This looks very tasty! Well.... raw... but I bet it looks super amazing when it's cooked!! Submitted by , dedicated to

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This is a 2 part recipe, as stated above, because it requires brine (which I have found to be really essential to cooking pork) and of course, the main dish, the pork with shallots and pears. However, I've also added apples to this as well...they were leftovers from my Iranian haroset recipe- might as well use them before they spoil, and they pear well with pork :P

Pork Brine: (taken from Alton Brown's recipe)

2 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup salt (I had cut this down to 1/2 cup, its MORE than enough, trust me :P)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon whole peppercorns (I had the mixed variety, but you can use regular black)
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 tray ice cubes
2 pounds boneless pork chops- (Used the pork loin, which I'll come to in a moment)

Wash the pork first...its a good precaution! Then:

1. Measure the vinegar into a sacuepan and bring to a boil. In a separate plastic container, combine the salt, brown sugar, peppercorns and mustard powder.

2. Pour the hot vinegar into the container, and stir to dissolve. Let stand for ten minutes to develop the flavors, then add the ice cubes..Cover and shake or stir until melted. (Or at least stir well- I noticed that when I sort of skipped this step, it left a LOT of salt at the bottom)

Remove the lid and add pork chops ...er...loins...to the brine and refrigerate for 2 hours. (I did 1 hour & 1/2 so as not to ass-salt it :P)

While its marinating in the brine- now is the time for this!
Recipe from relishmag.com (I actually took it from the magazine I get every once in a while...theyre tough to find!)

12 ounces shallots, peeled and halved / quartered (About 2 cups)
3 medium unpeeled pears, cut into wedges

-I'll be honest and let you folks know- I only had one pear, hence the addition of apples...I used about 3, plus one for the brine :B

3/4 tablespoon salt, divided
3 garlic cloves, sliced (skipped this step, but you can add)
Fresh thyme sprigs ( I added rosemary- but you do this at the LAST minute!)

Gravy (also optional, I'd say you can add in the pan drippings with this)
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 to 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
coarsely ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees farenheit

2. In a roasting pan, toss shallots, pears and apples with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Remove meat from marinade and drain...ONCE YOU HAVE USED THE BRINE, THROW IT OUT. -DONT- use it or pour it in with this, as it will turn it black when cooking and... well, nasty.

Trust me folks- brine is good for meat only once...maybe twice, THATS IT.

Make slits in top of pork, insert sliced garlic and fresh thyme/rosemary sprigs. Place pork in the center of the roasting pan with the pear/apple mixture surrounding it. When the oven hits 450 degrees, throw the filled pan at the bottom rack and roast for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 325 F and cook until meat reaches 145 to 150 f, about 40 minutes.
(If you have used two loins- I'd say, add an extra 30 minutes ...40 again at most)

While meat roasts, melt butter and whisk in flour, taking care to to get rid of the lumps- cook until this gets good and brown, then pour in the broth and the pan drippings (make sure you have removed the meat first, duh :P)...Cook until thick, 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove pork from oven- let it stand for 5 minutes before slicing.

If shallots & etc aren't caramelized enough, you can put the pork on a separate plate to rest, covered, then use the foil (which Ive already put in here) over the rest of the ingredients and cook at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes more.

Reheat gravy over low head, add in salt & pepper to taste and serve!

...Yes, this is the 'uncooked' pic, I'll be showing the cooked version eventually :P

Allergy warning – recipe contains dairy product