A few weeks ago I found a big stack of "Saveur" magazines. I'd never heard of it. It's presented as... an award-winning food and travel publication that covers the world of authentic cuisine. All of the copies were 50 cents.
I was duly impressed.
I bought about half of them. I love looking at the photos and reading the recipes. But I told Dave there's no way I would ever make any of them. While there's no calorie count at the end of the recipes, they're all complicated, full of fat, and call for multiple ingredients, many of which I never heard of.
Then Dave read the copy pictured above and announced that we should make the hearty stew pictured. He actually said we should make two recipes but one called for lard and I had to veto that.
We made the stew today. This recipe was very simple compared to most of the others. Other than cutting it in half we did just what the recipe called for.
We both enjoyed eating it and plan to have it sometime for guests. It's beautiful and very tasty. But it's been three hours and I'm still a little too full and too thirsty. I'm drinking water like crazy and picturing those prunes and apricots swelling up in my belly.
Try it yourself and let me know what you think. (We passed on the buttered potatoes.)
Svinina v Kislo-Sladkom Souse
(Pork Stew with Dried Apricots and Prunes)
Serves 6 - 8
As the apricots and prunes cook, some of them will fall apart and thicken the sauce. Serve this stew accompanied by boiled potatoes, butter and garnished with chopped parsley, if you like.
3lbs. boneless pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tbsp. vegetable oil
6 carrots, peeled, trimmed and sliced crosswise
4 tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup dried apricots
l lb. white boiling onions, peeled, each cut into 6 wedges
1 cup pitted prunes
1. Season pork with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tbsp. of the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium high heat. Add pork and cook, stirring occasionally, until meat releases its juices and is no longer pink all over, about 5 minutes. Add carrots and cook until slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and 5 cups of water, then add apricots. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and gently simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until deep golden brown, about 15 minutes. Set onions aside.
Add onions and prunes to stew and continue to simmer over medium low heat until pork is tender and sauce has thickened, about 30 minutes more. Adjust seasonings.
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| My serving of the stew Dave and I made today. *** |
