Braised Pork Loin with Caramelized Onions

 What a beautiful piece of pork! I bought this hunk of meat at Sprouts the other day because I saw a recipe on Food Network that looked so good. Then after getting it home, I promptly could not recall the recipe, the show or really anything about the dish at all. So here I was with a piece of pork (and I don't really love pork roast anyway) and I didn't know what to do with it. But dinner time was looking at me and it was this or peanut butter sandwiches. So I threw it in a pot and crossed my fingers. I ended up with a dish, I plan do make again and again!
-Amanda

Braised Pork Loin with Caramelized Onions

1 Center cut pork loin
2-3 tsp sea salt
pepper
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 clove of garlic pasted*
1 onion that has been caramelized
2 tbsp bacon grease (or butter & olive oil)
couple of carrots
1-2 cups chicken stock (You can also add some white wine or water)

Preheat oven to 325. Dry off your pork. Rub it with the salt, pepper, fennel seeds and pasted garlic. Get your stock pot really hot. Add bacon grease. Brown both sides of the pork loin. Start with the top, and then flip it to over. Top it with the caramelized onions. Toss in carrots. Cover and bake for 2 hours or longer. The longer you go the more tender the meat will get. But pull your carrots out after 1.5 hours or they will be mush. Serve with Rosemary Compound Butter** (see below) OR turn the drippings into an awesome gravy.

*Pasted Garlic - Take a clove of garlic and mince it as fine as you can. Add a pinch of salt. With the flat part of the blade of your chef's knife, smash the minced garlic and drag it across your cutting board. Wipe the garlic off carefully and pile it up. Keep smashing it until a paste forms.

Rosemary Garlic Compound Butter: Mince enough fresh rosemary to make 1 tablespoon. It will be raw, so mince it as small as you can so it doesn't get stuck in teeth. Paste one clove of garlic. With a fork, mix it with half a stick of room temperature butter. Roll up in plastic wrap and freeze for 10 minutes. Slice into medallions and serve on warm pork.

 Simmering away.

Braised Pork Loin with caramelized onions and rosemary garlic butter. Served with Creamed Peas (I'll post that recipe later!)