Food Series: Center Cut Pork Roast and Caramelized Onions

My last post was on a beef rib roast, so I  thought I would follow it with another roast post, with the other white meat..

Pork.

This is a Center Cut Pork roast..its what they use to slice to package pork chops. Sometimes you will see this with the bone attached. this one doesn't. Also watch the prices between a whole roast and the pork chops..sometimes it cheaper per ounce/lb depending on the store and the sales. I bought this whole thing for $9 and got 8 thick slices out of it!

this pork roast is different from like a shoulder or a tenderloin, so cooking it is different from that variety of pig.

This was simply seasoned with olive oil, poultry seasoning and fresh herbs. I didn't even bother to chop the fresh herbs..i just laid them on the meat...haha. poultry seasoning is a MUST with pork..oh ,its so good! I have about 1 tablespoon sprinkled all over and the fresh herbs i have shown are thyme and tarragon. you can use whatever you want..and you can be better than me and chop your herbs too!

The cooking time on this is about an hour, this was about 5 lbs. 350 degree oven and check on it after 45 minutes. you want your meat thermometer to read between 150-155. I take mine out at 150 because once you tent it with foil it will continue to cook. I also didn't use a special roasting pan. I just stuck it in a foil lined cake pan.

While your roast is cooking..caramelize your onions. People have a notion that it doesn't take as long as you would think. restaurants can deep fry onions raw and call them caramelized. ew. 

This onion was a large onion..it was soft ball sized and i just cut it down the middle into slices and broke up the ringlets like you see below.

In my pan i have a mixture of olive oil, butter, and a tablespoon of brown sugar.  Oil for cooking, butter for flavor and sugar to help it sweeten up the onions and caramelize them even more.

MEDIUM HEAT ONLY! and stir every once in awhile so that the onions don't stick..you will see in a few pictures that if you leave the pan to feed your baby, you will have some onions more cooked than others.

Also, this looks like too many onions, but it cooks down a lot! 

This is about 20 minutes into it...Soft and translucent and you can see how its starting to turn brown.

This was 30 minutes into, and see where i didn't stir for a while those pieces that are cooked more than their friends? so you just want to make sure you keep an eye on it.

after 40 minutes this is what i had..seriously, look how much it shrunk. all the flavor of the onion has concentrated and the sugars have released and now its sweet and just slightly oniony in flavor. The brown sugar helps a lot,. as well. At this point i like to add in a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar..not vinaigrette,,straight up balsamic vinegar and let this cook down again for a few more minutes.

Oh and you can totally make your own apple compote ..hello? pork chops and apples are like bonnie and clyde! this is 3 fuji apples, peeled, cored, and diced. 1/2 cup of apple cider, dash of cinnamon, tablespoon of brown sugar and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. cook on medium alongside your onions..stir and mash, stir and mash until apples are soft and the consistency you want.

and voila! Center Cut Pork Roast with apple compote and caramelized onions..see how my onions look really dark? that's from the balsamic vinegar..it adds a nice tangyness and sweetness different from the sweetness of the onion. and my apple compote.  and two thick slices of pork.I roasted an acorn squash and dinner was served!

I hope you get to try this out. let me know if you ever have a question, i'd love to help!

Next Post:

Cinnamon Rolls..