I had a pork shoulder I was needing to use, and being that it’s cold up here in the Midwest USA, I decided to VERY LOOSELY follow a recipe I came upon. When I bought the pork shoulder roast it was $2.39/lb, and was about 2.75 lbs.
Ingredients:
Pork (cubed and set aside for searing- pork should roasts tend to work best but any boneless pork should be fine)
1 1/2 yellow onion, diced fine
4-5 carrots, peeled and diced
4-5 stalks of celery, diced
6 mini sweet bell peppers, seeded and diced
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into small cubes
4-5 russet potatoes, peeled and diced into small cubes (put both of the potatoes in cold, salty water to keep from discoloring)
Fresh green beans with ends snapped and in about 1 1/2” pieces (nearly my entire bag went bad within three days of purchase so this could be amended by using a cheap bag of frozen green beans)
1 cup of lentils (any type, cooked in salted water with half of a rough chopped onion- follow cooking instructions, then set aside)
1 pkg of shiitake mushrooms(I splurged on the mushrooms because my grocery stores NEVER carry them). Any mushroom would be fine.
Garlic (I use the jarred garlic because I don’t like my hands smelling like garlic for days- I’m sure fresh is best
1 can of tomato paste
Fresh thyme and rosemary
Flour to thicken the aromatics and give stew some thickening
White wine for deglazing pot (I used a box of Chardonnay)
1 carton of low sodium chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil of your choice- I had olive oil.
Instructions- Prepare all of the vegetables first follow how they should be prepared above. Put onion, celery, carrots, peppers in one bowl. Potatoes in cold salted water. Cook lentils. Keep green beans and mushrooms separate. Cube the pork into chunks- I didn’t measure, I just used my best judgement. Something you could take two bites of. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. In a Dutch oven, add about 2 Tbsp of oil in pot and bring pot up to medium heat. Sear the pork into 2-3 batches to ensure each side gets good color. Set aside on a plate with paper towels.
I added 1 Tbsp butter plus one Tbsp more oil to pot, then once melted threw in my aromatics (onion, carrots, celery, peppers) into the pot to cook down. It takes a LONG TIME. This “five mins to translucent” is a joke. This usually takes me at least 30 mins (but I need my onions to be completely cooked). Add in the fresh herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Stir about five more minutes then add in your garlic- do this after the other vegetables have been cooked down because garlic can burn. After about three mins I added 3 Tbsp of the tomato paste and mixed it in with the rest of the vegetables.
Next, add in as much flour as you added oil or butter. Stir well to coat the vegetables. The bottom of your Dutch oven with have darkened cooked on ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, slowly add in your white wine, scraping the bottom of the Dutch oven. This is called deglazing and adds those yummy bits to the sauce. Once you’ve added probably two cups of white wine (I added my whole container but I don’t know how much wine it was), slowly stir and make sure the liquid is smooth with the flour and vegetables. Drain your potatoes. Add in seared pork, green beans, and potatoes. Stir everything together except lentils and mushrooms. Then add the low sodium chicken broth until the vegetables are covered. I added a bit more salt and pepper because I only cook with low sodium chicken broth.
Cover the Dutch oven and put in a 300 degree F oven with the lid on and set timer for 1 hour and 15 mins. After that time, pull out the Dutch oven, stir well, then season to taste. Put the Dutch oven back in for another hour and a half with the lid on. Once again, pull out the pot and this time stir in your washed mushrooms and drained lentils. Do this carefully since the lentils are fully cooked and will smash. Season to taste again. I threw my stew in for 55 more minutes then pulled it out and everything was cooked perfect (at the hour and 45 minute mark my potatoes were not close to done).
The stew should be done (check your potatoes to be sure)! It will be HOT- so be aware. Since my stew didn’t finish until after 10 pm I pulled out some for my lunch today then let the Dutch oven and stew cool on hot pads in my covered front porch (some screens are missing and it was 18 degrees F last night so I set the lid askew and let it cool overnight).
This makes a HUGE batch of stew with very cheap ingredients. I tasted what I was bringing for lunch today and it was lovely!
