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Duration
1 hour
Serves
6
Chef’s notes
Every spring, heavy rains bring fresh green growth to the landscape and push feral hogs out of the deep ravines into open pastures. It’s one of my favorite times of the year to hunt them, and I enjoy serving them with an underutilized cool-weather vegetable—fennel. Like onion, fennel will caramelize when sautéed, adding a unique sweet and savory flavor to the sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. whole hog loins
- 1½ tsp. coarse sea salt
- ½ tsp. cracked black pepper
- 2 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed with mortar and pestle or meat mallet
- High smoke point oil or lard for cooking
- 3 tbsp. butter
- 1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
- 2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced (fronds reserved for garnish)
- ½ tsp. minced fresh rosemary
- ½ tsp. sugar
- ½ cup dry vermouth
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Cut the loins in half or thirds so that they fit the width of the skillet you’ll use to sear them in. Then season with salt, pepper, and crushed fennel.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat and add enough oil or lard to coat the bottom in a thin layer. When the pan is smoking hot, sear the meat on both sides, about 2 to 3 minutes each, until golden brown. Remove from the pan and transfer to a baking tray with a metal baking grid set inside for airflow and even cooking if possible. Insert an oven-safe thermometer and transfer to the oven to finish cooking until it registers 155°F internally at the thickest part. Allow the meat to rest on a cutting board for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
- Meanwhile, reduce the heat on the stovetop to medium and let it cool for a moment so that it’s no longer smoking hot. Drop in one tablespoon of butter. Once the butter has melted, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and golden. Mix in the fennel, sugar, rosemary, and a couple pinches of salt. Cook for another 10 to 12 minutes or until very soft and caramelized. If at any point it begins to look dry, add a splash of the chicken stock.
- Deglaze the pan (lift the browned bits at the bottom of the pan) with the vermouth. The pan should be hot enough for it to simmer so the alcohol boils off. If not, increase the heat. After a couple of minutes, stir in the stock, lemon juice, and cream. Bring the sauce to a boil and reduce it in half; this may take about 5 minutes or so. When it reaches the desired consistency, reduce the heat and swirl in the remaining two tablespoons of butter to finish the sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- To serve, spoon the caramelized onion and fennel sauce over the hog loin and garnish with fennel fronds.
Chef’s notes
Every spring, heavy rains bring fresh green growth to the landscape and push feral hogs out of the deep ravines into open pastures. It’s one of my favorite times of the year to hunt them, and I enjoy serving them with an underutilized cool-weather vegetable—fennel. Like onion, fennel will caramelize when sautéed, adding a unique sweet and savory flavor to the sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. whole hog loins
- 1½ tsp. coarse sea salt
- ½ tsp. cracked black pepper
- 2 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed with mortar and pestle or meat mallet
- High smoke point oil or lard for cooking
- 3 tbsp. butter
- 1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
- 2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced (fronds reserved for garnish)
- ½ tsp. minced fresh rosemary
- ½ tsp. sugar
- ½ cup dry vermouth
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Cut the loins in half or thirds so that they fit the width of the skillet you’ll use to sear them in. Then season with salt, pepper, and crushed fennel.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet over high heat and add enough oil or lard to coat the bottom in a thin layer. When the pan is smoking hot, sear the meat on both sides, about 2 to 3 minutes each, until golden brown. Remove from the pan and transfer to a baking tray with a metal baking grid set inside for airflow and even cooking if possible. Insert an oven-safe thermometer and transfer to the oven to finish cooking until it registers 155°F internally at the thickest part. Allow the meat to rest on a cutting board for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
- Meanwhile, reduce the heat on the stovetop to medium and let it cool for a moment so that it’s no longer smoking hot. Drop in one tablespoon of butter. Once the butter has melted, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and golden. Mix in the fennel, sugar, rosemary, and a couple pinches of salt. Cook for another 10 to 12 minutes or until very soft and caramelized. If at any point it begins to look dry, add a splash of the chicken stock.
- Deglaze the pan (lift the browned bits at the bottom of the pan) with the vermouth. The pan should be hot enough for it to simmer so the alcohol boils off. If not, increase the heat. After a couple of minutes, stir in the stock, lemon juice, and cream. Bring the sauce to a boil and reduce it in half; this may take about 5 minutes or so. When it reaches the desired consistency, reduce the heat and swirl in the remaining two tablespoons of butter to finish the sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- To serve, spoon the caramelized onion and fennel sauce over the hog loin and garnish with fennel fronds.