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Please Fave the original Here

Another past great recipe from !

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Please Fave the Original Submission here. - https://www.furaffinity.net/view/17754825/

I definitely need to make this myself sometime!

Thanks vrghr !

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A very easy, slow-cooker dish you can get underway with a few minutes work and enjoy later that evening, or hold it overnight in the fridge and serve the next day (tastes even better then!).

Roomie had another church potluck. At last week's church service, one of the parishioners gave roomie some acorn squash from their garden. So wuff thought it would be perfect to incorporate that into the pot luck for this week. But how to do it?

Wuffy has frequently stuffed squash with sausage and other goodies. Sausage is pork. So why not pair pork with the winter squash? There was a single large navel orange left on wuff's shelf, and a fresh bottle of maple syrup sitting on the counter from breakfast - and an idea was born...

"Winter" veggies - onions and carrots - were paired with the winter squash. Garlic for a bit of savory underpinning, wine for brightness. Things were heading in the right direction during the first taste test, but the dish was a bit too 'thin' and 'one dimensional'. It needed more Umami, and more 'substance' to bring out the pork and balance the sweet and fruity flavors.

Wuffy added soy sauce, for the umami as well as to bring more salt, and lots of mustard in the form of mustard powder and Dijon prepared mustard. Ah! THAT set things right!

Since this was going to be a pot luck dish, wuff used those fake pork country "ribs", that are actually shoulder cuts. And then cut those down farther into cubes. That way, the guests could just dish up a bowl without need for anyone to carve a roast.

However, Vrghr STRONGLY suggests you keep the pork whole when serving at home. A roast done this way will keep the pork much more 'forward' in the dish. But this is a darn good stew too! So go with whatever version you like!

The orange mixes very well with the maple sweetness, but still brings a very distinct note of its own. Vrghr used Port wine, but you could use white for even more brightness. The mustard and garlic along with the onions provide a savory foundation, and the carrots are a natural complement to the sweet winter squash flavors. The pork was wonderfully tender and juicy!

You could substitute butternut or other winter squashes for the acorn. It won't make a large difference in this dish.

Enjoy! This is a nice start to the Fall season, but with a bit of the summer still hanging on from the note of oranges.

Ingredients:

~5-6 lb Boneless pork shoulder roast
3 Acorn squash, peeled, seeded, & Cubed
1 lg navel Orange (both the Juice and all the Zest)
½ C Beef Broth
1/3 C Maple Syrup
1/3 C Port Wine (White wine?)
2 med Yellow Onions, cut into wedges
½ pkg (~ 1 Cup) "Baby" Carrots
4-5 leaves Sage, minced
2-3 Bay leaves
3 Tbs Dijon Mustard
3 Tbs Amaretto
2 Tbs Soy Sauce
1 Tbs Mustard Powder
1 Tbs Garlic
2 tsp chopped Rosemary
Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Cut the squash in half, remove the seeds and fibers, and place the halves in a microwave. Cook at about 1/2 power for approximately 7 minutes. This will begin to tenderize the squash, making peeling and cutting it MUCH easier. If you don't have winter squash in the stores yet in your area, you could use frozen cubed squash.

In a large, hot skillet, sear the pork (roast or cubes) to get a good brown crust on the surface. This adds richness otherwise hard to achieve in a slow cooker.

Sprinkle the pork on all sides with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic powder.

Use a little of the selected wine, and deglaze the skillet with it, stirring it about to pick up all the browned bits still clinging to the pan. Pour all the juices into the slow cooker.

Add the seared pork and remaining ingredients to the slow cooker. This will fill a 6 qt cooker VERY full, so you might need to let the pot cook down for a couple hours before adding the rest.

Cook on high for ~ 5 hours, stirring every now and then.

Taste, and adjust flavor profile as desired with more mustard, salt, pepper, and granulated garlic.

Note: Like most stews, this gets even better on the second day!

Set slow cooker to lowest temperature to "hold" for your guests, and dish up big bowls.

DEVOUR

Easily feeds 12+ hungry guests!

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