Pork and Triple Karmeliet stew

Inspired by the beef and Guinness stew I made a couple of weeks ago, I decided to try a Belgian variation of this using pork fillet and Triple Karmeliet. The results were spectacular, myself saying so, and like any stew, it’s low maintenance to make.

Pork and triple Karmeliet stew

Tripel Karmeliet is one of my favourite beers. It’s a light golden colour, with a large head, smells yeasty yet fresh, and slightly apple-y (I think). It’s got quite a dry taste. It packs quite a punch, at 8.4%.

I find that the cuts often recommended for slow cooking always end up being tough, even after three or four hours on the stove, regardless of the cut or where I bought the meat from, so I used pork fillet. At the end of the day, it's cheaper then making an inedible dish...

We got five servings from this.

A little olive oil

400g pork fillet, chopped into bite-sized chunks

An onion, chopped finely

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

A tablespoon of flour

A bottle of Triple Karmeliet

One stock cube

Salt and pepper

A teaspoon each of savory, fennel seeds and sage

A parsnip
A leek
A carrot or two if you have them (I didn't)

Two or three potatoes per person

Two eating apples ( I used pink ladies)

You could also add a packet of lardons towards the end, but we had none of these.

Heat a little olive oil in a heavy casserole dish such as the Le Creuset one you have in your cupboard that you never find a use for. Once it’s hot, brown off the pork chunks. This will take about 5 minutes.

Remove the meat but leave as much of the oil as you can. If you haven’t got a lot of oil left, add a little more. Reduce the heat and cook your onion and garlic for about 5 minutes, until they get soft.

Put the meat back in and add the flour. Mix it all through the onions and meat until they are coated. Then, slowly add the beer and all the seasonings and herbs. Add the peeled and chopped parsnip, the diced leek and the carrots if you have them. 

Cover with a lid and leave this for about 40 minutes over a low heat, so that the liquid is simmering gently but not bubbling.

After your 40 minutes, and the scrubbed potatoes, nestling them all into the liquid so that they cook. Peel and chop the apples into small chunks and scatter them over the top of the stew. Cover the whole lot with the lid again, and leave for another 30 minutes or so, until the potatoes are cooked. The sauce should have thickened slightly in the cooking process.

Taste your dish and adjust your seasonings if needed. Serve hot, to your appreciative crowd.

Update 14.09.13: I made this again for tonights dinner, using Duvel instead of the Karmelite. It was also good, with a slight bitterness that the Karmelite doesn't have.