Matilda is the only one I've ever loved for an extended period of time.  'Wild in character, with a slightly fruity aroma and a spicy yeast flavor that is as unique as it is satisfying'--she's my go-to girl.  A wonderful dining companion, I can't imagine eating much without her, especially when it comes to pork.  

To celebrate our first encounter--which was at a bar (crude yet effective, I know)--I'm braising a pork shoulder in her golden glory.

The braising basics include browning, sauteeing in the [rendered] pork fat, and goofing off for a few hours while the pork is covered in a 325 Dg oven.  The first step, browning, is the most important, and most often poorly executed.  Add a TBL of oil in a hot dutch oven, or heavy bottomed pot, to aid in rendering, and place the fattiest side of the shoulder down.  If done correctly, there should be some serious sound effects.  Turning the pork to brown on all sides should take 20-30 minutes.  There should be no yellow, bits of brown, or white.  Just browned meat, and a quarter inch of oil or so at the end.

Pull the meat out of the cooking vessel and place a diced onion in.  The onion will deglaze the pan, and absorb the rendered fat.  Once translucent, put the pork back where it belongs; pour Matilda in, or cooking liquid of choice; cover; and place in the preheated 325 Dg oven.

Step three--wait.

Pull  the pork from the oven, and the dish is basically done.  To escalate the dish, set the pork aside, and place the cooking vessel, with cooking liquid, on a burner to reduce--wouldn't want Matilda and the pork fat to go to waste.  Re-season with salt, then blend the onions and liquid into a homogeneous mixture.  Pull the pork, and combine with the newly made sauce for a serious meal.

Salt tangent--it's very important to salt this, and any liquid that ultimately gets reduced, at the end of cooking rather than the beginning.  As a liquid reduces, the volume of salt stays constant while the volume of liquid decreases.  This means a liquid gets increasingly salty the more it reduces, and can to the point of in-edibility.  Thus, always salt at the end to maintain a pleasant seasoning ratio.

I ate the above as a sandwich on toasted bread with a forkful of in-house pickled fennel with blood orange.  My favorite braise is still with onion, habanero, plantain, and water with turbinado for the cooking liquid.  Braising is the easiest way to put the feeling of love in a dish--so try having your own affair and tell me what you put in.