Pictures of the process and final result.
by ASherrets
2 Comments
Recipe for Pork Stew:
I had a pork shoulder I was needing to use, and being that it’s cold up here in the Midwest USA, I decided to VERY LOOSELY follow a recipe I came upon. When I bought the pork shoulder roast it was $2.39/lb, and was about 2.75 lbs.
Ingredients: Pork (cubed and set aside for searing- pork should roasts tend to work best but any boneless pork should be fine) 1 1/2 yellow onion, diced fine 4-5 carrots, peeled and diced 4-5 stalks of celery, diced 6 mini sweet bell peppers, seeded and diced 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into small cubes 4-5 russet potatoes, peeled and diced into small cubes (put both of the potatoes in cold, salty water to keep from discoloring) Fresh green beans with ends snapped and in about 1 1/2” pieces (nearly my entire bag went bad within three days of purchase so this could be amended by using a cheap bag of frozen green beans) 1 cup of lentils (any type, cooked in salted water with half of a rough chopped onion- follow cooking instructions, then set aside) 1 pkg of shiitake mushrooms(I splurged on the mushrooms because my grocery stores NEVER carry them). Any mushroom would be fine. Garlic (I use the jarred garlic because I don’t like my hands smelling like garlic for days- I’m sure fresh is best 1 can of tomato paste Fresh thyme and rosemary Flour to thicken the aromatics and give stew some thickening White wine for deglazing pot (I used a box of Chardonnay) 1 carton of low sodium chicken broth Salt and pepper to taste Oil of your choice- I had olive oil.
Instructions- Prepare all of the vegetables first follow how they should be prepared above. Put onion, celery, carrots, peppers in one bowl. Potatoes in cold salted water. Cook lentils. Keep green beans and mushrooms separate. Cube the pork into chunks- I didn’t measure, I just used my best judgement. Something you could take two bites of. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. In a Dutch oven, add about 2 Tbsp of oil in pot and bring pot up to medium heat. Sear the pork into 2-3 batches to ensure each side gets good color. Set aside on a plate with paper towels.
I added 1 Tbsp butter plus one Tbsp more oil to pot, then once melted threw in my aromatics (onion, carrots, celery, peppers) into the pot to cook down. It takes a LONG TIME. This “five mins to translucent” is a joke. This usually takes me at least 30 mins (but I need my onions to be completely cooked). Add in the fresh herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Stir about five more minutes then add in your garlic- do this after the other vegetables have been cooked down because garlic can burn. After about three mins I added 3 Tbsp of the tomato paste and mixed it in with the rest of the vegetables.
Next, add in as much flour as you added oil or butter. Stir well to coat the vegetables. The bottom of your Dutch oven with have darkened cooked on ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, slowly add in your white wine, scraping the bottom of the Dutch oven. This is called deglazing and adds those yummy bits to the sauce. Once you’ve added probably two cups of white wine (I added my whole container but I don’t know how much wine it was), slowly stir and make sure the liquid is smooth with the flour and vegetables. Drain your potatoes. Add in seared pork, green beans, and potatoes. Stir everything together except lentils and mushrooms. Then add the low sodium chicken broth until the vegetables are covered. I added a bit more salt and pepper because I only cook with low sodium chicken broth.
Cover the Dutch oven and put in a 300 degree F oven with the lid on and set timer for 1 hour and 15 mins. After that time, pull out the Dutch oven, stir well, then season to taste. Put the Dutch oven back in for another hour and a half with the lid on. Once again, pull out the pot and this time stir in your washed mushrooms and drained lentils. Do this carefully since the lentils are fully cooked and will smash. Season to taste again. I threw my stew in for 55 more minutes then pulled it out and everything was cooked perfect (at the hour and 45 minute mark my potatoes were not close to done).
The stew should be done (check your potatoes to be sure)! It will be HOT- so be aware. Since my stew didn’t finish until after 10 pm I pulled out some for my lunch today then let the Dutch oven and stew cool on hot pads in my covered front porch (some screens are missing and it was 18 degrees F last night so I set the lid askew and let it cool overnight).
This makes a HUGE batch of stew with very cheap ingredients. I tasted what I was bringing for lunch today and it was lovely!
Pictures of the process and final result.
Beautiful and perfect for this colder weather. I was takem aback at the sight of carton chardonnay tho 😅