Milwaukee Pork Stew

I love this recipe.  It's so flavorful, filling and has a hint of sweetness.  I made it once for the hubs, long before B was born, and he did not like it.  (I cut this recipe out of a Betty Crocker recipe book that I bought at the checkout stand in the '90s.)  The hubs was not a soup man back then.  The past couple of years I have made more soups and stews and he is liking them during the Fall and Winter.  So if I had made this for dinner for all of us, he may have finally liked it.  But I didn't give him the chance.  I didn't want to set myself up for one of those dinners that I think is great only to hear complaints from both members of my peanut gallery and then have them request something else.  So I made them Baked Potato and Sausage Soup and kept the Milwaukee Pork Stew to myself.  (Although, if you look at the pictures of both dinners, the pork looks more like a "soup" and the potato and sausage looks more like a "stew".)  I halved the recipe, which is at the bottom of this post.

I cut a big, sweet onion into rings and then quartered them.

Cubed 2, thick-cut pork chops b/c that is what I had on hand, but you can use a pork roast, as the recipe calls for.  I mixed the flour with some salt and pepper and tossed the pork pieces in  the flour mixture to coat.

Browned the pork pieces on all sides in a medium-high heat dutch oven.

Then I added my onions, a diced shallot I wanted to use up and garlic.

Stirred occasionally and cooked until the onions softened. I had to give you a shot with the crusty bits on the bottom of the pan - my favorite part of cooking!  That's where all the flavor is!

I added the broth (beef b/c I had no chicken), beer, bay leaf, brown sugar and red wine vinegar.  I had no parsley so it was left out.  I had no caraway seed so I substituted celery salt.  Brought the pot to a boil, scraped up all the crunchies from the bottom of the pan, reduced the heat and cooked for 1 hr 15 minutes.

1/3 cup flour 

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 lbs pork boneless sirloin or shoulder, cubed 

2 tbsp vegetable oil 

4 large onions, sliced into rings and quartered 

1 garlic clove, minced 

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 

1 tsp caraway seed 

1 bay leaf 

14.5 oz can chicken broth 

12 oz bottle of beer 

1 tbsp packed brown sugar 

2 tbsp red wine vinegar 

Mix flour, salt and pepper. Coat cubed pork with flour mixture. Heat oil in dutch oven over med-high heat. Cook pork in oil until lightly browned. Stir in onions and garlic. Cook 5 minutes, stiring occasionally. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cover and cook over med-low heat 1 to 1.25 hours, stirring occasionally, until pork is tender. Remove bay leaf. 8 servings.

Don't forget to serve with The Bread!