Ah, stew. That perennial of autumn favorites. My kids are not particularly fond of beef stew and so I’ve been searching for an alternative. Pork chop (thick cut, no bone) were on sale last week, so I bought a large package. The kids were less than impressed with my apple juice infused pork chops and onions (they were dry and flavorless, hence no post!) so I decided to try using the leftovers in a stew. I googled around and saw that using apples was pretty popular (and sounded really good too!) so I thought I’d give it a try. The result: complete and total success!! Hands down the best stew I’ve ever made. Ever (and I make a damn good stew!)
2 thick cut, boneless pork chops cut into 1″ cubes (you could also use a pound of pork tenderloin)
1/3 GFCF all-purpose flour
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
3-4 tbsp olive or vegetable oil (your preference)
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
4 baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
4 large carrots, peeled, quartered and cut into 1″ pieces
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 cups water
additional spices (garlic powder, chili powder, salt, parsley and oregano as desired)
1/2 cup COLD water
1/3 cup cornstarch
Take pork cubes and pat dry with paper towels. Put flour, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, parsley and oregano into large ziplock bag. Add pork cubes. Zip closed and shake shake shake until all pieces are evenly coated with flour mixture.
Heat skillet on medium-high, add enough oil to cover the bottom plus just a little. Allow oil to heat up for a minute, then add floured pork cubes. Cook pieces on each side for several minutes, browning all pieces thoroughly.
Add onions and continue to cook all pieces, stirring and turning frequently to prevent burning, until onions are translucent.
Remove skillet and put stock pot on same burner. Immediately put contents of skillet into stockpot. Add I cup of water. Add potatoes, carrots and apples. Add a second cup of water. Add seasonings as desired. When water reaches a boil, cover, turn down to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove cover and stir. Dissolve 1/4 cup of cornstarch in 1/2 cup COLD water (imperative that water is COLD, warm or hot water will result in lumps lumps LUMPS!) and whisk until cornstarch is dissolved (takes like 10 seconds.) Slowly pour cornstarch mixture into stew, stirring continuously. Add less or more, depending on how thick you like your stew (we like ours stand-a-fork-in-it thick!)
Cover and continue to let simmer another 30 minute. Check for doneness, by piercing a carrot piece with fork. It should be tender and offer no resistence. Stew takes forever to cool. For younger children, be sure to dish out their bowls and let them sit for at least 10 minutes!! (yes, we found this out the hard way!)
