Pork Stew with Hard Cider, Pearl Onions, and Potatoes

This is a time consuming recipe that I thought would be great for a snowy, cold lazy winter day and night. I found the recipe in the February 2010 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. For a little background, pork was only okay in taste, in my opinion. That all changed when I bought some at my local farmer’s market, despite the higher price. What a stunning discovery! The pork chops and bacon actually tasted like they came from an animal. I was a convert and a beginner food-source snob.

My new attitude is well and good, but it’s winter now and the farmer’s markets are closed, Whole Foods isn’t convenient or economical, and so I have to take what I can get. I had never tried a pork stew before but, looking for new ways to make grocery store pork taste like something, I thought the recipe sounded interesting. It had parsnips in it, too, a vegetable I hadn’t yet tried to prepare myself. That was another plus this recipe had going for it because I needed something to help me out of my vegetable rut. You know, routine cooking with all the old faithfuls—beans, peas, carrots, broccoli, and asparagus on the grill in summer. I only recently started eating beets despite hating them my entire life because I think they taste like dirt. But, I hear they are good for your liver and, with the wine that I drink, I could use all the help I can get. Surprisingly, the flavor of beets grew on me as well. Anyway, a red light should have gone off in my head when I was reading the list of ingredients. You see, I’m the kind of person that doesn’t like my food to touch. Moreover, I eat one thing at a time until it’s gone—all the meat, then the potatoes, then the vegetables. I’m happy with this system and don’t plan to change either. So, when I saw that there were apples in the stew, I should have stopped to consider what I was planning.

The pork and vegetables smelled heavenly as the stew was simmering. I think I would have enjoyed it enormously if I had stopped before adding the final ingredients—Calvados (apple brandy), apples, and mustard. Those last few items seemed to throw the stew into overdrive. There was a whole lot going on in that pot and a whole lot of competing flavors in each mouthful. It didn’t help that I took the recommendation in the magazine and served Hard Cider with the stew instead of a nice Gewürztraminer like I was considering. It was apple overdose. On the Epicurious website, most reviewers who did not add the Calvados loved the stew, so maybe that makes the difference. Even hearing that, I don’t think I would make this recipe again, even with the changes and omissions. It really was laborious for a so-so result.

Here's the link to the recipe:  Pork Stew with Hard Cider Pearl Onions and Potatoes