Thursday, May 29, 2008

Savory Stewed Pork

The whole house smells amazing right now. Needed to make something with chicken stock I made this week, plus something that would last me with leftovers through the end of the weekend. Not to mention the freezer's overflowing and I need to reduce the frozen larder.

Here's what I came up with. The lovely green pepper flavor is really ethereal through the pork shoulder. You'll need a CrockPot for this one; or, you can use a Dutch oven or other dish for long, slow cooking. Haven't busted out my CrockPot since our family trip to Mammoth in January, so I'm happy to be putting it to good use.

Savory Stewed Pork

Serves 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 11 hours

2 lb pork shoulder piece (if frozen, defrost it!)
2 large carrots, small dice
1 green pepper, small dice
2 large celery stalks, small dice
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried oregano
3 c. chicken stock, preferably homemade
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup V8 or tomato juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp worcheshire sauce
Few dashes hickory smoke powder (substitute a dash of liquid smoke)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp Wolfgang Puck rub

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, small dice
2 tbsp. fresh oregano
1 tbsp fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

Season pork shoulder with olive oil and Wolfgang Puck rub. In a CrockPot, add carrots, pepper, celery, all dried spices, chicken stock, OJ, soy sauce, worcheshire, and smoke powder. Set CrockPot to High heat, cover and cook for 10 hours.

Remove meat, cover and set aside. Put sauce into wide, shallow bowl or dish and de-fat (you can put bowl in the fridge for 30 minutes until the fat hardens on top). Skim off fat.

In saucepan, heat sauce over medium heat to simmer. Add stock or water to adjust consistency of sauce if necessary. Add garlic, onion and cook for 10 minutes. Add fresh herbs, simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. If desired, puree sauce in blender and strain. Season with salt + pepper to taste.

Shred meat, toss in sauce, and serve over pasta, polenta or rice.

Next time:
  • Also add some beer, possibly mexican?
  • Use more salt
  • Try omit V8, add more OJ

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