Roast pork with Rosemary and Cider
This dish, if prepared properly, is profoundly good. The rosemary really makes it incredibly aromatic.
Pork roast
2 large sprigs rosemary
2 sweet onions, sliced
2 bottles hard cider
2 granny smith apples
olive oil
1. brown pork in olive oil (all sides)
2. sautee onions in olive oil until wilted
3. sautee apples in olive oil until wilted
4. add pork, onions, apples, rosemary to enameled cast iron pot.
5. add cider to cover.
6. cover pot and cook 2 hours in 400 degree oven until fork tender.
You
can add butter to the sauce if you want to thicken or just serve the
pork in the soupy cider/apple/onion mix (my preference).
Sausage Soup
I
did this to get rid of some sausage (which was not really that great)
and it was very good. The fennel seeed makes this dish. I ate 4 bowls -
couldn't stop.
1. Brown on all 4 sides 6 sweet sausages in olive oil. quarter lengthwise and then cut into 1/8 inch slices, reserve
2) sautee diced 2 onions, 2 celery sticks and 6 carrots until soft
3)
add sausage, 1/2 bottle red wine, 1 can crushed tomatoes, 2 tbsp fennel
seeds, 6 minced roasted garlic cloves, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup chopped
parsley
4) cook 45 minutes uncovered
5) correct sesonings and serve
Deconstructed BLT
This was created for the famous Iron Chef Mayonnaise Dinner. Dan Weisshaar suggested mayonnaise, which I initially thought was ridiculous, but it turned into a truly fantastic dinner (we had bouillabaisse so how bad could it have been). Word to Tom Colicchio whose braised pork belly inspired this dish.
2 pounds raw pork belly, skin on
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cups red wine
olive oil
2 tbsp fennel seeds
1/2 onion
20 cherry tomatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper
arugula
high quality extra virgin olive oil
10 pieces day old bread
garlic clove, peeled
good quality extra virgin olive oil
1. salt and pepper pork belly
2. brown pork belly on all sides in cast iron pot
3. Sautee onion until wilted
4. add tomatoes, fennel seeds and red wine, stir and add pork
5. cook at 400 degrees for 2 hours
6. Remove from sauce, remove skin and slice into thin slices (you know, to look like bacon)
7. Halve cheery tomatoes and place flesh side down on cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and cook at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes until wilted - this will concentrate the flavors.
8. Mix arugula with evo and salt
9. toast bread 3-5 minutes per side unti lbrown
10 rub garlic on one side of each slice
11. Drizzle bread with EVO
12. Assemble BLTs on a plate - bacon on the bread with tomatoes and arugula on the side.
the oil form the cherry roasting can be saved - great for serving on mozzarella caprese
the braising liquid is also great to save, once defatted. It can be added to a soup or mixed with tomato sauce and serve over pasta.
Braised pork with Cherries
Yummy dish. The pork demiglace and butter raise it to another level. You can use belly and ribs instead or in addition to the shoulder. If you ant to get fancy, defat the sauce prior to adding the butter. Terrific with cru beaujolais.
olive oil
3.5 pounds pork shoulder
1 large sweet onion
2/3 cup chopped dried cherries
1/3 cup pork demiglace
2 cups white wine
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
1/8lb unsalted butter
1. salt and pepper pork
2. brown pork in olive oil on all sides, remove
3. sautee onion in oil and fat
4. add other ingedients
5. cook 2hours at 400 degrees in covered pot
6. remove pork
7. heat sauce on stove and add butter, 1 tbsp at a time
8. correct sauce
9. serve with polenta