Place grits on plate. Top with chop and salsa verde and serve.
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Braised Pork Shoulder with Fiingerling Potatoes, Tuscan Kale, and Oven Roasted Tomatoes |
Ingredients
For the Brine
3 ONE POUND PORK SHOULDER, WELL-MARBLED, SQUARE, CHUNKS
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 gallon water
For the Braise
1 quart chicken stock
1 can tomatoes
1 glass white wine, dry
1 carrot, peeled, cut into large chunks
1 stalk celery, cut into large chunks
1 Spanish onion, quartered
5 cloves garlic
3 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
canola oil, enough to coat pan
salt and pepper, to taste
For the Tomatoes
8 whole roma tomatoes, cut lengthwise
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon herbs d'provence
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
Potatoes & Kale
2 pounds fingerling potatoes, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
2 bunches Tuscan kale, large stems removed
Cooking Directions
Two days before you intend to serve the pork shoulder, you need to brine it. Mix the water, salt and brown sugar with a whisk until all of the sugar and salt has dissolved. Drop the pork into the brine and weight it down with a plate. Leave the pork in the brine for at least 24 hours.
After the pork has spent sufficient time in brine, remove the meat and place it on paper towels to dry. Preheat your oven to 375. Pour enough canola oil to lightly coat the bottom of a sauté pan, appropriately sized to hold the meat (not too tightly and not too far apart) over a medium flame. When the oil begins to smoke, place the meat in the pan. Do not move the meat around! Give it time to caramelize. When one side of the meat has turned a deep golden brown, flip it to a raw side; continue until all sides of the meet are golden brown (be careful not to let the bottom of the pan burn, if it begins to darken turn down the flame). Remove the meat and place it on a paper towel.
Immediately add the carrots, celery, onions, and garlic to the pan. Cook the veggies until they too have developed a rich golden brown. When this happens add the wine and, with a wooden spoon, scrape off all of the brown residue that has formed on the bottom of the pan (this step is the key to achieving a deep, rich and full flavored braise). Add the canned tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.
Transfer the pork to an appropriately sized heavy gauge casserole. Pour over your vegetable mixture, thyme, bay leaf, and stock. Put the casserole over low heat and bring it to a simmer. Now, taste the liquid for salt and pepper. Season it, keeping in mind, as the liquid evaporates, the flavors will intensify. Place the cover on the casserole place it in the oven and cook for 2-3 hours.
In the mean time, cook the tomatoes. Mix the tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, herbs d’provence, garlic and balsamic along with a healthy pinch of salt and pepper, in a bowl. Place the tomatoes cut side up on a baking sheet (reserve the marinade), and place them in the same oven as the pork for 30 minutes. After the tomatoes come out, let them cool and then remove the skins.
After two hours, begin to check the pork. It will be done when a paring knife enters the meat with minimal resistance. Half an hour before the pork is done, add the potatoes and the kale to the casserole. Make sure that both are submerged by liquid; adding water as needed. Place the cover back on the casserole and put it back in the oven.
After 30 minutes remove the casserole and open the lid. The smell will invigorate you; all of the separate ingredients will come together and form an irresistible whole. Turn your oven up to 500. Mix the tomatoes with a little of their marinade. Place them on top of the pork that is poking above the surface of the liquid, and put the casserole back in the oven, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove the casserole, taste the liquid for salt and pepper, and give the pork a healthy pour of your best olive oil.
Serving Suggestions
Serve the dish directly from the casserole with crust Italian bread and a nice Babaresco.
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Smoked Porterhouse Chop |
Ingredients
Pork Brine
1 gallon water
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
2 cups brown sugar, packed , dark brown
1 1/2 oz wt pink salt #1 cure
8 EACH 20 OZ WT PORK LOIN, BONE-IN CENTER CUT , PORTERHOUSE CUT
Sous-Vide Prep
8 each thyme, sprigs, fresh
8 each bay leaves
1 pound butter
4-5 each peaches, ripe, pitted, wedges
2 cups quark cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup basil, fresh, chiffonade at time of service
as needed saba Verjus
Cooking Directions
Pork Porterhouse Preperation:
- In a container large enough to hold the chops, combine all the brine ingredients, mix well to combine and dissolve salt and sugar
- Submerge chops in brine, weight down to keep them completely submerged and soak for two days
- Remove chops rinse under cool water, pat dry. On full sheet tray with baking grate, place chops and refrigerate uncovered for 12-24 hours
- Hot smoke chops at 200 degrees for one hour and allow to cool completely
- When cool, individually vacuum pack each chop with: 1 sprig of thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1/4 cup butter & 1 handfull of hay
- Sous-vide at a constant temperature of 145 degrees for 3 hours
- Leave the chops in the bags and stop cooking by running the chops under cool water for 10 minutes. Then submerge the chops into ice water
- Reheat chops out of their bags on a grill or in an oven until warmed through
Serving Suggestions
Ham in Hay is a very traditional English preparation for curing and cooking hams and ham chops. Hay imparts an earthy, smoky, grassy flavor with a woodsy aroma. It’s topped with grilled peaches, crumbled quark cheese, fresh basil and finished with Saba made from white Verjus.
Plate presentaion:
Top the porterhouse with peach wedges, crumbled quark cheese, basil chiffonade & drizzle ingrdients with saba verjus