It's Dinner Time!
After going through the Outlander Cookbook I wanted to make something savory and a bit different than what I normally lean towards. Which means something meaty LOL! I thought that Craig would appreciate a good meat dish, so I settled on the Ragoo'd Pork, and boy was he happy!
Alright, let's get started! First we need to prepare the meat. Not my favorite part of cooking, but it had to be done to satisfy the meat-a-saurus in our family he he.
The recipe calls for 4 to 5 pounds of boneless pork shoulder cut into 6 or 8 pieces. Don't worry about size variations of each piece, you will end up shredding the tender pork.
Next sprinkle 1/4 cup of flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper into a pan. You will then dredge the pork pieces in the flour, cover all sides.
In a large pot, or whatever kind of Dutch oven/stock pot you have, melt 1/4 butter over medium heat. Once the butter is bubbling place half of the pork pieces into the pot to sizzle. Leave space in between the pieces and cook until all sides are browned. Move cooked pieces to a plate and repeat with the remaining pork.
While you're cooking the pork, gather up 2 sprigs of thyme, 2 bay leaves, 1 rosemary sprig and 1 strips of lemon zest for your seasoning/garnishes. You will want to enclose these items into a tea ball or small cheese cloth. Set aside for now. I love that the cookbook calls them a bouquet garni, so cute! Next, once all meat has been cooked and removed, it's time to create the stew. In the same pot add 1 large chopped onion (julienned preferably) and scrape up any browned meat bits. Stir constantly until the onions are a golden color. Then add in 1 tbs tomato paste and stir for about 1 minute. Pour in 1 cup of red wine, to dilute the meat sediments, and bring to a boil. Then add 1 cup of chicken stock, 3 garlic cloves, 1 tbs Worcester sauce and all pork pieces.
This is when you will add your bouquet garni. Sadly I had neither a cheese cloth or tea ball, so when it was time to plunge them into the stew and then remove, I just picked the pieces out. This didn't detract from the overall taste wheeew! Then reduce heat, cover and let the stew simmer until the meat is tender. This takes about 3 hours.
After you have waited FOR-EV-ER, remove the bouquet and skim any fat from the stews surface. Shred the pork pieces, 2 forks are actually the easiest way. Congrats you have created a delicious hearty ragoo'd pork!
I went ahead and made some wheat pasta to accompany the ragoo, much like the Italian version of this dish. It's a little funny to create something that I don't intend on eating but my thrill comes from trying something new and pleasing someone's taste buds. In this instance I also got pasta and our kitchen smelled delicious! Craig's take, "the ragoo is authentic, hearty and satisfying. Pairs well with some more red wine! With dinner a success, thank you Theresa Carle-Sanders, this recipe also yielded some tasty leftovers.
In case you were curious, Jack pretty much slept through most of this process LOL! He was a bit disappointed that the pork wasn't for him.
Cheers, Bunny
