Time served

I’d like to draw an important cooking distinction today: There are recipes that take a lot of time and recipes that take a lot of work, but not every recipe that takes a lot of time also takes a lot of work. Take braising. Braises often take hours while gentle heat slowly breaks down the collagen and other connective tissues in otherwise tough pieces of meat until they are meltingly tender. You can speed this up with a pressure cooker, but weather braising stove top or in the oven, even a small 2-3 lb pot roast is going to take around 3 hours.

Now, if time equalled work, this is where many of you would check out. However, the work for the average braise is around 30 minutes, inducing prep. A quick seasoning and sear in a hot pan, the addition of a few aromatics and some liquid and you can go binge something on tv or relax with a glass of wine (including friends and family is up to you).

With a braise the real work - breaking down connective tissue and developing a complex, rich sauce - is done by your oven. Now, if you strongly object to a little planning ahead, let’s move on to the quick sauté.

Cider-Braised Pork Shoulder with Onions

Serves 6 - 8

Layer upon layer of sweet mild flavors, from lightly caramelized onions and apple cider to warm cardamom, make this roast delicious and complex. Be ready to fight over the sauce! Recipe from my cookbook Seasons to Taste: Farm-fresh Joy for Kitchen and Table.

Photography by Matt Hocking

Ingredients:

• 3-4 pound bone-in pork shoulder roast

• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom

• 2 tbs vegetable oil with a high smoke point, like sunflower

• 2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced

• 2 tbs brown sugar

• 3-4 cups cider

• 1/4 cup Temari or other soy sauce

• 1/4 cup cider vinegar

• 1 tbs butter

• 1/4 cup chopped parsley

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 250° F.

• Cut thin slits all over pork and insert garlic slices. Season pork with salt, pepper and cardamom and rub into surface of meat. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add roast and sear on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from pot and set aside.

• Immediately return pot to medium heat, add onions and sprinkle with salt. After 10 minutes, reduce heat to medium and cook an additional 10 minutes until onions are deeply browned. Sprinkle with sugar. Add cider, soy sauce and vinegar to pot and stir to blend. Add pork, fat side up. Liquid should come just over half way up the side of the pork. Add more cider if needed. Bring liquid to a boil then transfer pork oven.

• Cook for 4-6 hours until center registers 175° F for slicing or 190° F for pulled pork. Remove pork from pot and let sit on a platter, loosely tented with foil. Skim fat from the sauce, using a fat separator if desired. Reduce by two-thirds. Whisk in butter and season to taste with additional vinegar, salt and pepper as needed. Serve pork with sauce and chopped parsley.

Tip: The bone in your pork shoulder roast will add lots of extra flavor during those long hours in the oven. However, if you can’t find one with a bone, you’ll still have a darn-delicious dinner!