Stewed Champagne Pork With Root Vegetables

Winter is stew time, chili time, roast vegetable time, built a fire and sip some champagne time.  Outside it’s frosty, snowing.  Winds rip through you like an icy knife.  

Know a great…not just good…stew recipe?  Oh, hell yeah!

Bursting with melded vegetable favors, herbs, apple juice, champagne, and of course…..Pork!, this redolent  stew will make nostrils flare like beach umbrellas and your taste buds forget about whiskey and women.  Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration.  Who can forget about whiskey?  But, it’ll come damn close.

Listen carefully, cause I’m only going to say this twice:  The Key is Good Pork.

I used a well-marbled, pork shoulder, but the cut is not as important as the meat itself.  We’ve come to assume: “Pork, the other white meat!”

Here’s a secret.  Swine enhanced by growth hormones, anti-biotic flim-flam, and unnatural feeds produce white meat.  Pork raised correctly is not white.  Feed ‘em well, let ‘em wander the barnyard, and you’ve got happy pigs.  But, how can you tell?  Let your eyes do the work:  Pork should be as red as beef.  If you see pale pink or nearly white pork, treat it like you would gray beef.

Now that you’ve mastered today’s lesson, here’s a fabulous recipe that will make your guests swoon and your true love promise to love you forever…or at least through the weekend.

Stewed Champagne Pork with Root Vegetables

Feeds 4

1 ½ pounds well-marbled, pork shoulder! (cut into one inch cubes)

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil (I use Safflower Oil)

1 Large leek (white and light green parts only) thinly sliced into rounds

3 Cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

3 Sprigs of fresh thyme (I toss in the whole sprigs, stems and all)

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

¾ Cup natural apple juice (the cloudy kind, not clear)

¾ Cup dry Champagne or sparkling wine

2 ½ Cups low-sodium chicken broth (if you’re using packets, use 3 for 2 ½ Cups water)

1 Large parsnip, peeled and chunked

2-3 Stalks celery, rinsed and cut crosswise into bits

2 medium carrots, peeled and chunked

Season the pork with salt and pepper.  Put part of the oil in a deep pan (or Dutch oven) and heat to medium high.  Cook the pork in batches, for 5-7 minutes or until mildly browned.  As the pork is cooked, transfer it to a plate.

Add the rest of the oil and the leeks, garlic, and thyme.  Cook a few minutes until the leek is wilted.  Stir in the flour for a minute or so.

Add the apple juice and champagne and bring to a quick boil.  Use a long spoon, or spatula to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the broth and toss in the pork.  Add the vegetables.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer.  Cover the pot and cook for an hour. (Careful not to boil away all the liquid!)

Season with salt and pepper.

I served this with English peas and mashed potatoes.

Drink the rest of the Champagne and use those last few crusty bits of baguette to good advantage!

Watch the women go wild and the husbands get nervous.