Low Carb Curried Pork Stew

A couple of things you should know about me.  Don’t care to know? Fine!  Skip down to the semi-fabulous recipe that can cook while you’re off to visit your busy day and still feed your ungrateful family who has no idea how hard you work and all the things you do for them daily.

But, enough about you.  Let’s get back to me and the things you should know.  I love to cook…scratch that…I love to empress people with my cooking.  I only invite people who are exuberantly thrilled to be impressed.  I am also lazy…well not really lazy….ok, really lazy.  I like to work at a frenzy, then casually sip a wine or three with my freeloading friends, while the spectacularly delicious meal takes care of itself.  Lots of ways to do that and one of my favorites goes under the unremarkable heading of stew.

In my never ending search for the unremarkably remarkable, I chanced upon a stew recipe that with just a bit of tweaking could turn a suburbanite’s common Mustang into a fire-spitting Shelby Cobra.  I know, I know.  Mixed metaphors.  First cooking, then screaming sports cars.  But, that fire-spitting Shelby Cobra sticks In your mind, n’est pas?  Mission Accomplished!

On to the recipe.

Low Carb Curried Pork Stew

Hint:  If you’re getting an early morning start, cook this stew the night before.

Pre-heat your oven to 275ºF (140ºC)

1 Pound (or a bit more) of either cooked, or raw pork.  I used some of each.

3 cloves of fresh garlic, thinly sliced

Salt and pepper to taste or about ½ teaspoon each

6 Ounces button mushrooms, washed and quartered

½ Medium onion, diced

½ Red bell pepper, sliced

½ Green bell pepper, sliced

1 Large parsnip, julienned

4 Tablespoons of your favorite concentrated curry paste.  I use Patak’s.

1 Can (about 1 ½ to 2 Cups) double strength beef broth, undiluted

2 Cups chicken broth

Juice of ½ Lime to finish

Puttin’ It All Together:

If you’re using raw pork, drop a tablespoon or two of oil in a frying pan and lightly brown the meat, adding salt and pepper.  Don’t worry about the pork not cooking completely!  The stew will be in the oven a few hours.

Put the vegetables in a large skillet and lightly cook them.  This reduces the water in the vegetables and intensifies the flavor. 

In your stew pot, put a bit of oil and the minced onions and garlic slices. Cook until they wilt.  Add all the pork and stir.

Add the beef and chicken broths and bring to a boil.  Add the curry paste and stir well.  Add the vegetables.

Put a top on your stew pot, slip it into the 275ºF (140ºC) oven and go do something else for three hours.

When the stew comes out of the oven, taste, and add salt and pepper as necessary.

Squeeze the juice of half a lime over the stew and stir.

Ladle the stew into bowls and serve with a slice of lime.

This stew goes well with either swilling a beer, or sipping a Pinot Grigio!