Braised Pork Shoulder with White Wine and Apple Onion Confit

By Danny


I love pork. Like, totally really love pork. Especially pork shoulder. But especially braising pork shoulder! I've been itching to try a new braising recipe and not happy with any of the ones I found I decided to make my own. I thought I would play with the classic pork chops and apple sauce idea, but instead use pork shoulder and an apple onion confit. The results were divine!



Pork Shoulder with White Wine and Apple Onion Confit

1 Pork Shoulder (Butt)
2 white onions, sliced into circles
1 1/2 cup of your favorite white wine(nothing too sweet though...the apples add plenty of sugar)
1 1/2 cup of Chicken Stock
5 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and slightly crushed
2 Bay Leaves
1 Apple, peeled and diced into big chunks

Remove excess fat from pork shoulder and wipe dry with a paper towel. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a cast iron dutch oven and sear all sides of pork until nicely brown. Once all sides have been seared add onions and sweat for 1 minute. Add liquids, garlic cloves, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and allow to simmer over low heat for 4 hours. 30 minutes before the cooking time is done, add the apples. When done, add salt and pepper to taste and take pork shoulder out of dutch oven. Slightly shred with fork, and pour sauce and onion apple mixture over pork. Enjoy!

Braised Chicken with Spanish Olives and Capers

By Danny


Here's another recipe to add to the braising obsession. This one comes straight from my mom. She makes this dish all of the time, and it's one of my favorite mom dishes. The technique is fairly straight forward Mexican cuisine, but the flavors always seemed very Spanish to me.

Recipe after the jump...

Braised Chicken with Spanish Olives and Capers

4 Chicken Drumsticks
4 Chicken Thighs
2 Tomatoes
1 Potato, diced into large pieces
1/2 Yellow Onion
1 Garlic Clove
1 Cup of Spanish Olives
5 Capers

In a large cast iron dutch oven, heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil and sear the chicken pieces until all sides have a brown, crisp sear. While chicken is searing, cut the tomatoes and onion into large chunks, place in blender along with the garlic, and blend until it forms a thick sauce. Once Chicken is done searing add the sauce and the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover the pot and lower the temperature. Simmer for two hours or until the chicken becomes tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Braised Pork Shoulder with Salsa Verde

By Danny

Pork Shoulder Recipe

My braising obsession continues to grow. I simply love the fact that you can get extremely delicious dishes with such a simple technique. I've made this Salsa Verde Pork Shoulder twice now and I still think it is one of the best braising recipes I've ever tried. I made this yesterday for a potluck lunch at Michael's work, and by the look of the empty tupperwear container, I think Michael's co-workers liked it!

Recipe after the jump...

This recipe is adapted from a recipe in Sunset Magazine, February 2008

Braised Pork Shoulder with Salsa Verde

3 1/2 lbs. bone-in-pork shoulder (aka pork butt)
1 bottle of salsa verde (yes, bottled salsa verde. you can make your own I suppose)
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 cups chicken broth
2 tsp each ground cumin seeds and coriander seeds
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt to taste

Trim excess fat from pork shoulder. Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in heavy cast iron dutch oven. Place pork in hot oil and sear each side until all sides have a nice, crisp, brown sear. Add onions and sweat for a minute. Add salsa, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, oregano and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Simmer until meat is very tender and falls off the bone, about 4 hours.

After meat is done braising, take pork out of dutch oven and place in baking pan. Heat over to 375 degrees and bake pork for 30 minutes until richly brown. Once brown, place in broiler for an additional 3 minutes to make outside charred and crispy! While pork is baking, skim salsa verde sauce of all excess fat and oil. Once pork is done crisping in broiler, tear pork apart with two forks and place back in salsa verde sauce. Add salt to taste and add cilantro and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Braised Spare Ribs- Summer Edition

Mark Bittman Beef Ribs

For the past six months I've been sort of obsessed with braising meat. I love the fact that you can take inexpensive cuts of meat and turn them into succulent and amazing dishes. Now that Summer is here, I've been noticing lots of recipes that call for braising meat BEFORE placing them on the barbie.

I totally love that! What results is tender and moist on the inside (because of the braise), and a crunchy, smoky crust on the outside (from the grill). Mark Bittman has this great article and video on the NY Times website on how to do this. The technique can also be replicated using a broiler instead of a grill, but with Summer here, why bother with the broiler? Braise away!

Thrice Cooked Spare Ribs - NY Times