Braised Pork With Pearl Onions And Grapes Food

GLAZED PEARL ONIONS AND GRAPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle or lower third.
• Blanch unpeeled pearl onions in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain and transfer to an ice bath to stop cooking. Peel onions and trim off root ends.
• Bring onions, vinegar, and water to a simmer in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet with sugar, butter, bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Cover and simmer 3 minutes.
• Uncover skillet and transfer to oven. Roast, stirring once or twice, until most of liquid has evaporated, 15 to 18 minutes. Stir in grapes and roast, stirring once or twice, until liquid glazes onions and grapes, 5 to 8 minutes. Discard bay leaf.
• What to drink:
• Marimar Estate Don Miguel Vineyard '06

BRAISED PORK LOIN WITH PEARS

Steps:

• Combine salt and spices. Coat pork with the spice mixture, and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
• Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil. Add pork to pot. Sear pork until golden, turning with tongs, about 2 minutes per side. Stir in wine and bay leaves, scraping bottom of pot to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Partially cover, and simmer, basting meat with cooking liquid several times, 25 minutes. Remove pork from pot, and set aside.
• Stir in carrots, onions, parsnips, and garlic. Simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Make a well in center; return pork to pot. Quarter and core pears (peel and leave some whole if desired). Add pears, and simmer until pears are tender and a meat thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 145 degrees for medium, about 15 minutes. Let rest in pot 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Transfer the vegetables and pears to a platter with the sliced pork. Pour sauce through a fine sieve into a bowl; pour over pork.

BRAISED PORK WITH PEARL ONIONS AND GRAPES

Steps:

• Season the pork with salt and pepper. In a small enameled cast-iron casserole, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter. Add the pork and brown well over moderately high heat, 10 minutes; transfer to a plate. Pour off the fat from the casserole. Add the wine and boil over high heat, scraping up the browned bits, until reduced by half, 3 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the garlic, bay leaf, thyme sprig, yellow onion and the pork. Cover and simmer over very low heat, turning once, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 160 degrees F, about 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan of water, boil the pearl onions until almost tender, 5 minutes; drain and peel. In a bowl, blend the 2 tablespoons of softened butter with the flour to form a paste.
• Transfer the pork to a plate. Strain the cooking liquid and return to the casserole; boil until reduced to 2 cups, 4 minutes. Whisk 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid into the flour paste until smooth, then whisk the mixture into the cooking liquid. Simmer over moderately high heat, whisking, until thickened. Simmer over low heat, stirring, until no floury taste remains, 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped thyme and season with salt and pepper. Return the pork and its juices to the casserole and add the pearl onions. Cover and bring just to a simmer, turning the pork a few times in the sauce to heat it up.
• In a skillet, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. Add the grapes and cook over moderately high heat, shaking the skillet, until the skins start to burst. Thickly slice the pork and transfer to plates. Spoon the sauce, pearl onions and grapes on top; serve.

PORK MEDALLIONS WITH GRAPES AND PEARL ONIONS

Steps:

• Bring a medium pot of salted water to boil, add the onions, and cook until almost tender but not falling apart (about 8-10 minutes). Drain and set aside, reserving 1 cup of the onion-cooking broth.
• Cut each pork tenderloin into 6 chunks. With a meat mallet, pound each to a thickness of about 1/2 inch.
• In a large skillet, over medium heat, melt 2 tbsp of the butter in the olive oil. Spread flour on a plate for dredging. Season the pork with 1/2 tsp of salt, and lightly dredge it in the flour. Brown the pork on both sides, about 2 minutes per side, and remove to a plate.
• Add the onions to the skillet, and let them cook a few minutes until lightly carmelized. Add the white wine, and bring to a boil. Once the wine is almost reduced, add the sage, the reserved onion-cooking broth, and the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes, until it is reduced by almost half. Whisk in the vinegar and the remaining 2 tbsp of butter. Add the pork back to the skillet with the grapes, and simmer until the sauce is thickened and grapes just begin to soften (about 3-4 minutes).

BRAISED PORK CHOPS WITH ONIONS AND ROSEMARY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Dredge chops by shaking in a paper bag with flour, salt, and pepper.
• Melt butter in a heavy Dutch oven or large oven proof frying pan over moderately high heat and brown chops well on both sides, about 8-10 minutes.
• Remove from heat.
• Remove chops to pour in vermouth and water and scrape up any bits from bottom of pan.
• Put chops back in pan and pan back on heat source and lay onion slices over chops.
• Top with rosemary sprigs (if using dried rosemary, sprinkle evenly over all).
• Cover and bake 1 hour or until chops are tender (or cover and simmer on top of stove on low heat for about 45 minutes to an hour).
• Remove herb sprigs and serve, topping each portion with onions and a generous ladling of pan juices.