Day 109: Spanish pork stew

I’ve mentioned before in this blog why I love one-pot recipes but here’s a rundown just in case you missed it, Firstly, only one pot to wash. Secondly, the recipe usually doesn’t require a lot of preparation; basically, all the ingredients are flung in. Thirdly, although they usually require a fair bit of cooking time, they need the minimum amount of attention so I can get on with doing other things about the house without having to repeatedly return to the kitchen to stir things or check if the pot is boiling dry. And now, I have another one-pot wonder to add to my repertoire as today’s recipe was Spanish pork stew.

Out came the big casserole dish for this one and I began by adding olive oil to it. Next was the pork. I bought a boneless shoulder of pork and had to dice it up. Of course, I used the latex gloves for that part as it made it all the more fathomable. I’m not an expert on meats but basically I cut off the skin and fat and, when I was dicing and found wee white bits (which I wasn’t sure if it was fat or gristle), I cut them too. So, on a high heat, I added the seasoned pieces of pork and let it fry for 5 minutes until the meat was brown all over. My good old friend chorizo was the next ingredient in this recipe and I had to dice it up too. I’m not sure which way is the best way to dice a chorizo but the way I did it was cut it in half, remove the skin (by slitting it on either side and pulling it away) and then I sliced it into 1cm slices which I quartered. So, into the pan the chorizo went along with two diced red peppers, two sliced onions and five chopped cloves of garlic. I reduced the heat and let it simmer for 8 minutes. At that stage, I added tomato purée, red wine vinegar, two cans of chopped tomatoes, caster sugar and chicken stock. On went the lid and I brought it up to the boil before transferring it to the oven. The recipe then cooked for one hour at which point I added new potatoes, back on with the lid and into the oven for another 50 minutes. The new potatoes which I used were a fair size so I quartered them but I’d say next time, I would probably use the baby boiled potatoes instead.

The verdict…

Full marks from Dear Husband so another 10 out of 10. He said the dish was something extremely different and it kind of reminded him slightly of sweet and sour chicken. Unfortunately, it was a no-go with Dear Son. I mentioned already why I love one-pot dishes and although this one probably took slightly longer to prepare than most, I will most definitely make it again. The only time-consuming bit for me really was dicing the pork. I had loads left over so I was able to batch freeze five more portions into those wee disposable silver trays I often buy so there are five occasions in the foreseeable future where all I will have to do is bung one into the oven. A total win-win recipe. And that my friends brings my summer to a close as I am officially back at work tomorrow and at least the last dinner of the summer was a truly excellent one…