You relish feasting on warm soups and stews which would make you feel better during cold months. You can make any type of stews using any meat of your choice or even do a vegetable stew. One such stew which is sure to blow your mind away is the pork stew, a staple in many southern kitchens. The stew is more or less easy to make if you have all the ingredients at hand. The best part about pork stew is that you can vary it according to your tastes and likes and still end up with a delicious dish. Follow the recipe below to make a pot of steaming hot pork stew to warm yourself from the inside out on those cool fall evenings.
Complexity Level: Basic
Time Required: 1 hour 40 minutes
Resources Required:
- 5 large carrots
- 2 onions
- 2 stalks of celery
- 2 cups parsnips
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 tea spoon sage
- 1/4 tea spoon organo
- 1/2 tea spoon salt
- 2 large potatoes
- 1/2 tea spoon pepper
- 1/2 tea spoon paprika
- 2 table spoons flour
- 3 table spoons butter
- 2 table spoons olive oil
- 2 table spoons dry sherry
- Large bowl
- Slow cooker
- Chopping board and knife
- 1/2 pound boneless pork
Instructions:
1. Preparations
- Chop the carrots, celery and parsnips into quarter inch slices and keep aside.
- Similarly, peel and chop the onions into medium size pieces along with the potatoes.
- Bring the pork to room temperature and it slice into bite size cubes.
- If you prefer you can marinate it with some dijon mustard and keep it aside for about an hour.
2. Cook the pork
- Place the large cooker on medium high heat and add some olive oil in it.
- Once the oil becomes hot, add the pork slices and cook on all sides till golden brown.
- Add the chopped onion and once it begins to brown lightly, de-glaze it by adding sherry followed by chicken broth. Give it a nice stir to mix it all together.
- Bring the entire mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat.
- Place the lid and simmer for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Once done, the meat should be nice and fork tender.
- Remove the meat alone and keep aside to cool lightly
3. Add vegetables
- Into the same pot, add carrots, potatoes, parsnips, celery and all other herbs and spices.
- Mix along with the stock and stir well. At this point, check for salt and add as required.
- Bring it to a boil and then continue to let it boil for about 10 more minutes.
- Reduce heat to simmer and place the lid back on the pot and continue to cook till the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes or so.
4. Final touches
- Into a bowl, add the flour and butter and make a smooth mixture out of it.
- Pour this into the boiling stick and stir until the stew thickens.
- Return the pork slices into the pot and simmer on low for about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Enjoy with some sour dough bread on the side.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do I make a Thai version of the pork stew?
Stew is pretty much a versatile dish. You can tweak it in whichever way you like. To make a Thai version, add some bell pepper, teriyaki sauce, rice wine vinegar crushed red pepper and some garlic cloves along with the pork into a slow cooker and cook on low heat for about 8 hours. Remove the pork from the cooker and then add peanut butter to the broth. Stir well and then put the pork back in. Serve with some fragrant Thai rice and top with basil and peanuts.
Quick Tips:
- When making stew, make sure you use only fresh vegetables.
- You can add any vegetable of choice, like avocado, squash tomatoes etc to make your stew more tasty.
Things To Watch Out For:
- While cooking the pork, make sure you don’t overdo it as it could result in a chewy version.
- If possible, measure the internal temperature of the pork. It should be 205 degrees in order to kill any harmful bacteria.
