Pork Stew
Ready for the oven
With the cooler weather coming in it is time to cook up some good old fashion comfort food. And for me it can't be any easier than one pot Pork Stew that does most of its cooking in the oven! With a light tomato gravy it is a meal that will have you coming back for seconds! A rich combination of pork, sweet potatoes, and vegetables will definitely warm up the cockles even on the coldest days!
Ingredients
Ingredients
This is a bit more complicated then my usual recipes as you will need to actually use a few pans to cook this in. For the baking in the oven, I use a 3 Quart visionware Pot that works perfectly for pulling out of the oven and straight to the table. Just be sure to use oven mitts as the pan does stay hot for quite a long time. I also was able to use my first pint jar of whole tomatoes I just canned a few weeks ago! They were amazing!
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds Pork loin cut into 1 inch cubes
2 Tablespoons oil
3 Tablespoons Flour
1 Jar or can of Tomatoes around 16 oz (if whole cut up)
1 clove garlic
1 Bay leaf
1/2 Cup Water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon (1 cube)
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce like tobasco
4 Medium Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 Large Onion, cut into wedges
1 Green Bell Pepper sliced into strips
1 10 oz package of frozen peas, thawed (optional sometimes I do sometimes I don't)
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds Pork loin cut into 1 inch cubes
2 Tablespoons oil
3 Tablespoons Flour
1 Jar or can of Tomatoes around 16 oz (if whole cut up)
1 clove garlic
1 Bay leaf
1/2 Cup Water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon (1 cube)
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce like tobasco
4 Medium Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 Large Onion, cut into wedges
1 Green Bell Pepper sliced into strips
1 10 oz package of frozen peas, thawed (optional sometimes I do sometimes I don't)
Step 1 - Get it all together
Get it all together!
Yes I know this is the same picture as the one above. But I can't stress to you how much easier it is if you assemble all the ingredients before you even start. It will make this recipe much more enjoyable if you aren't rushing around the kitchen because you forgot to add an ingredient. This is really important with the flour, tomatoes, water and spices as they will need to be added very quickly to the pan and you don't want to burn your gravy! Once you have assembled everything, it is a good time to cut up everything you need to cut. I usually start with the pork into cubes, then peel and cut up sweet potatoes, followed by the onion and peppers. My jarred sauce actually had a clove of garlic in it so I just removed this and cut it up when I added the tomatoes to the pan (see below). The sauce also had basil in it which is not called for in the recipe, but oh well, I like basil :)
Step 2 - Browning the meat
Browning the pork
This is pretty self explanatory. Using a fry pan, heat oil (I use olive) and add the cubed pork. Cook until almost brown about 8-10 minutes. If your pan is smaller you may have to cook the pork in batches. While pork is cooking you can cut up any additional ingredients that you didn't get to yet.
Step 3 - Start to Assemble Stew Pot
cubed sweet potatoes
While you are waiting for pork to cook, I generally start getting the 3 Quart Pot ready by adding the already peeled and cut up sweet potatoes, peppers and onion wedges. These will cook in the oven so one less job to do! When the meat is done browning, you will spoon the meat into this pot as well. It is also a good time to pre heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Step 4 - Making the gravy
Adding the tomatoes to the fry pan
When the meat is done and removed from pan, quickly add the flour to the left over oil and meat juices. Now add the tomatoes, garlic, bay leaf, sugar, bouillon cube, thyme, oregano, hot sauce and water. Cook this mixture until it is thickened and bubbly. Usually 3-4 minutes or so. I usually allow it to cook down a bit especially when using whole tomatoes.
Step 5 - Putting it all together
Adding gravy to pot
Once you feel your tomato gravy is thickened and bubbly enough... then it is time to add it to the big pot and give it all a good stir! You basically will just fold in the tomato gravy until it covers everything but won't be adding much liquid to the pot. Once it is mixed, place the lid on and pop it in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 1 1/2 hours. At that time if you are adding the peas you will need to remove the pot from the oven and add the peas giving everything a good stir. Put back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes or so until peas are hot.
Remove pot from oven, allow stew to rest for a few minutes and then serve! I usually pair with a nice side salad and some crusty bread! Old fashion goodness at it's best! Enjoy!