The TallyCast

Winter is when I make stews and soups.  Today’s was especially delicious.  It was a pork shoulder slow cooked with potato, onions, garlic and apples.   For liquid, I added a little olive oil and some white wine.   Seasonings included salt, pepper, hab sauce and a little English sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 fresh pork shoulder.  Having raised eight hogs in my life, I know the difference between pork raised in a factory and that raised on a farm.   I suggest buying local from Thompson’s farm or your favorite local natural pork producer.  Thompson’s is a free range operation.  They don’t use antibiotics or hormones.    They’re just over the Georgia state line near Boston.  They have a sales room on the farm or you can get their pork at NewLeaf Market.
• 2 cups of washed and cut up potatoes.  I usually leave the skins on.
• 2 medium onions broken down.  I usually chop them rough for stews.
• 2 apples, cleaned, cored and chopped.  Again, rough.
• Two cloves of garlic; chopped fine, crushed or run through a garlic press.
• 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 to 2 cups of dry white wine
• 2 to 4 good size shakes of Louisiana hot sauce.
• salt and pepper
• 1 to 2 shakes of worchester sauce
  

There are two ways I slow cook things; either in a crockpot in the kitchen or in a Dutch oven in the fire.  In the last week, I’ve done both but tonight’s stew was cooked electrically.  Electric crock pots aren’t the most versatile kitchen appliance; but they’re cheap and they rock at cooking big hunks of animal.

I turn the crockpot on high, throw in the meat, the veggies and a little evoo.  Then I go do something else; in this case, make a run at cleaning out my car.  An hour or three later, I throw in some wine and the garlic (crushed).  I put the lid back on and turn it to medium.  A couple of hours before serving, I give it a stir, add the seasonings and turn it back on high.

There is a balance between the amount of solid things you put in (especially the potatoes).  If you need a rule of thumb, start off with only putting half the wine in that you think you’re going to use.  Wait an hour and see how thick the stew is.  If it’s too thin, turn up the heat.  If it’s too thick, add more wine.

When it’s done, the meat should have mostly fallen off the bone and the gravy should be the thickness you like it.

Serve with a bitter green salad, good bread and if you do ethanol, white wine or Belgian ale.

Enjoy.