Pork Stew With Pears And Thyme Recipes

PORK STEW WITH PEARS AND THYME

Steps:

• 1. Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper on all sides.Heat large heavy pot (8qt) over medium high heat x a few minutes, then add olive oil
• 2. Lower in pork pieces and cook 3 minutes on a side (till deep caramel in color). Do not try to cram more than one layer, will likely need to do a few batches.Turn heat to medium-low and pour off most of fat (leave thin layer).
• 3. Add in onions and garlic. Cook till softened. Add in broth and wine and scrape bottom of pan with wooden spoon to get up all the caramelized bits
• 4. Add pears, then add back in pork. Tie thyme together with bay leaves and vanilla bean using kitchen twine and nestle between pieces of pork. Cover and cook at a gentle simmer over very low heat until meat is tender, about 2 hours.
• 5. Take out pork and cover loosely. Discard herbs. Add chopped thyme to pot, increase the heat, and boil off liquid until thick enough to coat a spoon (5-10 minutes). Add in parsley and lemon and adjust to taste. Return pork to pan and serve.

CLASSIC HOMESTYLE PORK STEW

Steps:

• Whisk together the flour, salt and pepper. Place the pork in the flour mixture and toss until the pork is coated. Shake off the excess.
• In a large Dutch oven over medium high heat, cook the bacon until it's tender crisp. Remove the bacon and drain on a paper towel lined plate, leaving the drippings.
• Add in the pork and cook in batches until all sides of the cubes are browned. Remove and place on a plate. Add in the onions and saute for 6-7 minutes, or until soft. Add in the garlic and saute another 2 minutes until browned and fragrant.
• Whisk together the broth, Worcestershire, tomato paste, rosemary and thyme. (add red wine now as well if desired).
• Pour a small amount of the stock mixture into the bottom of the Dutch oven and deglaze by scraping the browned bits off of the bottom of the pot. Pour more stock mixture in as needed until the bottom is cleaned and the browned bits have dissolved into the liquid, then add the rest of the broth.
• Add the pork and the bacon back into the pot.
• Add in the vegetables and bay leaves and then stir until combined.
• Bring the mixture to a low boil, cover and reduce the heat.
• Cook for 40-50 minutes, until the pork is fork tender.
• Remove and serve.

PORK STEW WITH PEARS AND SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• If using bone-in ribs, cut away the bones and set aside. Cut pork into 1-inch cubes, sprinkle the ribs evenly with the salt and allow to stand, refrigerated, for at least 1 hour and no more than 12 hours. Move oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.
• Dry pork cubes well and sprinkle generously with pepper. Heat oil over medium-high heat in Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot until shimmering. Working in batches to avoid crowding, brown the pork well (including bones if you have them), transferring to a platter as browned, adding more oil in between batches if needed.
• Add the onions and fennel to the pot and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are transparent, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve any fond on the bottom of the pot. Add the pork (and bones if you have them), sweet potatoes, caraway seeds, allspice, bay leaves and enough chicken stock to just cover the meat. Bring to a simmer, cover and place in oven for 1 hour. Add the pears to the pot, then continue to cook until meat is very tender, about 30 to 45 minutes more.
• Remove bones from pot, stir in lemon juice, then serve stew in bowls, passing mustard separately so people can put a dollop on their stew if desired.