Southern Inspired Pork Stew combines well-browned pork, seasonings and two staples of Southern U.S. cooking, black-eyed peas and okra, into a delicious and hearty stew. The different ingredients combine their flavors and textures into a chunky but silky stew perfect for cooler weather dining. Chipotle peppers in adobo add a subtle, spicy, smoky element to the stew and perfectly complement the other seasonings. We recommend a starter of Grilled Radicchio and Arugula Salad followed by Southern Inspired Pork Stew, accompanied by a light, dry red wine for a wonderful weekend dinner.
Total Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes. Serves 6.
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Ingredients:
- 2 cups uncooked Black-Eyed Peas
- 3 Tbs Cooking Oil (Olive/Canola Oil blend recommended)
- 2 – 2 ½ lbs boneless Pork Cushion Meat
- 2 cups chopped Onion
- 2 cups sliced Celery
- 2 Tbs minced Garlic
- 2 Green Bell Peppers
- 2 Pasilla Chilis
- ½ tsp coarse Sea Salt
- 6 whole Cloves
- ½ Tb dried Oregano leaves
- 1 tsp dried Thyme leaves
- ½ Tb ground Cumin
- 1 tsp ground Sage
- 3 Bay Leaves, preferably fresh
- 4 oz Chipotle Peppers in Adobo
- 1 cup low sodium Beef Broth
- 1 ½ cups Water
- 1 lb Okra
- 4 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar
Preparation:
- Rinse the black-eyed peas and place in a 3-quart saucepan with water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour.
- Pour the cooking oil in a 5-quart Dutch oven over a medium-high heat. Cut the pork cushion meat into 6 pieces and place in the hot oil, cover and brown the pork pieces on all sides, approximately 20 minutes.
- While the pork is browning, chop the onion, slice the celery, mince the garlic, core, stem and deseed the peppers and chilis and cut into approximately 1-inch pieces; combine all the vegetables in a bowl.
- Remove the browned pork pieces to a bowl and set aside.
- Roughly chop the chipotle peppers and add to the Dutch oven, along with some of the adobo sauce, the vegetables and sea salt to the Dutch oven, stir, cover and cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften.
- Combine the seasonings (cloves, oregano, thyme, cumin, sage and bay leaves) and stir into the softened vegetables.
- Return the browned pork pieces and any juices to the Dutch oven on top of the vegetables. Pour the beef broth and water over the pork, and spoon the drained, par-boiled black-eyed peas over the pork in the Dutch oven. Raise the heat and bring the stew to a boil, then lower the heat and cook, covered, at a rolling boil for one hour.
- Trim the stems and crowns from the okra and cut into ½-inch round slices. After the pork, vegetables and black-eyed peas have cooked for an hour, stir the okra and apple cider vinegar to the Dutch oven, cover and continue to cook for another hour.
- Remove the stew from the heat and use a cooking spoon to break up any of the pork pieces which have not fallen apart. Remove the bay leaves and let the stew rest for five minutes. Serve Southern Inspired Pork Stew in large deep bowls and enjoy.
Note:
- Leftover Southern Inspired Pork Stew can be kept in covered containers and refrigerated or frozen for later use.