Pork Stew

This is the first of many recorded notes on using the dutch oven. Last night I made the sausage+kale pasta dish. It came out fantastic.

Was looking for a recipe to cook up pork chunks in a dutch oven.  Found this recipe for Jamaican Strew Pork on Delishably and tweaked a few things.

INGREDIENTS

• 3.5 pounds pork chunks
• 1 medium brown onion, chopped
• 2 stalks scallion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 heaping tablespoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon powdered ginger
• 6 table spoons minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice ground
• 1 cup diced carrots

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Set aside meat in a bowl.
2. Add all ingredients except for oil and carrots. Marinate overnight.
3. In a dutch oven, heat oil on high until it's almost smoking. While oil is heating, shake off the scallion, onion, garlic, and all seasoning pieces. Reserve.
4. Add all the pieces of meat to the hot oil and cover. Keep turning the meat to ensure that all sides get browned. Let the pork brown, covered, until all pieces are nice and brown. Keeping the meat covered ensures that the meat does not dry out.
5. When the pork is nice and brown, drain any excess oil, add 2 cup of water, and reduce flames to medium. Cover and boil for at least 2 hours. Keep checking the meat to make sure you don't overcook it. You will know when the pork is tender when the meat starts to fall away from the bone.
6. When the meat is tender, add the reserved seasoning and 1 cup of water, if needed. Reduce flames to medium low. Cover and let simmer until your sauce is nice and consistent to your liking. I like my sauce medium-thick, but you may thicken your sauce to your liking.
7. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
8. Turn off flames when your sauce is ready.

Notes on this recipe.

Plate to hold seared meats

• I started the marinade the night before. I wish I had added a little bit of vinegar to the marinade to soften the meat. Next time.
• I started with a box for the marinade and switched to the bag because the box wasn't large enough and also the bag made it easier to marinade all sides of the pieces.
• The pot was more than adequate in terms of volume size to hold the meat while simmering. Separated the searing into two batches.
• The white pot made it feel like a science experiment. Using tongs to pull specimens out into the pot felt official.

Marinated the pork in a bag

Pot filled with some pieces

Mitts from a good friend. Thanks Dr. D.K.!