Lucy’s pork stew is the perfect winter warm – slow cooked to perfection and jam packed full of healthy vegetables!
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 500g shoulder of pork
- Smoked bacon lardons
- 1x sliced onion
- 1 pack of mushrooms, cut into quarters
- 2 carrots, cut in to small chunks
- 2 parsnips, cut in to small chunks
- 1 large leek
- 1 tin of butter beans
- 1 bottle of cider (for a good strong Cider, why not ask at Cobbett’s)
- Small glass of cider vinegar
- Reuben’s Spice mix
- Handful of plain flour
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed and finally sliced
- Large sprig of thyme
- Large sprig or parsley
- 6 sage leaves
- 1 bay leaf
Method
- Toss the flour in a bowl with the salt, pepper and as much Reuben’s Rub as you fancy.
- Coat the pork in the flour mix and then sear the meat in a large frying pan until golden with a drop of olive oil. Transfer the pork in to a casserole dish, on a low heat.
- De-glaze the frying pan with the cider vinegar and bottle of cider, making sure you get all the great flavours of the bottom of the pan. Pour this in to the casserole dish.
- Add another small glug of olive oil to the frying pan and on a low heat, fry the bacon lardons until crisp, 2 minutes in add the chopped onions and mushrooms – 7-8 minutes in total.
- Transfer the bacon and onion mixture to the casserole dish.
- Pan fry the carrots, parsnips and leeks for 2 – 3 mins to infuse the bacon juices and then transfer to the casserole dish.
- Add the herbs and garlic to the casserole and top the liquid up so that all of the ingredients are covered with chicken stock.
- Slow cook on a gentle simmer for 2 hours and then add the butter beans. Cook for a further hour or longer if needed, on a slow simmer.
- Serve with mashed potato topped with chopped parsley.