A Winter Warmer (Meat)

Member Name: perfectly-p

Product:	Meat
Date:	28/01/08 (221 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to prepare in advance

Disadvantages: None

It's wet and windy outside and I need something hot and filling to eat. This is one of my winter favourites which the children love too. It is easy to prepare and can be done well in advanced of when you want to eat. It is also suitable for freezing, so if you have a casserole dish big enough you can make double quantities and keep some for the next week. All my quantities are approximate so you can add or subtract according to personal taste. I have never tried this with a meat substitute but there are many on the market (like quorn) which I guess would work equally well.

So this is what you need:

1lb pork, either fillet or stewing cut into cubes or a meat substitute if you prefer
An onion, chopped
A leek, chopped
2-3 sticks celery depending how long they are
1-2 cooking apples depending on size, peeled, cored & sliced
About 3/4 pint cider or apple juice
Some vegetable stock
1 teaspoon mustard
A pinch each of rosemary, thyme and parsley; or a bouquet garni; or mixed herbs - which ever you have in the cupboard.
A squirt of tomato purée.
Salt and pepper, if liked.


Optional extra - to make a complete meal all in one go I would add some carrot, swede, sweet potato or same baby potatoes straight into the casserole before putting in the oven.

What to do:

Brown the pork cubes in a little butter or oil and transfer to a casserole dish. Gently fry the onions in the same butter or oil until they become transparent. Add the celery, leeks and apples and continue cooking for a couple of minutes mixing together then transfer to the casserole dish with the meat. Squirt in some tomato purée, add the mustard, the herbs and pour in the cider or apple juice. At this point add any of the extra veggies (chopped into small cubes) that you may want. If there is not enough liquid then add some made up vegetable stock. Remember that if you are using a stock cube like Oxo then they have quite a lot of salt so you may not need to add any more later on.

Cook, with the lid on, at about 170°C/ 375°F, or gas mark 3-4 for about 1 - 1 ½ hours in the oven. Check after about an hour, give it a stir, add some more stock if needed and taste for seasoning and add some salt and pepper if you like.

Alternatively this can all go into a slow cooker which is what I normally do. I prepare it before leaving for work mid morning and it is cooked and ready to eat when I get home at about 6.00pm. Another alternative is to use one apple as described above and then add a second (peeled and chopped) about 5 - 10 minutes before serving. This way some apple will still be in chunks. A third option is to coat the cubed pork in seasoned flour before cooking. I do this by putting flour, salt and pepper in a plastic bag, add the cubed meat and give a big shake remembering to hold the top firmly otherwise the kitchen (and you) will be also coated in white flour! This will give a thickened gravy. As you can see, this is a recipe you can adjust according to your tastes.

My children like this casserole with mashed potatoes, broccoli and runner beans; or if you have added some extra veg then simply serve with a large crusty roll to mop up the gravy. This is a perfect meal for a cold winter evening.

This should give four generous portions and anything not eaten can be frozen for another day. If you try a vegetarian version with quorn (or similar) please let me know how it works out.

Enjoy!

©perfectly-p 2008 (aka perfectlypolished)

Summary: A perfect meal for a cold winter evening.