Tuscan Braised Pork Food

SUCCULENT BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Pat the pork dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
• In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and working in batches brown the meat on all sides until a golden crust forms. Transfer the pork to a plate. To the pan add the onion, celery, and carrot and sweat until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat another 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes to cook off the raw flavor and caramelize it. Sprinkle with the flour and cook another 2 minutes to cook off its raw flavor. Whisk in the wine and reduce it by half. Return the pork to the Dutch oven, then stir in the beef stock, parsley stems, and bay leaves. Add the water if liquid does not come up to the top of the pork. Do not cover the pork with liquid. Cover the pan and place it in the oven to braise until the meat is fork tender, about 3 hours. Taste and season with more salt and pepper, if needed. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

PORK BRACIOLE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, parsley, lemon zest, 1/2 teaspoon salt, red pepper flakes and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Lay the tenderloins open and flat on a board in front of you. Season each loin evenly all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Lay 3 slices of provolone on each loin. Divide the breadcrumb mixture over the provolone. Roll the loins back up into their original shape and tie in 4 spots with kitchen twine.
• Heat a medium straight-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to the skillet. Sear the pork tenderloins until evenly golden brown all the way around, about 3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate to rest. Deglaze the skillet with the white wine and add the marinara sauce. Nestle the pork back in the sauce. Cover the skillet and simmer until the pork is just cooked through and registers 145 degrees F on an instead-read thermometer, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to rest uncovered for 10 minutes before slicing and serving with the sauce.

ITALIAN BRAISED PORK SHOULDER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Rinse and dry pork roast. Season all sides with salt and pepper.
• Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add roast to the hot skillet; turn and sear until browned and crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer roast to a large lidded baking dish, leaving pan drippings in the skillet.
• Add carrots, onion, shallot, and garlic to the hot skillet and reduce heat to medium. Saute in the pan drippings until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes; do not overcook.
• Pour red wine, beef broth, and tomato puree over the roast in the baking dish. Add sauteed vegetables, parsley, and thyme.
• Cover and bake in the preheated oven until meat pulls apart easily, 2 to 3 hours.

TUSCAN PORK TENDERLOIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Combine garlic, rosemary, oregano, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Rub spice mixture all over the pork tenderloin. Place in a baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pork is slightly pink in the center, 20 to 25 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C). Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

BRAISED PORK SHANK

Steps:

• For the brine: Bring the water to a simmer in a large non-reactive pot. Turn off the heat and add salt, sugar, coriander, peppercorns, rosemary, bay leaf and garlic and bring to a simmer. Whisk until the salt and sugar is dissolved, and then let it cool in the fridge or an ice bath until the brine hits a temperature of 35 degrees F.
• Add the shanks to the cooled brine and weigh down with a plate to ensure that the shanks are completely submerged. Refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.
• After brining, remove the shanks from the brining liquid to a baking sheet lined with a clean kitchen towel to dry off a bit. Discard the brining liquid.
• For the braise: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• Heat a large Dutch oven or roasting pan over medium-high heat. Pour in enough oil so that it covers the bottom of the Dutch oven or roasting pan completely. Put some flour in a shallow dish. Add a heavy pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper to the flour and whisk to combine. Dredge the shanks in the flour, shaking off the excess, and add them to the pan. In order to get a nice even golden-brown sear, you don't want to overcrowd the pan. (Do this step in two batches if necessary.) Brown the shanks on all sides, a few minutes per side, then remove to a plate while you sear the rest.
• Add the celery, onions, carrots, garlic, rosemary and thyme with a large pinch of salt. Sweat the vegetables until tender, about 5 minutes. Deglaze with the white wine and reduce by three-quarters. Add the apple cider and reduce by half. Add half the chicken stock and bring the braising liquid up to a simmer. Taste it for seasoning, adding additional salt and pepper if necessary. Place the shanks back into the pan; the liquid should go about halfway up the shanks. If it does not, add the rest of the liquid until it reaches the desired half. Put the pan in the oven and cook until the meat is tender, about 200 degrees F when checked with a meat thermometer, 4 to 5 hours.
• Remove the shanks from the oven and carefully transfer the shanks to another large pan. Then strain the braising liquid over the shanks. Cool them in the liquid overnight in the refrigerator.
• The next day, reheat the shanks in their liquid. Then remove them to a large serving platter. Spoon some of the braising liquid over the meat.

TUSCAN BRAISED PORK CHOPS

Steps:

• Wipe the chops with a damp paper towel and dry them.
• Brown the chops in 1/4 cup of the oil at medium/high heat in a large skillet.
• Remove the chops and set aside.
• Add the vegetables and the remaining 1/4 cup of oil to the pan.
• Caramelize the vegetables at medium heat (this is the sofrito).
• Return the chops to the pan and spoon some of the sofrito over them.
• Add the seasonings and wine.
• Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
• Add a little water from time to time to prevent the pan from boiling dry.
• Add the tomato sauce.
• Cook covered 10 more minutes.
• Remove the chops and strain the sauce.
• Drizzle some sauce over the chops.
• Dress pasta of your choice with the remaining sauce.

