Pork Cider Stew

Pork Cider Stew. Dish: Aaron Sanchez , Napkin: Pier 1 Imports, Spoon: Washington Forge

It's no secret that Autumn is my favorite time of year. The harvest is brought in, the days turn cooler and the sky is never bluer. Many of the vegetables and fruits harvested at this time of year are my favorites, as well. Squashes, pumpkins and apples to name a few.

This stew has it all, tender pork, chunks of creamy acorn squash, sweet potatoes and crisp tart apple. It is a bit on the sweet side, so you can substitute all white potato for the squash and sweet potatoes if you like. My children and I thought it was perfect as is.

It doesn't need a huge amount of cooking time for the pork to get tender making this a little faster than you may think.

Pork Cider Stew
Serves: 8
Hands-On Time: 20 minutes
Ready In: 1 hour 20 minutes

1 1/2 pounds pork cubes - 1 to 1 1/2 inches
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 medium carrots - peeled and cubed
1 medium onion - diced
1 stalk celery - diced
2 cloves garlic - minced
2 springs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
2 cups  apple cider
1 cup chicken stock
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 Granny Smith apple -  chopped
1 cup sweet potato - peeled and cubed
1 cup white potatoes - peeled and cubed
1 cup acorn squash - peeled and cubed

1. Combine flour, salt and pepper and stir. Coat the meat cubes with the flour mixture and shake off excess.
2. In a large heavy bottomed soup pot, heat oil over medium-high heat and add pork. Brown on all sides.
3. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until veggies are translucent.
4. Pour in cider and vinegar. Stir and add remaining vegetables, apple thyme and chicken stock.
5. Stir well and turn to a simmer. Cover with a lid and cook, stirring every so often, for an hour or until meat and vegetables are tender.
6. Thicken if needed and serve.

Moroccan Spiced Beef Stew with Sweet Potato Dumplings

This recipe is a creation based on one I have posted at Cooking with Anne. I took a traditional beef stew and twisted it slightly with Moroccan spices and the addition of sweet potato dumplings.

Moroccan Spiced Beef StewServes 6-8

Printable Recipe

2 Tablespoons oil

2 pounds beef stew cubes

2 large sweet potatoes - peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 large white potatoes - peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 large carrots - peeled and cut into 1 inch lengths

1 medium onion - cut into chunks

8 cups beef stock

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1 -2 teaspoons cayenne pepper - this depends on your tastes

2 teaspoons salt

1. Heat oil in a large heavy soup pot and brown beef cubes well.

2. Add stock and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for another 30 minutes, or until vegetable are tender.

4. Thicken with flour and water now or wait until dumplings are done cooking.

Sweet Potato Dumplings

Makes 15 - 20 small dumplings

1/2 cup mashed sweet potato

1/2 cup milk

1 large egg

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1. Combine sweet potato, milk and egg and stir until smooth.
2. Mix together flour, salt and baking powder and add to wet ingredients.

3. Stir well until a sticky dough forms.

4. Bring stew to a simmer and drop dumpling dough by teaspoonful onto hot liquid. Lid the pot.

5. Simmer for 10 minutes with lid on until dumplings are puffy and cooked through.

6. Thicken stew now, if desired.