My blogging has become erratic again. I blame the fact that my work space is affectionately referred to as ‘The Black Hole’. It’s basically in the store room – a room created in what was the garage (and not particularly well, it’s got to be said – not by us I may add). So it has no natural light and is full of crap. I’ve tried to prettify it by adding fairy lights (obvs) but really, there is no polishing a turd. So now that the nights are getting lighter, and the weather better (allegedly), holing myself up in the arse-end of the house is not so appealing.
But we’re currently in the middle of decorating the living room, so have removed the doors separating the kitchen from said room. This means I have no escape from the deafening volume of my children. Hence even the Black Hole is appealing.
And thus here I am. With a recipe I’ve had waiting to blog for several weeks. It’s a real ‘throw-it-all-in-a-pot’ type of recipe, and the result is really tasty. It isn’t complicated (when are my recipes ever complicated?) and uses mostly stuff you’ll have in the kitchen cupboard already. I’m a big fan of shredded meat, so this ticked that box too. Give it a go, I promise its worth it.
I made this for 4 adults and 4 kids, hence used almost 1kg of meat. If you don’t want to make this much, just halve all quantities (it will freeze really well too though).
Ingredients
2 x 450g pork fillets
1 stick of celery, finely diced; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 carrot, finely diced (or just use the frozen bag from Sainsburys, about half a bag)
4 cloves of garlic, crushed / 4 tsp of garlic paste
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of beans (kidney, black eye, cannellini – whatever your choice), drained and rinsed
1 oxo cube
1 heaped tsp of ground coriander
2 heaped tsp of ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
150ml water
1. Place the meat into the slow cooker or ovenproof casserole dish (that looks fairly unappealing doesn’t it?!)
2. Top with the veg.
3. Add the garlic and the tomatoes.
4. Throw in the beans.
5. Top with the oxo cube, spices, salt and sugar.
6. Add in the water and give it all a good stir/moosh around. Cook in the slow cooker on low for 7-8 hours (halve the time on high if necessary), or in the oven at about 150°C for 2 hours.
Basically, chuck everything into the pot, stir, and leave to cook until done.
7. Once the meat is lovely and tender, remove it from the sauce and shred it using a couple of forks.
Pop it back into the sauce and mix it through.
Serve it up with rice, bread, salad, cheese, soured cream… whatever takes your fancy. Or all of the above.
Happy cooking!
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:50]
