So a few days ago, I cooked a pork shoulder roast in the slow-cooker. It was thorougly tasty, but – as is frequently the case – it was also very large. Which means we have a lot left over.
This is fine, and even good. Left-over veggies, I’m terrible with (but am getting a better feel for how little to cook in order to feed the two of us on a given evening), but left-over animal is great.
So, when Idly wondering what on earth to do fo dinner this evening, I looked in the fridge to see what I had. And, oh yeah, I’ve got several pounds of already-cooked shoulder roast available.
So. I typically think “beef” or “beans”, and sometimes “lamb”, when I think of stew. But I wanted something simple and hearty and very, very Comfort Food since both my Ghost and I are feeling a tad under the weather. Something hot that wouldn’t result in too many dishes. And I had (and still have) roast pork available. So. I looked to the internet (shocking, I know) to see what typically gets thrown into a pork stew. The ketchup and the allspice in the below recipe are courtesy of a cream-based thai pork-and-parsnip dish, but the rest of it was born from my usual “what have I got in the fridge” method of ingredient-sellection.
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Pork Stew
In a large pot, over medium heat, combine:
1-2 tbsp butter (melted)
½ C apple juice
2 C cubed left-over (roast) pork
1 small onion, diced
1 small white turnip, peeled and diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
1 small potato, (peeled and) diced
3 dried figs, hard stem removed , cut into eighths (roughly – they should all be in the area of ¼”)[1]
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
½ tbsp each: ketchup, grainy mustard, wheat flour (scatter the flour very lightly over everything, be careful not to let it clump or it will be gross)
½ tsp each: rosemary, allspice, black pepper
Sautee until onions are translucent, then add:
1 C apple juice
1 ½ C vegetable stock (I use the cubes, but do what you will)
Bring to a boil, making sure everything mixes well. Then cover and reduce heat. Allow to cook, simmering, for ~2 hours. Serve and enjoy.
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I might have thrown diced fresh apple (or dried apple, or dried peach) into this instead of the dried figs. I could use white wine or sherry in place of some or all of the apple juice. Mushrooms would make a tasty addition, as would cubed or purreed winter squash, or a couple of cubes of frozen spinach (tossed in part-way through). If I wanted this to be gluten-free, I could use corn-starch or potato-starch in lieu of the flour. Switching out the pork & butter and using (well-rinsed) tinned romano beans and some sesame oil would make it vegan without much difficulty. It would probably lend itself well to left-over turkey meat, as well.
So there you go. I’m currently considering making a batch of savoury tea biscuits or similar to go with it. Not sure what to do for dessert, though. Probably custard. It’s becoming something of a fall-back. 😉
On an unrelated side note: Here. Have a link for how to unravel a sweater in order to re-use the yarn.
TTFN,
Meliad the Birch Maiden.
[1] Not local, I know. Not by a long shot. Though I know you can do black mission figs in a pot. I’m looking forward to having the space (indoors and out) to have my own fig tree in future BUT for now I break my own rules[2] and use the stuff that’s imported from Turkey.
[2] Sort of. Non-perishables are technically okay.
Urban Meliad 