Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [199]
7. When done, the pork should be quite dark, and there should be a small amount of syrupy sauce in the pot. Transfer the meat to a cutting board, slice it thin, and arrange the slices on a warm serving platter. Spoon all the pot juices over it, together with any carrot sticks that may have slipped out, and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time note The roast can be finished several hours in advance, early in the day of the evening you plan to serve it. Reheat it gently in a covered pot, long enough for the meat to warm up all the way through, adding 2 or 3 tablespoons of water if it becomes necessary.
Braised Pork Chops with Tomatoes, Cream, and Porcini Mushrooms
For 4 to 6 servings
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 pounds pork chops, preferably from the center loin, cut ¾ inch thick
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, drained and cut up
½ cup heavy whipping cream
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
A small packet OR 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted and cut up
The filtered water from the mushroom soak, see instructions
½ pound fresh, white button mushrooms
1. Choose a saute pan that can subsequently accommodate all the chops without overlapping. Put in 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, turn on the heat to medium high, and when the oil is hot, slip in the chops. Brown the meat deeply on one side, then do the other.
2. Add the white wine, letting it simmer briskly for 15 or 20 seconds, while using a wooden spoon to scrape loose any browning residues in the pan. Add the tomatoes, cream, salt, liberal grindings of pepper, and the cut-up reconstituted porcini mushrooms. Turn the heat down to cook at a very gentle simmer, and cover the pan, setting the lid on slightly ajar.
3. Cook for 45 minutes or more, depending on the exact thickness and quality of the chops, until the meat feels tender when prodded with a fork. Turn the chops from time to time.
4. While the chops are cooking, put the filtered water from the porcini mushroom soak into a small saucepan, and boil it down to about ⅓ cup.
5. Wash the fresh white mushrooms rapidly under cold running water and wipe them thoroughly dry with a soft cloth towel. Cut them into very thin lengthwise slices without detaching the caps from the stems.
6. Choose a saute pan that can contain the fresh mushrooms without crowding them. Put in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and turn on the heat to high. When the oil is hot, put in the mushrooms. Stir them frequently, adding salt and pepper. When the liquid they will shed has boiled away, add the reduced filtered water from the porcini soak, and continue to stir frequently until there is no more liquid in the pan. Take off heat.
7. When the pork chops are tender, add the cooked mushrooms to their pan. Turn the chops and mushrooms, cover the pan again, and continue cooking for 5 to 8 minutes always over moderate heat. Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.
Braised Pork Chops with Sage and Tomatoes, Modena Style
IN ITALY, one looks up to the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna for the most savory pork specialties in the country, and in Emilia-Romagna itself, one looks to Modena. The tasty way with fresh pork chops in the recipe that follows is an example of the Modenese touch.
For 4 servings
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 pork loin chops, preferably bottom loin, ¾ inch thick
Flour, spread on a plate
6 to 8 fresh sage leaves OR 3 to 4 dried ones
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
¾ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice, OR fresh, ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1. Choose a saute pan that can later contain all the chops without overlapping. Put in the butter and oil, and turn on the heat to medium high. When the butter foam begins to subside, turn the chops on both sides in the flour, shake off excess flour, and slip them into the pan together