Delicioso!

It comes as no surprise to Fred when I make something good from scratch that's new. It still surprises me, if only because I'm so used to pulling from recipes and simply doing what I already know. The most recent one was what I made for dinner tonight... Pork Stew - or at least, my rendition of one. It's a down-and-dirty, quick stew that's easy to put together and can have extra veggies easily added with a minimum amount of fuss just by adding what you have in the freezer. MMMMmmmm... Much with the happiness.


The first trick, honestly, was getting a cut of pork most people end up ignoring. It's marketed under the name "carne asada" at our local WinCo. It's the cheapest portions of shoulder and butt, with fat still attached to it. If you overcook it, it's tough, but at about a buck a pound, it's cost-effective when you're talking a budget. I picked up some at the market on Sunday and decided tonight to use some of it in the stew.


Pork Stew
Serves: about 6-8 people
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Best with some really thick, hearty bread with a good crust on it.


4 baking potatoes, cleaned and cut into chunks
4 carrots, peeled and sliced into bite-sized chunks
5 stalks celery, cleaned and chopped into bite-sized chunks
1 onion, peeled and chunked
1 tsp rosemary (dried is great, especially if fresh-ground)
1 tsp white pepper

5 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb pork, cleaned and cut into chunks
1 Tbsp butter

1 package pork gravy mix
1 package mushroom gravy mix


Start by filling a large pot with about 2-3 quarts water, and place on high heat until it begins to boil. Add salt and the potatoes, and reduce heat to a medium high. While that's going, prepare the rest of your veggies. Add them to the water along with the rosemary and white pepper.


In a frying pan, melt the butter on medium-high heat, then add the garlic. As soon as you begin to smell it, add the pork and quickly sear until it turns brown. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and add to the pot of water.


Mix the two packets of gravy with one cup of cold water. Bring the stew up to a boil and add the two packets. Stir, and let thicken. If it's not quite thick enough, use corn starch per the directions to thicken further. This is more an in-between stew/soup thing... A Stoup, if you will. One of the nice things is that the baking potatoes are the first part of the thickening stage, which means you won't have to add a lot of extra thickeners to it.


Please feel free to try it out and let me know what you think. :-) It's very filling, though, so be warned...


~M