Braised Pork Loin Recipes

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.

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 LOIN CHOPS

Steps:

• Mix first 5 ingredients; rub over both sides of pork chops. In a large nonstick skillet, heat butter and oil over medium-high heat; brown chops on both sides. Remove from pan., In same pan, bring wine to a boil, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Cook, uncovered, until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup. Add chops; return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, until pork is tender, 6-8 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.

BEER BRAISED PORK LOIN

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Heat vegetable oil a heavy pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear pork in hot oil until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove roast from pot.
• Drain all but about 3 tablespoons grease from pot. Cook and stir onion and carrots until softened, about 5 minutes.
• Stir beer, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and cloves into the onion mixture.
• Return pork roast to the pot and cover.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pork is tender and no longer pink in the center, about 2 hours.
• Transfer roast to a platter and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Remove bay leaf from vegetables.
• Pour the beer and vegetable mixture from the Dutch oven into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the vegetables moving before leaving it on to puree until smooth.
• Bring pureed sauce to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat until thickened, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Spoon sauce over pork roast to serve.

PORK LOIN BRAISED IN MILK

Steps:

• Combine the rosemary, sage, garlic, and salt and pepper in a small bowl and rub it all over the pork. Place the pork on a large plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a few hours.
• Place a medium heavy pan that will hold the roast somewhat snugly over medium heat and add the butter and oil. When the butter begins to foam, add the pork and cook, turning occasionally, until lightly golden on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. (Keep your eyes on the butter so it doesn't burn and reduce the heat a bit if needed.)
• Add 1 cup of the milk and stir to loosen the browned bits attached to the bottom of the pan. As soon as the milk comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low, partially cover the pan, and simmer until almost all the milk has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add 1 more cup milk and continue cooking, basting and turning the meat a few times, until most of the milk has evaporated. Cook the pork in this manner, adding the milk 1/2 to 1 cup at a time, until it reads 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 hours. (The pork can be cooked up to this point 1 hour or so ahead. In that case, cook only until it reaches 155 degrees F, because it will keep on cooking as it sits in the hot pan juices.)
• Remove the lid and raise the heat to high. If no more milk is left in the pan, add 1/2 cup or so more. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to release the browned bits and turning the pork once or twice, until most of the milk has evaporated and the meat has a rich, golden brown color. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and let it rest for about 10 minutes while you finish the sauce.
• Spoon off some of the fat from the pan. Add 1/3 cup water and stir quickly, over medium heat, scraping the bottom of the pan until only the brown glazed clusters of milk particles remain.
• Cut the meat into 1/2-inch thick slices and serve topped with a bit of the pan juices.

CIDER-BRAISED PORK LOIN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 250 degrees. Rub rack of ribs with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Place a 7-quart flameproof casserole or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and heat until oil is hot but not smoking. Add rack of ribs; brown, 8 to 10 minutes on each side, and remove. Pour out excess fat from the casserole.
• Deglaze the pan: Add 2 cups apple cider; stir with a wooden spoon until bottom of the casserole is clean. Add chicken stock, cider vinegar, onions, thyme, and parsley. Cut 2 apples in half; add to casserole. Return ribs to casserole. Bring to a simmer, transfer casserole to the oven, and cook for 2 hours.
• Heat remaining tablespoon oil in skillet. Season pork loin with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. When oil is hot but not smoking, add loin. It should sizzle as soon as it hits the skillet. Sear until golden brown on all sides, 10 to15 minutes.
• Transfer 2 cups of the cooking liquid from the casserole to a shallow bowl or fat separator, and let stand to cool. Add loin to casserole, return to oven, and cook until meat thermometer inserted into loin registers 150 degrees, about 40 more minutes.
• Skim fat from reserved cooking liquid. Strain liquid; combine in medium saucepan with remaining 2 cups cider. Set over medium heat; simmer until reduced by a little more than half and amber in color and with a slightly viscous consistency.
• Place large skillet over medium heat. Peel and core remaining 2 apples, slice into eighths, and arrange in a single layer in hot skillet. Sprinkle with sugar and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook until sugar melts, 2 to 3 minutes, and reduce heat. Continue cooking until sugar starts to caramelize, 7 to 8 minutes. Apples should soften and puff, and seared side should start to brown. When the apple slices loosen naturally from pan, turn and cook the other side for 5 to 7 minutes. Add apple-cider sauce to skillet; cook just to heat sauce and dissolve any sugars that have cooked onto pan.
• If using sage leaves, heat about 1/2 inch vegetable oil in heavy skillet over medium heat to just below smoking point. Add sage leaves and fry until crisp. With slotted spoon, transfer to piece of paper towel.
• Slice loin 1/4 inch thick, and cut rack into individual ribs. Serve with apples and sauce, and mashed roasted butternut squash. Garnish with fried sage leaves.