Tender pork, potatoes, mushrooms, green beans and red pepper in a thick onion gravy, with pear balsamic and Dijon standing in for wine. Hearty and full of vegetables with no cream, and made for dunking crusty bread.
1½ lb pork stew meat, in 1-inch cubes, fully thawed
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
½ tsp black pepper
2 tbsp oil
6 oz mushrooms (about 9 large), quartered
1 large onion, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp pear-infused balsamic vinegar (or another sweet, fruity balsamic)
3 cups warm water
1 tbsp bouillon paste
1 tbsp Dijon or stone-ground mustard
½ tsp ground thyme
¼ tsp ground sage
1¼ lb potatoes (about 4 medium), cut into ½-inch dice
1 cup green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp butter, for a richer sauce
Pat the pork very dry and season it with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat and brown the pork in batches so it sears instead of steaming. You only want color here, not cooked through. Move it to a plate.
Brown the mushrooms in the same pot for 4 to 5 minutes, then set them aside with the pork.
Add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook 8 to 10 minutes, scraping up the browned bits as it softens, until golden. Add the garlic for the last minute.
Sprinkle in the flour and stir for a minute. Pour in the balsamic and scrape the bottom of the pot clean.
Stir in the warm water a little at a time, then the bouillon paste, mustard, thyme and sage. Return the pork and mushrooms and add the potatoes. Bring it to a simmer, cover and cook at a bare simmer for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring the bottom now and then so the gravy doesn't scorch, until the potatoes and pork are tender.
Add the green beans and bell pepper for the last 8 to 10 minutes so they stay bright with a little bite.
Take the pot off the heat and stir in the butter, if using. Taste and salt it well. It will likely need more than you think. Serve with crusty bread, or spooned into hollowed sourdough rolls.
Michael's notes
Keep it at a gentle simmer. Most store "pork stew meat" is lean, and a hard boil makes it tough. Make sure it's fully thawed, too, or it weeps instead of browning.
The sauce mellows a lot as it simmers. Mine tasted sharp at first and smoothed out by the end. The first time I used about ⅓ cup balsamic and 1½ tbsp mustard, which was too much, so the amounts above are dialed back. Add a splash more balsamic at the end if you want more brightness.
Get the potatoes in early. I added mine late and they were still a little firm at dinner.
Side: Same-Day Sourdough Rolls, plain or hollowed out as bread bowls
Dessert: Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
The backstory
I wanted something like pot roast with an onion gravy, but in a pot on the stove, and I had green beans, mushrooms, potatoes and a red pepper in the fridge that needed to get used.
We don't keep wine in the house, so instead of a splash of cooking wine I reached for a pear-infused balsamic from the pantry. It brings the same sweet and tangy lift, and pear plays nicely with pork, sage and mustard. Fair warning: I got heavy-handed with the balsamic and mustard the first time. A couple tablespoons of butter at the end smoothed it right out, which is why it's in the recipe as an optional finish.
We served it with fresh sourdough rolls, and the kids got theirs in little bread bowls. It's different from what we usually cook around here, in a good way.