Autumn Pork and Apple Stew

Now here's a recipe that went through many, many revisions before I feel like I finally got it right.


INGREDIENTS

- approx. 1.5 kg of pork.  I usually get a roast of some kind and cut it into cubes since they don't exactly sell stewing pork the way they do beef. It doesn't need to be a lean cut of meat, feel free to toss those fatty bits into the pot, too, it's good for the flavour and I have found that those tend to be the most tender bits anyway.

- 1 onion, diced (food processor, yadda yadda)

- 3 medium to large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

- 3 large carrots, peeled or scrubbed and chopped

- approx. 900 mL of vegetable juice such as V8

- 2 cups of unsweetened apple juice

- salt and pepper to taste, probably about 1 tsp each

- 2 tbsp each of rosemary and paprika

- 1 tsp each of oregano and thyme

- 2 tsp chicken bouillon powder

- 3 tbsp flour

- 1/2 of a large head of cabbage, chopped up (you can definitely add more, but I usually find by the time it comes to add the cabbage, half a head is all that will fit in the pot)

- 4 or 5 tart, firm apples (e.g., Granny Smith), cored and chopped. Can also be peeled if you prefer.


INSTRUCTIONS

1) In a large slow cooker, combine the apple and V8 juices, flour, bouillon, and spices, and whisk it all up to make sure everything's mixed.

2) Add all other ingredients except the apples, and cook in slow cooker on low for approx. 8 hours, or on high for 4-5.

3) When there's only an hour or so left on the timer, add in the apples and continue cooking. This will make sure the apples don't go completely to mush. If you don't have the time to fiddle with the pot like that, though, then you can just add them in at the beginning with everything else.