Something Sweeter
Sunday, December 12, 2010 at 10:05PM Finally recovered from El Diablo, it's time for another porcine delight, however this time it will be a sweeter preparation. Usually I sweeten dishes with honey, but the current cold weather makes me think of maple. I use maple syrup in a lot of desserts, usually as a lazy substitute for caramel, but it can also be used as part of a glaze or braising liquid for entrees.
I begin by using a cut of pork yet to appear on this blog, the tail. It's a very inexpensive, flavorful cut of meat. The tail also has a great variety of textures between the skin, meat, fat and bits along the bone. Being very forgiving, I think it's a good 'off-cut' for beginners as well.
First, the pork should be brined to properly season the meat. This requires good planning skills, but will be worth the wait. In an oven-proof casserole dish, lay down the tail meat along with a few peeled carrots, pearl onions, and thyme or rosemary. Any green twig will do. Pour in pork stock to a shoulder high level, and then cover with a healthy amount of maple syrup. Be sure to use quality maple syrup, and not some diluted sugar water like Aunt J.
Bake at 325 Dg for four hours, periodically spooning the cooking liquid over all exposed meat and vegetables. At the end, the meat should be tender and the cooking liquid reduced by half-ish. Plate the tail with the carrots, onions, a big spoonful of the cooking liquid, and a flat leaf parsley garnish.
;)
Maple Syrup, Pork, Tail in Food, Recipe 
Reader Comments (3)
Gorgeous looking plate! While I am not a huge fan of maple syrup, I do love pig tails. And I have never cooked them. How sweet does it turn out in the end? Looks delicious. Great post!
that's a gorgeous looking pig... i like using maple instead of sugar sometimes when i cook :] i think i've only done it a couple of times tho with savory [methinks i was with a pork product as well] - mmm ... i wanna take a bite
This looks great! I have stayed away from pork as of late, but would be willing to give this a try...not sure why, but I guess the past six months I have had bad meals out that included others pork...