Applestone in the Kitchen: Pork and White Bean Ragout

Is your fridge looking kind of bare? Now's the time to get creative. If you have stew meat (preferably pork), beans (preferably white), and peanuts, you can make pork and white bean ragout. It involves a few other pantry staples you're likely to still have, too, like pickle brine and peanut butter. Sounds a little out there, but trust us when we say it's delicious. Give the recipe a try. 

If you have any cooking questions -- related to ragouts or stew meat or, really, anything  --  just ask! We're here and filling our time cooking, coming up with interesting ways to substitute ingredients we don't have, and are eager to share our knowledge with you. Look for more Applestone in the Kitchen recipes later in the week. 

Pork and White Bean Ragout

Cooking Time: 2 1/2 hours

Yield: 2 ½ quarts

Ingredients

1 pound stew, preferably pork (you can substitute lamb or beef stew, or even ground beef, pork, lamb, or chicken)

1 pound white beans (soaked overnight, or from the can, strained and rinsed)

½ pound shelled peanuts, preferably raw, soaked overnight (if you only have salted and roasted, the salt will rinse off when soaked)

1 onion, preferably yellow, diced small

2 jalapenos, seeded and small diced (optional or substitute 2 tablespoons small diced jarred peppers)

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and diced small (or 2 teaspoons ground ginger)

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons peanut butter

¼ ounce pickle brine (or substitute vinegar, lemon, or lime)

¼ ounce whiskey (optional or substitute tequila or even white wine)

1 quart stock, preferably chicken or vegetable (if all you have is water, season the ragout more heavily)

1 tablespoon cooking oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 275 ℉. Strain and rinse soaked beans and peanuts, then salt pork stew all over.

2. In a large Dutch oven, heat cooking oil over medium heat and brown stew. Remove stew meat and set aside.

3. Saute onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapeno about 3 minutes until fragrant. Add peanut butter, stir, and let cook until lightly bubbling, then add beans and nuts and stir until well coated.

4. Deglaze with whiskey, let simmer about 2 minutes. Add pickle brine, let simmer for another 2 minutes. Add stock, bring to a simmer, cover, and transfer to the oven to braise for 2 hours.

5. Serve in bowls with some good crusty bread.

STORAGE TIP:

Store the ragout, once fully cooled, in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week. We don’t recommend freezing this ragout.

Pork Stew