TUSCAN STYLE BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• Cut roast into 2" chunks, removing excess fat.
• Process juniper berries, cloves, peppercorns, dried garlic and sea salt in spice grinder until coarse mixture results.
• Put meat into large plastic container and rub generously with several tablespoons of spice mixture. (Reserve remaining spices.) Add gin and olive oil and thoroughly mix together. Seal container and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours. Turn container a few times during marination process. You can marinate for up to three days if you can wait that long!
• Preheat oven to 325 deg F. Brown meat pieces in batches on stove top over medium high heat in a large oven safe covered pot or dutch oven. Place browned meat back into pot and add chicken broth, tomato sauce, red wine vinegar and enough water to cover meat.
• Cover and transfer pot to oven. Braise meat for 3-4 hours or until meat is very tender. Taste sauce and season with reserved spices if desired. Serve over pasta or mashed potatoes.

TUSCAN BRAISED PORK RECIPE

Steps:

• 1. Add wine, red onion, garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, crushed fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes to a large glass or other non-reactive bowl and stir to combine. 2. Add pork chunks to bowl and turn until each piece is covered. Cover and place bowl in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Turn pork occasionally while marinating to evenly distribute flavors. 3. To prepare, remove bowl from refrigerator and remove pork pieces from marinade. Pat dry with paper towels and set aside. 4. Separate the marinade liquid from the solids and reserve both, discarding the woody herb stems and bay leaves. Set aside. 5. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-duty skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the marinated pork and sear until evenly browned on all sides, approximately 8-10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste. 6. Add the solids from the marinade and cook until onions are soft and translucent, approximately 10-12 minutes, stirring frequently. 7. Add liquid from marinade to skillet and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking until liquid is reduced to approximately one third of its original volume. 8. Add tomatoes and 1 cup chicken broth and stir to combine. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 2 to 2½ hours, stirring every half hour or so. Add more chicken broth, if needed, while cooking. 9. When pork can be pulled apart easily with a fork, remove from heat and let rest in warm juices for 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately over a bed of creamy polenta and garnish with chopped fresh parsley, if desired.

TUSCAN PORK LOIN

Steps:

• Tie kitchen string around pork in three places (prevents flattening). Mix salt and garlic into a paste. Stir in oil, rosemary and zest.
• Rub mixture into pork. Refrigerate, uncovered, 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375°F Place in roasting pan.
• Roast 45 minutes, turning once or twice.
• Remove from heat & let rest 10 minutes.
• Add vermouth and vinegar to roasting pan and place over medium-high heat.
• Simmer, scraping browned bits on bottom of pan, 3-4 minutes until half reduced.
• Remove string and slice roast.
• Add any juices to sauce and serve.

ITALIAN BRAISED PORK

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season pork with salt and pepper and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Reduce heat to medium and add onion, garlic, celery, and fennel seeds to pan; cook until onion is softened, about 4 minutes.
• Add wine and cook, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add to slow cooker along with tomatoes. Cover and cook on high until pork is very tender, 4 hours (or 8 hours on low).
• Transfer pork to a cutting board. With 2 forks, shred meat into bite-size pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Skim fat off sauce and discard. Return shredded pork to slow cooker and stir to combine. (To store: Cool, cover, and refrigerate up to 3 days.) Serve over couscous.

ITALIAN BRAISED PORK LOIN

Steps:

• Season the pork generously with salt and pepper.
• In a large, heavy pot, warm the oil over medium heat.
• Add the bacon and cook, stirring often, until crisp, 2-3 minutes.
• Drain on paper towels.
• Raise the heat to med-high.
• Add the pork to the fat in the pot and cook, turning occasionally, until evenly browned on all sides, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer the pork to a plate.
• Pour off the fat from the pot and return to med-high heat.
• Add 3 cups of the milk and stir to scrape up any browned bits on the pan bottom.
• Bring to a boil.
• Add the garlic, reserved bacon, and the pork to the pot.
• Partially cover and cook over very low heat until the pork is tender and the milk has reduced and thickened, about 2 hours.
• During the final 30 minutes of cooking, check the milk level and, if necessary, warm some of the remaining milk and add to the pork.
• Transfer the pork to a cutting board and cut crosswise into slices about ½ inch thick,.
• Arrange the slices on a platter, top with the sauce and serve.

TUSCAN BRAISED PORK LOIN

Steps:

• Season the roast with salt and pepper.
• Brown on all sides in Olive oil.
• Remove to a plate.
• Brown sausage meat.
• Saute onion and garlic with sausage.
• Add chicken stock, bay leaves, Basil, & thyme.
• Cook for 3 minutes.
• Add diced tomatoes.
• Place Roast in sauce.
• Add rosemary, sage, and parsley.
• hot pepper flakes to taste.
• Bake at 350° F till an internal temp of 140° F is reached.

SLOW-COOKED TUSCAN PORK WITH WHITE BEANS

Steps:

• Sort and wash navy beans and place in a large Dutch oven. Cover with water to 2 inches above beans; cover and let stand for 8 hours.
• Drain beans. Place beans, 1 t sage, 1 t salt, 5 cloves of garlic and bay leaves in ziptop bag.
• Combine 2 t sage, 1 t salt, 1 t fenel seeds and 3 cloves of garlic. Rub mixture over pork.
• Place pork in a zip top bag.
• Place both bags in a larger bag labeled with directions.
• To serve: Thaw overnight in fridge.
• Place beans, pork and 4 cups of water in a slow cooker. Cook on HIGH 8 hours. Pull pork apart into chunks and serve with bean mixture.