Let me tell you a little story.
Once upon a time, like 8 years ago or something, I was twenty-something and I liked to party and take shots of whiskey (or whatever) and sing karaoke wildly and with abandon and at the same time in history, there was a (really very awesome and bad ass) band called Karaoke Apocalypse that would play live karaoke versions of, like, AC/DC songs and Def Leppard songs and Billy Idol and shit like that. And the lovely MC/hostess/professional-karaoke-queen that hosted this thing was named Melicious. And Melicious was known for her gut-wrenching rendition of “Kiss Me Deadly” and whenever she sang it, everyone would stop what they were doing to take shots and make out with the person next to them, because that was how great the song was.
Fast-forward to current day, when I now go to bed at 8 pm and drink only water (that’s totally not true). And I heard about this cookbook that a fellow Austinite wrote and went and bought it and when I opened it up, I was smacked in the face with a picture of Mel and I said to my boyfriend, in a voice much too loud because he was sitting right there, you know, but I got excited and I said: I KNOW THAT GIRL!
And it turns out that that karaoke (and roller derby, did I mention that?) queen started a wonderful blog on fitness and Paleo eating and books she likes to read called TheClothesMakeTheGirl, AND has written and co-written three cookbooks! I mean, obvs I’m in love, right?
Mel shared this paleo pork stew recipe with me (and you) in celebration of Halloween! It’s a very Eastern-European dish, with the rich, earthy flavors of crispy pork, browned onions, sweet caraway, sharp mustard, and of course butt-loads o’ garlic to keep the blood-suckers at bay (that’s vampires, but also mosquitoes!). An apple balances it all with a little sweetness. We agreed upon tasting this this would be great served with some mashed sweet potato or butternut squash and absolutely over the top on top of sauerkraut. Over. The. Top.
Here’s more information on her gorgeous and inspiring paleo cookbook: WellFed. If you like meat and vegetables, you will love this book.
- 1 pound fatty pork, cut into ½” cubes
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 large onion, diced (about a cup)
- 4-5 cloves garlic, minced (a couple tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon caraway or poppy seeds
- 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 apple, cored and cut into 1″ cubes (I used a Golden Delicious)
- Heat a large pot with the oil over medium-high heat and brown the pork well on all sides. You may need to do this in batches to avoid crowding the pan.
- Remove the browned pork to a bowl and brown the onions in the leftover fat.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant.
- Add the pork back into the pot along with all the seasonings and broth.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 1½ hours until tender.
- Add the diced apple and simmer another hour.
- Serve now or the next day, it’s even better!
If you wanted to make this in a slow cooker, you totally could! Brown the meat and onions, then put everything in your cooker except the apple. You might want to cut the broth down to 3/4 of a cup since there’s little to no evaporation goin’ on inside a slow-cooker. Let that go for 3-4 hours then add your apple for another hour or two. Easy-peasy!
The LEARN TO COOK Book is Here!
By popular demand, Learn to Cook is now available in print! Over 300 pages of knowledge between two soft covers.
Learn To Cook is designed to get you cooking for yourself like a civilized human being! Drawing from a lifetime of cooking and over two years experience making instructional cooking videos, author Hilah Johnson has produced a beginners’ cookbook for today’s young adults. The casual, straightforward style will appeal to anyone with a sense of humor and the focus on fresh, simple recipes will appeal to anyone who loves to eat. The book includes chapters on menu planning, knife skills, grocery shopping and more, plus a comprehensive spice chart and over 150 recipes from breakfast to dinner to snacks in between.
I create short-form, educational, and occasionally hilarious cooking videos geared towards beginner and intermediate cooks, as well as people who are just looking for simple, low-cost recipes. Everything is made from scratch, people!
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
HILAH! You are the best cooking partner EVER! Thanks so much for inviting me into your kitchen. Next time, let’s do karaoke and shots while we cook!
HELL YES! That was a ton of fun. We must do it again. xoxo
Hilah,
Thanks for having awesome Mel on your show. I’ve been following her for ages through her blog and (of course) have Well Fed, but it’s lovely to actually see her moving and talking!
Thanks to you both.
Kelly in Utah (former Texan)
Hi Kelly! Thanks for visiting me here! It was a pleasure to have Mel on — she is terrific, isn’t she?! Hope to do another one soon.
I am definitely going to try making this! Do you have any recommendations on what cut of pork to get?
Hi Kristin!
Boston butt roast or shoulder should do just fine! I hope you like it.
Your the coolest cook ever. I’ve got to make this meal. It looks fantastic
Thank yuuuuu!
Hope you like it, Heather.
Love your site Hilah! Your videos crack me up. For this recipe, would you recommend trimming the fat from the pork before cutting it up?
Thanks, Natalie! For this one, you want to keep the fat on the pork (unless of course you are trying to cut back on fat in your diet) for the right vampire-fighting qualities and for the deliciousness of it!
Cooking this as we speak! I happened to be drinking an Oktoberfest beer at the time I was adding the stock, so decided to pour in some of my beer too. Thought it went well with the Eastern European-vibe. So far, it’s smelling great
Sounds like a fantastic addition!
It was delicious! Very hearty, and very complex tasting for as simple as it is. More recipes involving caraway please! It may have just become my favorite spice.
Thanks, Robert! I have a recipe for a pork tenderloin with caraway sauce that I’ve been meaning to demonstrate. Pork and caraway are BFFs!
Thinking of making this on the weekend, probably toss it in a slow cooker, but not sure if it should be on the low or high setting?
Hi Davor! 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low should do it. If you have the time, I recommend the 8 hours on low.
Thanks for the reply! Going to start it tomorrow morning. Can’t wait to try it.