The emphasis is definitely on "aromatic" in this recipe from Susan Hermann Loomis's Cooking at Home On Rue Tatin. The various aromatics virtually disappear as individual notes in a blend of flavor that infuses the tender meat.
The pork butt cut from Blue Rooster farm is a thick, flat piece of meat with a bone in it and it worked well in this recipe. Brown the meat on both sides in olive oil, remove and put in 2 sliced carrots, 2 sliced onions, 1 sliced fennel bulb and soften for 5 min. Put meat back in, add 3 c. water and put 3 bay leaves, 4 garlic cloves, a handful of lemon thyme and 2 unpeeled coins fresh ginger into the water. Sprinkle 1 Tbl coarse sea salt over it, cover, bring to a boil and simmer for 10 min. Uncover and put in 400-degree oven for 1 hour, turning the meat every 20 min. Let the meat sit for 15 min before slicing (Loomis doesn't say anything about removing it from braise but it's the only thing that makes sense in the context).
Interestingly, Loomis calls for spring or filtered water to avoid a possible chlorine taste from tap water. This never occurred to me before, but I used the filtered water I have for coffee -- why not? Couldn't find lemon thyme so just used thyme. Andrea actually missed tasting the fennel and thyme. I supposed I could have cut the fennel a little thicker, and vertically instead of horizontally to have bigger slices that held together better and retained more flavor. Loomis recommends a white wine with this dish and we had a white Bordeaux.
I haven't used too many recipes from this book, but this was terrific and encourages me to look here more often.
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