Roast Pork with Apples & Onions

[cougars_catnip]

This is a favorite autumn meal. Brining the pork insures your roast is juicy, flavorful, and perfectly seasoned all the way through and is an essential part of this dish so don't skip this step.

Ingredients

• 1 boneless whole pork loin roast (2 pounds)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 large baking apples, cut into wedges
• 2 large onions, cut into wedges
• 5 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1/4 c. butter
  

25

Brine

3/4 cup kosher salt (DO NOT use regular white table salt!)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon mustard powder (do not use prepared mustard!)
2 cups cider vinegar (heated until hot)'
1 lb ice cube Directions:

1 In a large plastic container with a lid, put the salt, Brown Sugar, peppercorns and mustard powder; add in the HOT vinegar and swirl to dissolve the sugar and salt completely.
2 Let the mixture stand for 20 minutes at room temperature to develop flavor.
3 Add in the ice cubes and shake to melt most of the ice.
4 Add in the pork roast, making certain that the meat is completely covered with the brine.
5 Cover with lid and refrigerate for 2 - 10 hours (NO MORE than 10 hours!).
6 Rinse the pork well under cold water before cooking.

Directions

Brine Roast according to above recipe then ....

• In a large nonstick skillet, brown roast in oil on all sides. Place in a shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray.
• Position a probe thermometer in the thickest part of the roast and set the alarm to go off when the roast reaches 140 deg.
• Arrange the apples, onions and garlic around roast; sprinkle with rosemary and salt & pepper, dot with butter.
• Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45-60 minutes or until a thermometer reads 140° ( carryover heat will take it the last five degrees while it rests), turning the apples, onions and garlic once. Let meat stand for 10 minutes before slicing.
• Yield: 8 servings.

Serve with salad, crusty bread, and baked butternut or acorn squash.

*******************
Alternate Brine

Maple Brine for Pork

78.07 ml kosher salt (use ONLY Kosher salt!)
177.44 ml sugar
236.59 ml maple syrup
44.37 ml Dijon mustard
4.92-9.85 ml dried red pepper flakes
118.29 ml gin
2.46 ml whole cloves
59.14 ml fresh rosemary, chopped
10-12 garlic cloves, minced (or smashed)
29.58 ml chopped fresh ginger
1892.72 ml water ( I use a bag of ice to cool brine rapidly. )
10-12 thick-cut pork chops (center cut, about 1-1/2 inch thick) or one pork loin roast

American measurements

1/3 cup kosher salt (use ONLY Kosher salt!)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 -2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
1/2 cup gin
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1/4 cup fresh rosemary, chopped
10 -12 garlic cloves, minced (or smashed)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
8 cups water ( I use a bag of ice to cool brine rapidly. )
10 -12 thick-cut pork chops (center cut, about 1-1/2 inch thick) or one pork loin roast

Directions:
1 Mix all the brine ingredients together in a pot and bring to a boil.
2 Turn off heat and stir the brine well with a spoon to insure the sugar, salt and maple syrup has dissolved.
3 Let the brine cool, then place brine in a large glass dish or bowl.
4 Add in pork chops (making certain that all the chops are covered completely with brine).
5 Cover and refrigerate for NO MORE than 10 hours.
6 Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry without rinsing.
7 Season the pork with pepper ONLY (do not season with salt they are salty enough from the brine!).
8 Grill or cook as desired.

Comments

[carolyn_claire]

Sounds good! I use a recipe I got from the Cook's Illustrated show that uses a rub instead of a brine; we made this for Easter dinner and it was amazing. (These are the notes I took while watching the show; please excuse the odd formatting.)

6-8 lbs bone-in pork shoulder
Don't trim fat off, crosshatch it to but not through the meat
Kosher salt 1/3 cup, brown sugar 1/3 cup, combine and rub in all over roast and into cuts
Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit in fridge 12-24 hrs
Brush off excess salt, add black pepper
Large roasting pan and rack sprayed with oil, add 1 qt of water to bottom of pan
325 degree oven for 5-6 hrs; baste with juices at 1.5 & 3 hrs. 190 internal temp = done
Remove from pan, rest for 1 hour covered
Pour pan drippings into fat separator

10 oz frozen peaches (thawed) cut into chunks
Add 2 cups white wine, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar, thyme sprigs, 1/4 cup drippings
Simmer sauce for about 30 min, pull out thyme, add 1 T whole grain mustard, 1 T rice wine vinegar
Remove bone from roast with paring knife and slice, serve with sauce

This was so easy to do. We roasted carrots and broccoli for sides while the roast rested, as they did in the show, along with some potatoes, and those were also delish and super easy.

[cougars_catnip]

MM sounds wonderful. The sauce looks awesome. :)

My preference is for a brine rather than a rub, because a brine penetrates all the way through a thick piece of meat rather than just a surface treatment. That said, a good rub brings some fantastic flavors to the party and if you don't have time for a brine is definitely the way to go.

[carolyn_claire]

My problem with a brine is that I don't have room in my fridge for the container! *g* I've brined a turkey when it was cold enough outside to do it in a cooler filled with ice and left out on the porch, but my fridge has no room. I can fit a plastic-wrapped roast into it, though. I also found, as the CI people said, that combining the brown sugar with the salt and leaving it on for long time (the 12-24 hr period) gave very similar results--the same capillary action that draws salted water into the meat also draws the salt and sugar rub in. It wouldn't have if we'd applied the rub and then cooked it immediately; it would have just made a tasty crust, in that case.

[cougars_catnip]

hmm I will have to try that then. :) and horay for tasty crusts. :D

I brine my roast in my crock pot liner. or a giant ziplock bag. and sometimes a tiny 6-pack cooler.

CC

[lorax]

We have the worst time trying to find ways to cook pork in my household because no one likes the same thing. I think this might actually work for everyone, so I think I'll give it a try. Thanks!