Don’t you love meat cooked for long enough that it just falls apart? Mmmmm, I do. When I don’t want to take 6-8 hours in the slow cooker to achieve that fork-tender loveliness from a lean cut, I’ll use the stove top and a 90 -120 minute simmer. Heck, I do work from home.
I almost shed a tear when the last serving of this stew was eaten. I need to make this again, soon. It was delicious. I love the spice level, the warmth of a lot of ginger and cumin, and the huge chunks of vegetables. Like many stews, this is even better the day after you make it. Leftovers for the win. This recipe served two hungry active people 3 meals each, so it saved me some prep time down the road, too.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil (or other oil or butter) 1 kg (2.2 lbs) pork sirloin, cut into 2″ cubes 2 tablespoons cumin 1/3 cup peeled and minced gingerroot 5 garlic cloves, chopped 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes (including liquid) 3 jalapenos, seeded and chopped 500 g yams, cut into 2″ cubes (Peel if you want. I don’t. More vitamins, fiber, potassium) 6 ribs celery, chopped 400 g carrots (3 large) 2″ cubes 750 ml water (3 cups) 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground cloves 1/4 tsp cayenne pepperDirections
1. Start with a big soup pot (one with a lid). Heat the oil over medium-high heat and add the pork cubes. Turn as needed to brown them on all sides.
2. Add the cumin, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and jalapenos, and stir it up. When it starts to boil, turn the heat down to low and cover. Let it simmer for an hour.
3. Add the yams, celery, carrots, water, salt, cloves and cayenne pepper to the pot and stir. Cover again and simmer until the potatoes are tender (about 40 minutes), but not so long that they fall apart. (Not that it’s worth crying about if they do, you just have thicker stew and no potato chunks to bite into.) Taste and adjust salt and cayenne if you want it saltier or hotter.
Serves 6
**You might notice the green peas peeking out in the photo. That was something I added to one of the bowls of leftovers. Peas are not in the recipe, but if you like them, by all means, add them!
Mary September 10, 2012 at 6:34 am
I just pinned this and CANNOT wait to make it! It looks so yummy and like something my one-year-old and (extremely picky) husband would enjoy!
admin September 10, 2012 at 9:22 am
Yay, Mary! Glad youre so excited. Please let me know what you and they think of it! -Georgie
Jaime September 11, 2012 at 5:32 am
No onions or allspice? I suppose one can always tweak the recipe… Thanks for sharing! It’s in my cookbook ready to be tried, but I’ll be using the slowcooker method. Cheers!
krystal September 11, 2012 at 3:34 pm
How do I adapt this to use a slow cooker?
admin September 11, 2012 at 5:21 pm
Krystal – To make in a slow cooker, I’d put all the ingredients besides the yams in the crock and cook on low for 6-7 hours, then add the potatoes for the last 2 hours. If you add them at the beginning they’ll fall apart.
Cynthia September 13, 2012 at 3:59 am
Looks great with all of this cool weather we’ve had here in Colorado lately!