The Crowd-Pleaser

Even the best home chef can’t be pan-frying fillet of sole for 12: Too much last-minute hassle, no way to nail the timing. That’s where the one-pot meal comes in, the richly satisfying braise that actually gets better if you cook it three days in advance, so the flavors have time to develop. A braise takes minimal last-minute effort and can easily be scaled for a huge group or to leave a week’s worth of the best leftovers you’ve ever had.

“And the thing I especially love about pork and beans,” Keller tells me, “is all the ways you can repurpose it into other meals.” He shows me exactly what he means, whipping up the single best plate of huevos rancheros I’ve ever eaten (and eat them I do, hunched over his kitchen’s counter) and a killer bean soup that takes all of about 10 minutes to make (see mensjournal.com/leftovers for those recipes). But the pièce de résistance is the pork-and-beans proper, a classic Keller dish in which the simplest comfort food becomes a minor culinary miracle.

The Complete Recipe: Braised Pork Shoulder with Slow-Cooker Beans

The Pork

Ingredients

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4- to 5-lb bone-in pork shoulder

4 tbsp canola oil

2 chopped carrots

1 chopped Spanish onion

1 chopped leek, white part only

8 cups veal or chicken stock

1 rosemary sprig

4 thyme sprigs

1 bay leaf

4 diced garlic cloves

1 tbsp black peppercorns

Step 1

Sprinkle salt and ground pepper on the pork very generously on all sides (don’t be shy; you can’t really overdo it here).

Step 2

Place a large cast-iron pot on the stove on high heat, and add the canola oil.

Step 3

When the oil is shimmering, lower the pork shoulder into the pot gently. Sear on all sides until golden brown, rotating the pork by hand, setting it up on its edge when necessary — then remove the meat and set aside.

Step 4

Pour out excess oil, then add chopped carrots, onion, and leek. Stir to coat with remaining oil in the bottom of the pot.

Step 5

Lay the shoulder on top of the vegetables (fatty side up). Add the veal or chicken stock so that it comes only halfway up the side of the pork, then add rosemary sprig, thyme sprigs, bay leaf, garlic, and peppercorns to the liquid. Bring to a simmer.

Step 6

Cover the pot, leaving lid slightly ajar, and place in a 250˚ oven. Braise the pork for 3.5 hours, or until the meat is tender enough to pull apart with two forks.

Step 7

Remove the pork from the pot and let cool to room temperature. Strain braising liquid through a fine-mesh strainer, return the pork and liquid to the pot, and refrigerate overnight.

Step 8

Once ready to finish the dish, debone the pork and then cut the meat into 2-inch-square chunks.

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For beet salad recipe, go to mensjournal.com/porkandbeansside.

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Keller On…

Braising: “If you ever taste a braise and the meat is dry, you know they overcooked it, or they didn’t let it rest. Once the pork has finished braising, you have to let the meat rest in its liquid so it can reabsorb all of that moisture. Nothing wrong with making this dish the day you want to serve it, but it really does have a sweet spot, a moment of optimal flavor, about three days out. Just let the pork cool to room temperature, strain its braising liquid, and then refrigerate the pork in the strained liquid.”

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Deboning the Pork

Sounds complicated, removing the odd-shape bone, but, as Keller demonstrates, it’s easy: Just slip the fingers of one hand between the meat and the big shoulder bone, and remove without a single stroke of a knife.

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The Beans

Slow-Cooking the Beans

The dilemma: Dried beans take forever to get tender, and you invariably overcook some, turning them mushy before others lose their hardness. Keller’s solution: Rancho Gordo–brand beans, which are guaranteed fresh from ranchogordo.com, and a Crock-Pot or other slow cooker to help achieve even cooking.

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Slow, even cooking — that’s the secret to great beans and a whole host of other dishes, like stews and soups. The All-Clad 6.5 Quart has the added bonus of a digital timer that can switch the appliance to a “keep warm” setting, allowing you to start beans in the morning and come home to a perfect pot. $300; all-clad.com

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Binding the Sauce

Right before combining the pork and beans, Keller creates what the French call a liaison, an emulsification that converts the braising liquid into a luxurious sauce. Keller just puts the drained, cooked beans into a skillet, adds enough of the pork-braising liquid to moisten them, drops in a couple of tablespoons of butter, and then explains the key: “A few drops of vinegar. Doesn’t even matter what kind because it’s so little you won’t even taste it.” The vinegar’s acid helps the butter and stock bind together and become silky.

Ingredients

1 pound Rancho Gordo–brand borlotti or cannellini beans

6 cups veal (or chicken) stock

6 cups water

2 thyme sprigs • 1 bay leaf

Kosher salt • 1/2 leek

1/2 carrot • 1/2 white onion

1 oz bacon

Step 1

Wash and rinse beans — do not soak — then heat the stock and water in a pot and add to slow cooker.

Step 2

Tie together thyme and bay leaf and put in liquid with 1 tsp salt, leek, carrot, onion, beans, and bacon. Slow-cook on high until tender, about 4 hours. Cool and store in their liquid.

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Finishing the Dish

Ingredients

3/4 cup large-diced leeks,

white parts only

1 cup large-diced carrots

Canola oil, as needed

3 tbsp butter

1 tsp red-wine vinegar

Step 1

Scrape fat off surface of pork-braising liquid. Discard.

Step 2

Warm the meat and stock over low heat. Remove the pork. Pour the braising liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into another pot.

Step 3

Return pork shoulder to its liquid. Simmer until needed.

Step 4

In a large skillet, sauté leeks and carrots in oil until tender.

Step 5

Strain the beans and put half in the skillet. Add one cup of the pork-braising liquid, the butter, and the red-wine vinegar to bind the sauce. Simmer 20 minutes, until the liquid thickens.

Step 6

Set pieces of warmed pork in the beans and serve.

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Next: The Best Roast Chicken You’ve Ever Tasted

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This article first appeared in the August 2010 issue of Men’s Journal.