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Roast Rack of Pork with Caramelized Maple Onions

Submitted by on October 23, 2011 – 10:15 am28 Comments

rack of pork

Happy National Pork Month! In honor of all things pork, I’m posting a couple of delicious recipes this week as well as sharing tips on how to cook one of the more uncommon cuts – the rack.

I love to roast a rack of pork, both for its simplicity as well as its elegant presentation. It’s a showstopping main course for a dinner party yet it’s incredibly easy to prepare. Not familiar with this particular cut of pork? You can find more information on the National Pork Board’s website, including some great recipes.

I buy most of my meat from Costco. Everything I’ve ever purchased from them has been top-notch quality (it’s where I purchase meat when I cook for my clients, too). I’m actually headed there later today because their pork tenderloin is on sale (a different cut of pork is on sale each week throughout the month). Tomorrow the rack of pork goes on sale; you can get $2.50 off through the end of the month, so you know where I’m headed again later this week!

I thought it would be fun to give away some Costco cash this week in honor of all this pork! You know the drill…everyone who leaves a comment below will be automatically entered to win a $25 gift card to Costco (must include email address so I can contact you). Follow me on Facebook or tweeting about the contest gets you an extra entry. Contest ends at midnight EST on Friday, Oct 28th.

I also came across this recipe for Roast Rack of Pork with Caramelized Maple Onions by Wolfgang Puck and it sounded so delicious I thought I’d share it. Anything with caramelized onions gets my vote, and the combo of onions, maple & pork sounds too good to pass up. This just may make it to my holiday table!

 

Roast Rack of Pork with Caramelized Maple Onions

Ingredients

  • 1 (2-pound) pork rack with 4 bones attached
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 2 ounces olive oil
  • 3 yellow onions, sliced
  • 1-inch fresh ginger, crushed
  • 1/2 stick cinnamon
  • 1 star anise
  • 3 tablespoons sweet butter
  • 4 tablespoons maple sugar
  • 3 1/3 cups apple cider

Directions

Season both sides of rack with salt and pepper 20 minutes before cooking. Sear in heavy saute pan with olive oil until rack is well caramelized. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In same pan, add sliced onions, ginger, cinnamon, star anise and butter. Slowly cook until onions are well caramelized. Add maple sugar and cook for 2 minutes.

Deglaze with cider, adjust salt and pepper to taste and reduce until a glaze forms. Completely cover rack with half of onion compote. Transfer to roasting pan and place in oven. Cook at 20 minutes per pound or until internal temperature is 150 degrees F. Halfway through cooking time, pour over remaining half of onion compote. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Discard the cinnamon stick and star anise.