Slow-cooked pork with black grapes

I found this recipe on Epicurious the other day as I was looking for pork recipes that could be adapted to a slow cooker. The sauce is quite sweet (even with the reduced amount of sugar) but not in an unpleasant way - more in an unexpected, sweet and sour kind of way. It doesn't look that great - sort of ubiquitous brown, but if you have more patience than I did with reducing the sauce, you might get a better, grapier colour. I'd advise straining the stock as well before you reduce it, as the pork bits in it make it look a bit "dirty". This'd make a good winter braise over polenta or risotto rather than potatoes. In fact I did mine over roast garlic grits one night and (because it makes lot!) I served it over grits made with sauteed mushrooms and onions the next night. Both accompaniments were good.

I have restated the ingredient list and instructions here, because I changed both. Feel free to use the original or something in between. I have never tried the original, so I can't comment on whether my changes were improvements or not - they were just changes I made based on my perception that the herb, vinegar and sugar quantities in the original recipe would resulted in an overpoweringly herby, sour and sweet dish. You can be the judge for your own palate. It got some pretty good reviews on the comments section of Epicurious in its original form.

Slow-Cooked Pork with Black Grapes

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 4 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 3 large fresh sage sprigs
• 8 large fresh thyme sprigs
• 2.5 large fresh rosemary sprigs
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 5-pound boneless pork shoulder or leg, cut up or whole
• 2 cups thickly sliced shallots
• 1 medium onion, roughly sliced
• 5 cups seedless black grapes

Place herbs, sugar, vinegar and all but 1 cup of the stock into the bottom of the slow cooker. Heat oil in a large wok or skillet. Brown pork on all sides over high heat. Remove the browned pork to the slow-cooker. Turn the heat down under the skillet so that it is medium-high. Use remaining oil to slightly brown onion and shallots. Deglaze the pan with 1 cup of the stock and pour the contents into the slow-cooker. Add grapes to the slow-cooker, cover and turn to high. Allow to cook 5 hours.

Remove the cooked pork to a plate and ladle out the grapes and onion pieces into a bowl. Strain stock into a saucepan and reduce over high heat until only about 2.5 cups remain (this could take as much as 1/2 hour). Meanwhile, use 2 forks to pull pork meat apart into shreds. Toss the shredded pork with cooked grapes and stir through the reduced sauce. Serve over risotto, polenta or grits.

Comments

[Rich M]

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