This flavorful pork and mushroom stew is pure comfort food, perfect for those cooler days when you need something to warm you up from the inside out.
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Hello Hello.
How are you?
I’m loving the cool, crisp Autumn days we are having. There’s just something about the changing of the seasons that I find magical. The feeling in the air, kind of like anticipation.
Colorful, crunching leaves. Snuggling in warm blankets. Pulling out the old bunny slippers to warm up those chilly toes.
My garden froze a few nights ago. I have mixed feelings about that. I think the overall feeling is I was ready for it. But there’s always a part of me that’s sad. I will miss the fresh produce that’s just ready for the taking right outside my door. And there’s always a bit of regret seeing all those beautiful, green and lush plants all shrivelled up and brown. And those soggy, would-have-been-beautiful-tomatoes looking lost and forgotten.
But for now, I’m just trying to enjoy the season that we’re embarking upon.
Today’s recipe is the perfect example of savoring the seasons. More specifically the fall or winter season.
This pork and mushroom stew is such a delicious, warming comfort food. Perfect to serve on a cooler day.
Tips for making this pork and mushroom stew
Tender seasoned pork is slowly cooked in apple cider until it’s nice and soft.
The apple cider gives a wonderful flavor to the pork that’s pretty unforgettable. You can make it with apple juice, but it’s better with apple cider. Actually let’s be real clear. Life in general is better with fresh apple cider. And when I’m talking about fresh apple cider I’m talking about the kind from the apple orchards. The fresh stuff. Mmmmh.
The rest of the stew comes together fairly quickly, thanks to finely chopping the vegetables.
Although I’ve never been a HUGE fan of mushrooms due to texture issues, I actually really like them in this dish when they are chopped fine. The flavor they add to the gravy for the stew is pretty awesome. You can also leave the larger if you like, but it’s easier to hide them from picky mushroom dislikers if they are chopped fine.
We love to serve this stew with these amazing (and EASY) creamy mashed potatoes that I posted on Monday. But you could also serve it over rice or it is delicious plain.
Okay my friends. If you try this recipe or any other, don’t forget to click down at the bottom of this recipe and a give it a rating or leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.
Until next time, bye!
Pork and Mushroom Stew
This flavorful pork and mushroom stew is pure comfort food, perfect for those cooler days when you need something to warm you up from the inside out.
Ingredients
For Pork:
- 1 ½ to 2 pounds pork loin roast
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup apple cider see note
For Stew:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup finely diced onion about 1/2 medium onion
- ½ cup finely diced carrot about 1 medium carrot
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms chopped
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups apple cider divided
- ¾ cup water
- ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon see note
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
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Trim fat from pork loin roast and cut into 1-inch pieces. Dry pieces thoroughly with paper towels. Season pork pieces generously with salt and pepper.
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Heat oil and butter in a dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add seasoned pork and cook for 2 minutes on each side or until brown on all sides.
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Add 1 cup cider to the pan with the pork, turn down heat to medium, cover pan with a lid and simmer pork for about an hour. Check pork often making sure the liquid is not evaporating too quickly. If it is, turn down the heat to medium-low and add a little more water if liquid is gone.
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After an hour, remove pork and residual juices from pan and set aside. Most of the liquid should be evaporated, but there may still be some left.
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Heat 1 tablespoon butter in same pan and add diced onions and carrots and saute until onions are tender, about 3 minutes. Add chopped mushrooms and saute another 3 minutes.
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Stir in ¼ cup flour and cook for 1 minute. Add ¼ cup apple cider and deglaze pan, scraping up any bits on the bottom (I like to use a metal spoon for this) until liquid is evaporated.
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Add 1 cup apple cider, ¾ cup water, and ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add pork with residual juices and fresh or dried thyme. Cover stew and simmer 5 to 10 minutes until carrots are tender and stew has thickened. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Keep warm on stove on low until ready to serve.
Recipe Notes
1. I’ve made this recipe with both apple cider and regular apple juice. While fresh apple cider is my favorite when it’s in season, you can also easily use regular apple juice if it’s not.
2. For this recipe I use this homemade chicken bouillon.
3. I like the mushrooms chopped quite fine in this recipe, but they will work chopped fine or not.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
This was delicious. I actually made it with wild boar and I substituted the carrots for parsnips because I have someone in the family allergic. I just served the carrots on the side for those that could eat them. I honestly thought it would be really sweet with all that apple cider but it wasn’t it was perfect and deliciously tender.
DM, wow! Wild boar. That is super impressive. Glad the parsnip substitution went well. Thanks for leaving a comment to let me know.
I made this and it’s delicious. I sliced the mushrooms and sautéed them in butter until they were golden brown. Next time I’ll add more carrotts for color. I plan on making this for our friends to celebrate the beginning of fall.
Can I make this in crockpot?
I’ve wondered the same thing Veronica. I think it would work, but I haven’t tried it yet. Let me know if you give it a try!
I will make this for Sunday Dinner. Sounds like a yummy winner for my family. Thanks, Heather. You’re the greatest!
Thanks Marlou! Enjoy!