Last weekend I made the most delicious pork stew. I did it in the oven
and used pork shoulder cut in cubes, then added apples, onions,
carrots, celery and mushrooms. I flavored it with some apple juice, a
small bit of thyme and some crushed red pepper. I was wonderful. Even
Aaron liked it and took all the leftovers home with him. Here's how I did it.
I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. Then I took a deep roaster and layered the ingredients in it:
1-1/12 cups each, chopped carrots and celery
8 oz. pkg of sliced mushrooms, I used baby bellas as I think they have a better flavor, but use what you have
1 large onion peeled and chopped or chunked
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cubed
Over
that I sprinkled: 1/4 cup quick cooking tapioca, about 1/4 tsp. dried
thyme, 1 tsp. garlic powder, and a sprinkle of crushed red pepper.
Then
I cubed about 3 pounds of pork shoulder, trimmed of fat (you could also
use cubed boneless country style ribs). Finally I poured over this a
can of chicken broth and about 1 1/2 cups apple juice and quater cup of apple cider vinegar. If you happen to
have some hard cider around, you could use a bottle of that in place of
the apple juice and it would probably be even better.
Then I
baked it about three hours, stirring it about 3 times. When the meat
it tender and the gravy thickened, it is ready to eat. I served it
with some crusty bread and it was a delicious meal. Feel free to change the vegetables, any root vegetable would be good in this. Also feel free to use whatever herb or seasoning you like best.
