Pork and Apricot Stew from The Careless Cook
As my three loyal readers know, my meal planning usually involves no planning. Well, except for wine. There will be wine.
But, when visions of pork stew began to float through my head, my next step was on the accelerator as I headed to the grocers. Yes, a big pile of chopped pork stew meat was first on the mental list. See, I prefer mental lists because there’s no trouble changing and rearranging things, which came in handy when the grocer had no pork stew meat.
I was a man on a mission and a little thing like that was no deterrence for The Careless Cook. I spotted cubed pork steaks and my fingers twitched. Then my agile mind pictured dried, but still juicy apricots, which I remembered from days long past. Then one by one the other ingredients (I have thoughtfully included a photo) popped loudly and found their way into my basket.
Time to cook!
Ingredients
1 ½ pounds of pork, chopped into cubes, or whatever.
1 onion roughly chopped
1 green bell pepper, also chopped I think we got a rhythm going!
1 package of sliced mushrooms
1 package of sliced carrots
1 large handful of dried apricots
32 ounce carton of chicken broth
A hefty sprinkle of herbes de Provence or herbs of your choosing
Fresh basil leaves for garnish (I sliced some and left some whole)
Salt and pepper to taste
Putin’ It Together
Slosh some olive oil in a large pot and add the pork. Cook until it loses color, then add the onions and cook until the onions wilt.
Add the remainder of the vegetables, along with the apricots, chicken stock and herbs. Put a lid on it and bring to a boil.
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Reduce heat and cook until the vegetables are soft.
Serving suggestions: Serve over rice or couscous. White wine of choice. I served my stew with Pinot Gris.
Ever thoughtful of my guests, I baked some flat bread. Recipe below.
Note: If you like your stew thicker, I suggest a mixture of butter and flour. I added a couple of tablespoons to the stew.
Flat Bread
2 cups flour (all purpose or bread flour are both fine)
1 teaspoon yeast (I use the TLAR method….That Looks About Right)
1 teaspoon sugar (TLAR)
olive oil – check the recipe for use
½ teaspoon salt – plus rough salt for sprinkling on top
¾ to 1 cup of very warm water (How warm? Not boiling but uncomfortable for your fingertips)
Makin’ and Bakin’
Add all ingredients to a bowl, except the oil and mix well. I used a handheld electric mixer, then formed it into two balls.
I oiled my palms and coated the balls with oil, placed them back in the bowl, covered the bowl with plastic wrap and put the bowl in a cool oven, with the oven light on.
The dough needs to rise about an hour. Remove from the oven.
Heat oven to 450ºF
On a floured surface, stretch and flatten the risen dough to about half an inch thick, spray it, or brush it with olive oil and sprinkle on a sparse amount of rough salt.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven. Bread should be barely browned in spots. Bake it too long and you can use it for a ping pong paddle.
Slosh some more wine in your guests' glasses. You won't be sitting long before you hear bellowing cries for more.
