Pork and Mushroom Ragout Over Polenta

A few days ago Sweetie cooked a pork shoulder low and slow in the BBQ grill, all wrapped up in heavy duty foil. He browns the shoulder on each side before wrapping it up, then lowers the grill temperature so that it can cook for hours and get soft and delicious. In the process some of the fat and juices make their way into the bottom of the foil. When he takes the packet off the grill, he carefully saves those juices in heatproof glass jars, then opens the foil all the way and removes the pork to cut and serve. If we're having pulled pork bbq sandwiches, I ask him to just cut a chunk off for me so that I can pull the pork with two forks instead of slicing mine.

If the pork shoulder is a large one, as the one he cooked a few days ago was, I get to be creative with ways to use some or all of the leftover pork.

Today I made a sort of pork stew or ragout with some of the leftover pork, some onion, garlic, mushrooms and spinach, plus seasonings. It was yummy and went well over some soft cooked polenta. I didn't really have a recipe to follow  but I've cooked similar things before so I was pretty sure that I could figure out the recipe as I went along. I did have a recipe for the polenta and it was a delicious mix of stone-ground polenta, some chicken broth and some of those pork juices Sweetie saved then refrigerated, some salt and pepper, some butter and some Parmesan. Don't skip the Parmesan...it makes all the difference. Also, use good Parmesan, either the real deal, grated, or something pretty good like the already grated stuff from Costco. Skip the Kraft Parmesan in the green tube. Not worth adding.

Pork and Mushroom Ragout Over Polenta with Spinach
serves 4

For the Pork and Mushroom Ragout:
1/2 large onion, peeled and chopped
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
135 grams mushrooms, sliced (about 4-6 depending on size). I used cremini.
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
salt  and pepper - about 1/4 teaspoon 
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
170 grams or 6 oz. already cooked pork roast. I used the shoulder cut, slow cooked
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup broth/reserved pork juices/water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup chopped cooked spinach

For the Polenta: 
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup stone-ground (if possible) polenta  grind corn meal
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese - best quality

Instructions: 

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or small Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and stir, then cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Add the sliced mushrooms and stir. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and cook for 3 minutes to allow the mushrooms to release moisture. Uncover the pot and return the heat to medium-high then cook, stirring often until the mushrooms have some browned areas on the slices, about 4-5 minutes. If necessary, add the rest of the olive oil to cook the mushrooms or garlic. Add the garlic, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 1 minute, then stir in the salt and pepper and the thyme. Cover the pot, reduce heat to low and cook another minute to allow flavors to meld.

Add the pork, cut into 1-inch or smaller cubes, to the pot, and stir to combine. Cover the pot and cook, still on low, for 3 minutes, to heat the pork.

In a small bowl combine the balsamic vinegar, cornstarch and 1/4 cup of the broth/pork juices/water, being sure to stir until there are no lumps of cornstarch left. Add this mixture and the rest of the broth/pork juices/water to the pot. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir until the broth thickens. Add the cooked spinach, stir, and cover until ready to serve, leaving over the lowest heat possible on your stove. The mixture needs to stay warm while you prepare the polenta, but you don't want it to burn.

For the polenta, add the water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the salt and stir to combine. (Note: Taste your pork mixture before adding the salt. If the pork mixture is fairly salty, as it might be if you use the pork juices or your broth is salty, then reduce the salt you add to the polenta water. I only used 1/2 teaspoon because my pork ragout was fairly salty.)

Once the salted water is boiling, slowly whisk in the polenta. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir until the polenta mixture is thickened and the grains are cooked to your liking. I like mine with just a bit of chew still in it. Once desired thickness is reached, add the butter and the grated Parmesan and stir vigorously until it is well combined. Mixture thickens slightly as it cools, so if it's too thin for you. let it sit 4-5 minutes before serving.

To serve, spoon the polenta into shallow soup bowls and top with the pork mixture. Serve additional grated Parmesan on the side, if desired, to be sprinkled at the table over the ragout. 

Black Bean and Pork Stew is Perfect for Cold Weather

My dear sister-in-law Anne once brought a pot of this stew to our Christmas gathering and it was a hit. She gave me the recipe and I made it once, but then lost track of it. Because it calls for cooking black beans from scratch, it becomes the kind of recipe that I'm not going to put on rotation...takes too much time. But it is still a fabulous recipe.

