or, in English, Beer-Braised Pork Butt w/ Prunes. Years ago, a buddy gave me a recipe clipped from an old Cuisinart cookbook, for this rich pork stew, made with dark beer and prunes. the dish was delicious, but puttery, since you not only had brown the meat, chop and saute a bunch of onions, but also put together a bouquet garni and puree the sauce at the end, perhaps adding corn starch as a thickener. and since it cooked in the oven, you couldn't just go about your day while it was cooking. I lost the recipe a while back, but wanted to make it for some friends for a small party last night. In the interim, i've become enamored of my slow cooker, so i adapted and simplified the recipe (as best I remembered it), and the result was spectacular. As much for myself as anyone else, i wanted to write down what i did: what you'll need: a 5-6 quart slow cooker a 10"-12" pan to brown the meat (cast iron is ideal) an immersion blender (you could use a food mill, or a regular blender/food processor, but the immersion blender makes the final step incredibly easy) Ingredients: 3.5 lbs pork butt, cut in stew-sized chunks 4-5 small-to-medium yellow onions, chopped 2 cups beef stock (you can use commercial stock) 24 oz fruity, dark beer (i used a bottle of Ommegang) herbs de provence 2 TBS unsalted butter 4-5 bay leaves sea salt and black pepper 2 cups pitted prunes (about 30) Method: Brown the pork in batches, over medium-high heat, in a cast-iron or other heavy skillet. the pork should have plenty of fat on it, which will render as you brown it. don't crowd the meat, and make sure it's well browned on all sides. move each batch to a platter as it finishes browning, then salt and pepper the meat well. set aside. leave the rendered fat in the pan, and add 2 tablespoons unsalted butter. saute the onions until they're soft (5-10 minutes). layer the onions and pork in the slow cooker (onions on bottom, pork, onions, pork, onions). sprinkle liberally with herbs de provence. add bay leaves. add beef stock to the same pan you cooked the pork and onions in, and heat over high heat, de-glazing the pan. add any juices from the platter the pork was resting in. when the stock is boiling, add the beer, stir, then reduce the mixture by at least half (10 minutes). Pour the stock over the meat in the slow cooker. this is a braise, so you don't want to drown the meat, just enough liquid to come up to the sides of the top layer of meat (you may not use all the stock/beer reduction). turn the cooker on low, and walk away. come back 6 hours later, and stir in the prunes. cook for another hour or so, until the meat is very tender. turn off the cooker. using a slotted spoon, remove the meat and prunes to a platter. using an immersion blender, puree the stock/onions, adding back any juices from the pork/prunes. the mixture should look like dark brown heavy cream. return the meat/prunes to the cooker, and serve. We usually serve over egg noodles, but polenta would probably be good. i like it in a bowl w/ just a piece of crusty bread for sopping up the sauce. because of the sweetness of the prunes, wine is difficult, but a fruity cote de rhone,a big washington state syrah, or perhaps a Gewürztraminer would be good. Belgian beer is perfect. total prep time is probably 45 minutes, most of which is spent browning the meat and stirring the onions. if your butcher will chop the meat for you, the only thing you really have to do is peel and chop the onions. make sure the pork has plenty of fat on it- too lean, and the meat will be dry. if you don't have an immersion blender, you could put the stock through a food mill, but this gets another pan dirty. you could also let it cool, then put the sauce in a food processor. never put hot liquids in a food processor or blender! and if you don't have a slow cooker (you can get a decent one for $25-$30), you could use a similar sized dutch oven, in a 300 degree oven, for about 3 hours. add the prunes for the last 30 minutes or so. Butt a la basso: Enjoy, and Happy New Year!
That sounds delicious except for the prunes which I'm not a fan of. Have you tried it substituting another dried fruit like dates or raisins?
Ah the two best friends of Clutchfans communicating. I tried to cook this but maybe my skills are too BLUE but I could not believe how RED this dish came out.
i haven't tried other fruit- the prunes really don't taste like prunes when all is said and done- together with the beer, and the browned pork, it adds a nice caramel-like sweetness. i think dates might be too sweet.
cool- it's really quite easy- brown meat/onions, de-glaze pan, stick it all in the cooker. hope it works well for you.
