To me, there's nothing like comfort food, especially on an overcast, drizzly day. This is another kid-friendly meal, part of a series I've been doing along with the Parmesan Chicken Strips and the Mac and Cheese I've done so far.
I enjoy cooking for kids, because it forces me to strip recipes back to the basics. Kids can be picky eaters, to be sure, but cooks have to be aware that children are supertasters, born with far more taste buds than they'll have in adulthood, so they're very sensitive to seasoning and heat. So as much as I love to build sophisticated flavors, such as exist in Survival Spice™, I made this dish with just kosher salt and a tiny bit of black pepper.
I've spent the last year resetting my pallete, getting back to basics with my cooking, and I can't tell you how gratifying it is to bite into a beautifully tender piece of pork and having it taste like, well, pork! Try doing this occasionally when you burn out on your dishes, I think it will make you a better cook.
TPC's Simple Pork stew for Kids
Pork butt, 4 or 5 pounds, fat trimmed, cut into large chunks or bite sized pieces.
Water to cover
Flour for roux, 1/4 C or so, add it a bit at a time
2 cans chicken broth
Canola or other light oil for roux
Kosher salt, black pepper
Easy way:
Brown your chunks of pork, add your flour and a little more oil if you need it, and cook to remove the raw taste of the flour.
Add the chicken broth and add enough water to cover the pork by 2 inches and simmer until tender, about an hour or 2 hours.
Slow method:
Leave your pork in large chunks. Brown them until crispy outside, then cover with water and simmer 90 minutes. Remove the pork, cool the broth overnight. Next day, remove the fat from the broth.
Make a light roux with oil and flour, you don't need a lot of color, but it should be at least a proper blond roux, when it smells like popcorn, it's fine. Carefully add the chicken broth off the heat, it will try to spatter, so be careful! Add the pork broth you've defatted, and get it boiling while you're cutting your pork into bite sized pieces. Once it's reduced a bit and starts to look like gravy, reduce the heat and add the pork. Simmer gently at least an hour until you can't stand it.
Ladle over mashed potatoes, and enjoy with fresh baby peas, or a green salad.
I know this may come as a surprise, but I enjoy the simple happy meals like this more than some fancy spread. Your meal just screams love at the top of its voice. LOVE !!! DO YOU HEAR ME? NO? THEN I'LL MAKE GRAVY !!! No one can pass that up.
Biggles
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! You're beautiful, Biggles.