.  Brown the pork loin with a blowtorch, grill, or under the broiler.  Take out the tarragon leaves and blend the remaining liquid until you get a creamy sauce.  If you sous vide the pork, you're going to have to take all the liquid out and boil at high heat until reduced to half, then blend it.  While the meat is easier to make in the sous vide without screwing up, you'll miss out on all the subtle caramelization of the milk proteins in the oven if you had braised it.

Cut the pork loin into chops, keeping the the slices somewhat together.  Pour half the sauce on a long plate and arrange the chops on the sauce.  Then pour the remaining sauce on top in an aesthetically pleasing fashion.  Garnish with parsley (or don't, whatever).

Marinara, again

-Recipe is per pound of pasta (8 light servings, 6 adult servings, or 4 big boy servings).

-Use spaghetti or thinner noodle- thinner pastas = more surface area for sauce.  Cook the pasta only once the sauce is ready, as you want to toss the hot pasta into the sauce immediately when ready (washing the pasta is the best way to guarantee your sauce slides off your noodles and onto your plate, so don't do it).  Undercook pasta slightly (al dente) because it will continue to cook and absorb liquid from the pasta sauce.  Doing these two things is probably as, if not more, important than having a decent tasting sauce.  The reason a lot of marinara cooked at home is bad is that you can't get any of it onto your noodles since there isn't any starch to stick to.  Or, the pasta is too thick or overcooked.

-1 x 28 oz can whole peeled tomato

-1 tbsp tomato paste

-1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

-.25 cup olive oil + 2tbsp for finishing(first cold pressed extra virgin- fruity and peppery leaning one is better)

-4 garlic cloves, whole

-salt, pepper, and more olive oil to taste

OPTIONAL: 2 tablespoons julienned sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil

OPTIONAL: 1 tablespoon fish sauce (instead of salt).  This will add the umami like anchovies do in some other people's recipes.  If you're not intentionally trying to make this vegan, this is recommended.  If you want to add vegan umami, try adding some kelp and dried mushroom to the tomato juice when it's reducing, but pull it out before you add the whole tomatoes.

OPTIONAL: basil leaves, as needed.  OR, just use 1 tablespoon of dried oregano, since dried basil tastes like nothing.

• Crush the cloves in the skin, then discard the skin
• Heat oil with garlic under low heat, getting the oil slightly foamy (but not browning the garlic).  Add freshly ground pepper at this stage if you want pepper flavor throughout the sauce.
• Add the juice from the tomatoes, the balsamic vinegar, and the tomato paste and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes to reduce on medium heat.   Add the oregano, if using, at this stage.  Add the fish sauce, if using, at this stage.  The oil should turn kind of orangeish, otherwise the final sauce may be very pale and unappetizing
• Add the whole tomatoes and simmer through for an additional 10 minutes
• Take off from heat.  Blend it all with a stick blender.  Salt and pepper to taste.  If you don't have a stick blender, you could have crushed the tomatoes by hand before adding in the previous step.
• Boil pasta.  When it has just the faintest amount of unpleasant bite to it, take the noodles out and put immediately in the sauce.  You stop cooking it not when it's the texture you want, but slightly before it's the texture you want, because it's going to keep cooking.
• Drizzle final dish with more olive oil.  Add grated parm if you want.

If using, add the sundried tomatoes after blending.  Also add basil at this point, if using.  I found out after visiting Milan that the reason most traditional recipes call for only a couple basil leaves is that Italian basil tastes like a deathstar laser of herby goodness.  American "Italian" basil will probably require x4 or x5 the quantity for the same effect.