Recipes: Savoury Pork Stew

In view of Joash's arrival, I anticipate that we will be going through a season of buzz and perhaps even mayhem as we resettle ourselves with a new baby. Hence, I've been psyched to check out one-dish meals that will work on days that may get a little wee too harassing for us to make proper full meals.

I must have browsed through at least 50 different recipes (pastas, soups, stews) before I decide to try out this particular one - Savoury pork stew. You see, with two kids comes two varying sets of pickiness in their choice of food. Therefore, the odds of having a ONE dish meal that will suit both their palate as well as the adults' is stacked high against me. 

And the verdict? Anya hates it. Too herby? Arielle approved it during tasting but rejected it at dinner time. :( The adults, however, loved it. All of us polished off two helpings of it, together with hot crusty  oats loaf  from Cedele slathered with cold butter. Right, my stomach is churning in a good way just at the thought of it. 

All in all, this is one hearty meal that is especially welcoming on a cold, wet evening that makes you go "Mmmmmmm...." while rubbing your satisfied belly at the end of the meal. Plus, it's really easy to make! The recipe you see below is an adaptation of what I took off here. As you will see,I actually changed a few of the items and proportions in order to suit the taste of my family members. Also, note that I opted to caramelize the onions and boil it with the wet ingredients before putting them into the slow cooker as I felt that the dish would be more fragrant that way. Lastly, given the stuff that I put in, I already filled my normal family-size slow cooker to the brim, so do consider going easy on the ingredients if you are cooking for a smaller clan. 

Yields: 4

Ingredients:

Olive oil

500g cubed pork stew meat (what is known as pork butt / shoulder in NTUC)

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

Granulated / powdered garlic to taste (I'm sure fresh chopped garlic works well too)

1 tablespoon of corn starch

5 red potatoes, cut into mouthful chunks

1 carrot, peeled and cut into mouthful chunks 

1 pepper, roughly diced (the recipe actually called for 2 different color peppers while I only used one since the girls and the husband are not fans of it)

1 cup of frozen / canned corn kennels (I personally prefer frozen ones, specifically the super sweet Watties!)

2/3 can of Hunt's diced tomatoes (recipe asks for stewed but I used diced as I was afraid that stewed one will cause the dish to be too tart - the Husband dislike tomatoes in general)

2/3 can of cream of mushroom soup (I used Campbell)

1 1/2 cup of fresh milk

1 1/2 cup of chicken broth (we are not big on beef, hence opted for chicken broth instead)

1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning / herb (seasoning or herb; they mean the same thing)

Method:

1. Marinate pork with salt, pepper, garlic and cornstarch. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Place pork in skillet and cook until lightly browned but not done. Do not wash skillet. 

2. Transfer pork, potatoes, carrots, pepper into slow cooker pot. 

3. Add abit more oil into skillet in low-medium heat. Put in onions, fry till fragrant and slightly translucent. Add in Italian seasoning, fry abit. Add in canned tomatoes, cream of mushroom, milk and chicken broth. Turn up heat and ensure ingredients well-mixed. When boiled, transfer everything into sow cooker and stir to ensure its well mixed with the meat and vegetables. 

4. Cook on high heat for 2 hours then add in corn kernel (corn may be added in earlier with the other vegetables. I only add now because I prefer more crunch to them.). Cook on low heat for another 2 hours. Serve together with heated up bread and butter.