A few days ago I decided to see if I could make it using canned black beans. Having already-cooked beans shortened the time needed for making it...but would it still be delicious?

Sweetie thinks it's even better! I used four cans of organic black beans, rinsing the beans in each can in turn to get rid of the excess bean liquid. That liquid can contribute to gastric discomfort and we didn't have any Beano on hand.

Because the original recipe calls for cooking the beans with aromatics like onion, garlic and red pepper, I decided to heat up the three of the cans of the beans with those after I had sautéed the onion, garlic and red pepper in some olive oil. Then that mixture went into a Dutch oven and I added a cup of water. After stirring that around, I strained out the liquid and used it later to puree the last can of beans. 

Because the beans and aromatics left too much residue for my liking,  I rinsed out the cast iron skillet before I used the cast iron skillet to cook the meat. The cooked meat went into the Dutch oven, too. Then I deglazed the pan with the orange juice and wine and cooked it down a bit, then put that into the Dutch oven. Last, I pureed the final can of beans with the liquid from the beans and aromatics, then put the puree into the Dutch oven, and then stirred it all together. It smelled wonderful! After adjusting the seasonings, the covered Dutch oven went into the preheated oven to bake for 30 minutes. Once the stew was out of the oven I checked for flavor and texture and decided that another 1/2 cup red wine helped both. You can also check for salt and pepper, need for a bit more orange juice for the acid boost, etc.

At this point you can serve the stew with the orange segments, perhaps over saffron rice, or you can do what I did and let it cool in the pot a bit then refrigerate for a day or two. This allows the mixture to blend flavors and mellow - a normal thing when onions are involved, in my experience.

When I reheated the stew the evening I served it, I just put the pot of stew over low heat and stirred it frequently until it was hot. I forgot about the rice and just served it with the fresh orange segments. Sooo good! Depending on appetites and if you serve it with rice, this makes 4, 6, or 8 servings. It's hearty, full flavored, and delicious. I still had a lot of pots and pans to wash up, but the time cooking was reduced quite a bit. You can start it by about 4 in the afternoon and have it on the table by 5:30 or 6 if you serve it the same day. Enjoy!

Pork and Black Beans over Rice
Based on a recipe in Paula Peck's Art of Good Cooking
Serves 6

4 cans cooked black beans, 15 oz. each, rinsed in cold water
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, minced
1 large bell pepper (green, red, yellow or orange), seeded and diced
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 1 /2 pounds unsmoked pork tenderloin, cut into 1 inch cubes
¾ pound fresh pork sausage - Sweetie bought Italian style, which ended up OK
2/3 cup orange juice
½ cup dry red wine
2 -3 fresh oranges

Open the cans of beans and rinse under cold water (I used a fine-mesh strainer and rinsed a can at a time. Reserve the contents of one can to be pureed later, but do wash the beans in that can before pureeing.

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add garlic, onion and bell pepper and sauté’ until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Add the onion mixture, three cans of rinsed beans and 1 cup water to a Dutch oven or large, heavy-bottomed pot that can go in the oven. Cover the pot, and simmer about 5 minutes, then strain out the liquid and reserve.

Return the drained beans to the pot and cover to keep warm. Puree’ the remaining 1 can of beans with as much reserved bean liquid as necessary in a blender. Stir bean puree’ into cooked beans and keep warm.

Brown pork cubes and sausage in their own fat in the skillet. (Rinse the skillet if desired after cooking the onion mixture and before cooking the meat.) If very lean, use a little olive oil. Pour off fat when meats are golden all over, and, if in casing, cut sausage into 1 inch pieces. If not in casing, break up sausage into chunks. Add both meats to beans; season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Pour orange juice and wine into the skillet that the meats were browned in, and cook over high heat until liquid is reduced to less than half, scraping any brown bits in the pan into the sauce. Pour into the bean mixture and stir to combine all flavors. Place in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. If desired, add more wine and/or orange juice if taste or texture would be improved by the addition.

While pork and beans are cooking, peel the oranges, slice an inch thick and separate into segments…you’ll have about 1 ½ cups of triangles of orange.

Serve over saffron or steamed rice, if desired. Garnish with orange segments. The uncooked, juicy, sharpness of the fresh orange is essential to this dish...the rice is great, but optional.