Stew it simple, stupid

Pork stew, poblano peppers, oven roasted tomatoes, jasmine rice and lime

 It's cold here in CT, so stew/braising time is upon us.  Cold salads aren't hitting the spot anymore.  We need meat coated in warm, thickened liquids. Flavorful liquids.  Ones that were flavored with meat before being stewed with meat.  This dish is satisfying beyond belief. First, because it tastes wicked good. Second, because it is ridiculously easy to make. Stewing is not a hard culinary task.  In fact, its easy enough that by just watching someone do it or sifting though a few recipes you could get it down on your first or second try. The important steps I will highlight now for you,

 

*aaahemm*

Use Home Made Stock

That swanson garbage will not do.  Bullion cubes are for barnyard salt-licks. I understand that it seems like a lot to go though, especially since I am claiming that it is a simple recipe, but believe me when I tell you that it is want makes this whole dish taste so good.  If you don't have the time or just want to be really lazy, I'd rather see you use tap water than canned chicken flavored water, ewwguhhhh...

Sear the meat! 

Ok, physics 101.  Cold Meat + Moderately Heated Pan =  no sear.  The pan needs to be hot, no question about that.  Yes, grease will splatter.  Yes some smoke in your kitchen will accumulate (disable your smoke detectors for a few minutes maybe?) and yes you should use extra caution.  But the truth of the matter is that skipping this step or not doing a good job at it will result in a bland stew.  When meat is seared it changes the flavor of the meat.  It is called a maillard reaction.  Without getting all sciencey on ya, it kinda like carmelization, except when protein is involved, the compounds that make up the meat's flavor change on a molecular level and.... ok, you get the picture:  Sear on high heat and be careful not to burn the pan.

Using the oven to stew

All that brown stuff that sticks to the pan is flavor right?  So to release that flavor, we deglaze the pan after the veggies have been sauteed.  The french call is fond.  I call it tasty.  With that said, you should also stew this thing in the oven instead of on the stove top.  Sure, you can do it on the burner, but oven stewing with the lid off will increase the flavor.  In the biz we call is top-fond.  You will notice that a layer of dark brown skin will form on top of the stew while it cooks.  This is good!  Every time you go in to stir, you are working that layer of browned stuff into the liquid.  This is formed from the gelatin that exits the meat as it cooks (formerly known as collagen) It gets gooey and sticks to the spoon, but work it in, you'll be happy you did.

Recipe is in the recipes section.  Do It!