Pork stew with dried fruit and dark beer

Rich and comforting

Published originally on my blog on 7 May 2010

The past couple of weeks, South Holland experienced a welcomed streak of heat and sunshine. Almost all of the month of April was filled with sunny days and you couldn't go out the door without your sunglasses and a considerable cut down on clothing layers. No more jackets with extra padding for warmth retention, no more scarves. There was not a cloud in sight. I was honestly dumbfounded. I could actually take some decent photographs of my food with all that natural light.

The Dutch were happy with a capital H. Sunshine is an event here. They swarmed to the nearest parks and public gardens to sunbathe and play games. Many of my Dutch neighbors were exhibiting most of their body parts- some I needn't see- to the sun, taking out into their backyards and balconies their lounge chairs and calling friends over to enjoy a sun-filled afternoon and share a couple of drinks. Paired with Queen's Day last Friday, which is a national holiday here in The Netherlands, the Dutch were walking on air.

So, right when I thought that spring was here to stay, a sudden wave of heavy rain and cold weather came to prove me and everyone else wrong and to remind me that I'm now living in northern and not southern Europe. Ok, ok, I get it! Sudden weather changes are the norm around here. Since last weekend, storms are raging, winds are howling, temperature has dropped by 10 or more degrees Celsius and I had to put my flip flops back in storage and take out, once again, my sheepskin boots.

All this came just as I was starting to daydream of foreign, exotic places and just as I was starting to get cravings for spring-summery food, like avocado and grilled turkey salads or seafood linguine. It will be a while before I make these dishes. My cravings have just shifted to more weather-appropriate food. And what's more appropriate for cold weather than a stew?

I had so many recipes for meat stews to choose from. Greeks adore stews. Chicken, veal, pork, goat, lamb stews are being cooked every single week of the year, all year round. They're not confined to "winter eating". They are an integral part of the Greek diet and there is a multitude of ways to prepare them. But my choice was not a Greek stew, although many such recipes will be coming later on, I promise. I went with something slightly different; a pork stew with dried fruit and dark beer.

The first time I made this stew I was completely taken by its unique flavor and the richness of its sauce. Bite-sized pieces of pork are first nicely browned in a Dutch-oven on a stove top, in a mixture of olive oil and butter. Then the onions and woody garlic are sautéed in the meat juices until they become soft and then you simply add the rest of the ingredients, like dried fruit, dark beer and Dijon mustard in the pan and put it straight into the oven for an hour and a half or so. It's so simple, so easy, such an unassuming dish but with such an intense flavor.

The sweet dried apricots and prunes along with the apple jelly, give a sweet, fruity taste to the pork and the sharp Dijon mustard and bitter dark beer provide some delicate sour notes to render a balance of flavors. The aromatic cinnamon and pungent ground coriander add depth and a hint of spice to the dish, making it extremely fragrant. The meat is tender and succulent and the sauce is dense and glossy; impossible to resist.

There are several side dishes with which to serve this stew. Fluffy mashed potatoes is one of them and it's a delicious choice. Serve the stew with lots of sauce, mashed potatoes on the side, and make sure you have plenty of warm, crusty bread around to mop up all the lovely, tasty juices.

Slightly reminiscent of Asian recipes, this dish pairs perfectly with jasmine rice or brown rice. Jasmine rice, which is Thai rice, gives an exotic touch to the dish and its nutty aroma complements the sweetness of the pork. Serve the stew on top, not with a lot of juices though so that the rice can retain its granular texture.
Another option is to serve it with French fries or even potatoes boiled in water, a splash of olive oil and a little salt and pepper.
An assortment of fresh green leaves would make the best choice for a salad to accompany each of the aforementioned options.

Accompany this stew with the same beer that you used to cook the pork with or, if you prefer wine, with a chilled bottle of fruity Chardonnay. The beer I used was Grimbergen, a double beer that is brewed in Belgium for the last 882 years. It is a full-bodied beer with a dark, burgundy color and a strong malt flavor with a spicy finish that really complements the fruitiness of the stew. Brown Leffe is another excellent option. You can of course use any other kind of dark beer or ale you prefer.

Pork Stew with Dried Fruit and Dark Beer

I'm very particular about my meat. I prefer lean cuts, without a whole lot of fat on them, even for stews. I opted for pork fillet with a fair amount of fat on it to give it some extra taste and to keep it tender but you can use pork shoulder if you wish.