Today I went out in the first snowfall of the season and cut kale for tonight’s dinner. It’s the second time I’m making this fine stew, which I found when I was looking for savory dishes with pumpkin.
I couldn’t believe my luck at finding a stew that included all the ingredients I had just harvested and some I had stored: kale, pumpkin, turnips, canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, and that’s all. That’s all! Well, and pork, which I got from the Farmer’s Market from a woman who raises British White cows and pigs in Albany, three towns over.
I most love the recipes that can be made entirely from home-grown ingredients. It is a measure of how much life has changed in my kitchen that I’ve been feeling melancholy that I don’t have a daily harvest anymore. Where did all the veggies go?? I didn’t put up nearly enough of anything, even the herbs are almost gone, and we’re back where we started in May, with one or two ingredients to use instead of seven or eight. Soon enough I’ll be forced (gulp) back to the produce aisle…
But tonight Steve’s daughter Catherine and her boyfriend Homer are arriving from NYC for a long weekend and we will eat of the garden’s bounty. I can smell the stew right now and it smells delicious.
(I cut the oven time to a total of 90 minutes. I added the turnips after 40 minutes and the pumpkin after 15 more. The pumpkin was completely cooked but still firm; if you want it to start breaking up, cook it longer. I learned the first time that pumpkin cooks faster than butternut squash!)
Pork and Pumpkin Stew
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
a 14- to 16-ounce can tomatoes, including the juice
1 1/2 cups water
1 pound turnips, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cups chopped washed turnip greens or kale
a 2-pound pumpkin (preferably a sugar pumpkin), seeded, reserving the seeds for toasting if desired, peeled, and cut into 1-inch pieces
steamed rice as an accompaniment
In a heavy kettle heat the oil over moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking and in it brown the pork, patted dry, in batches, transferring it with a slotted spoon to a bowl as it is browned. Add the onions to the kettle, cook them, stirring occasionally, until they are golden, and stir in the garlic. Add the tomatoes with their juice, breaking them up, the water, and the pork with any juices that have accumulated in the bowl, bring the mixture to a boil, and braise the stew, covered, in the middle of a preheated 350° F. oven for 1 hour. Stir in the turnips and braise the stew, covered, for 20 minutes. Stir in the greens and the pumpkin and braise the stew, covered, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is tender. Season the stew with salt and pepper and serve it with the rice.
Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pork-and-Pumpkin-Stew-10668#ixzz2APYCo0sT