Honeyed Onions
These simple onions are a perfect accompaniment for our wood-grilled pork chops with cannellini soffritto and radicchio.
It’s best if you brine these pork chops the day before—they can be grilled or pan seared before finishing in the oven. In the restaurant we make this dish using dried cranberry beans. However, for preparing at home, canned cannellini beans are a fine substitute. Enjoy!
Ingredients
SERVINGS: 6 Serving(s)
Brined Pork Chops
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1 cup salt
- 2 tablespoons fennel seed
- 2 tablespoons black peppercorns
- 3 sprigs each fresh rosemary, thyme and sage
- 6 cups hot water
- 6 (12- to 14-ounce) double cut pork loin chops
Soffritto
- ½ pound pancetta, diced into ⅛-inch cubes
- Olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 onions, finely diced
- 3 carrots, finely diced
- 2 celery stalks, finely diced
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 (14-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- Kosher or sea salt
- 1 small head radicchio, stemmed, chopped in thin ribbons, rinsed and dried
- Honeyed Onions (for garnish)*
- Extra-virgin olive oil (good quality)
- ¼ cup aged balsamic vinegar, best available*
- ½ cup stemmed and chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Instructions
To prepare the brine, in a large bowl or nonreactive container add brown sugar, salt, fennel seed, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme and sage to 6 cups hot water. Stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Add pork chops and additional cold water until chops are fully submerged. Refrigerate overnight (or at least 12 hours). Discard brine after use.
On the day of preparation, preheat grill or prepare coals and preheat oven to 450°. Mark chops on the grill on both sides, about 5 minutes total. (Alternatively, sear chops in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat, searing evenly on all sides.) Once chops are marked or browned, place in a roasting pan and roast until pork chops reach 130° (using an instant-read meat thermometer placed in the center), checking after 20 minutes. Let rest for at least 8 minutes before serving.
Meanwhile, prepare the soffritto. Sauté pancetta over medium heat in 1 tablespoon olive oil until fat is rendered. Add garlic and stir until mixture is fragrant. Add vegetables and thyme, and sauté until vegetables are softened. Add cannellini beans and chicken broth, making a thickened stew-like consistency, adding more broth if too thick. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and add butter. Season with salt to taste.
To serve, divide radicchio among 6 warm dinner plates. Ladle soffritto over radicchio and scatter the honeyed onions. Place chops atop vegetables. Drizzle with aged balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil and fresh parsley. Serve immediately.
WINE PAIRING: 2012 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico DOCG, Tuscany, Italy.
Brian’s pork chops will be lovely with this classic and elegant but lighter-style Chianti. It’s loaded with aromas of beautiful dark red stone fruits like plums and cherries. On the palate, expect lively and pure red fruit flavors with interesting hints of menthol, warm vanilla and leather. This is a great wine to cozy up to and to enjoy with the cooler autumn weather.
—Eric Taylor, Bottles Fine Wines & Spirits, Providence
Recipe by Chef/Co-owner Brian Kingsford, Bacaro, Providence
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Quick-Aged Balsamic Vinegar
We love to drizzle this over our wood-grilled pork chops with cannellini soffritto and radicchio but you can find myriad ways to use it for other entrées.
