A delicious, economical and easy stove-top stew that’s perfect fodder for fall.

Serve this with rice, quinoa, or mashed spuds and your favorite green vegetable. My preference would be for Brussels sprouts but as there are many people out there who don’t like them (having been force fed overcooked Brussels as children, I suspect) just go with whatever you like.

You can leave out or increase the amount of chili but the amount suggested here creates a lovely warmth rather than burn  – and for a more economical dish, increase the amount of mushrooms and/or sweet potatoes to make it go further.

I recommend using diced pork leg or shoulder over pork loin which can become a bit dry when cooked this way.

Spicy Pork, Sweet Potato & Mushroom Stew

SPICY PORK, SWEET POTATO & MUSHROOM STEW

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil (I like avocado or grape seed oils as they’re more suitable for high temp cooking/sautéing)

18 oz (500g) of cubed pork leg or shoulder

1 large yellow onion, sliced thinly

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 teaspoon of ground cumin seed

1 teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne (optional) or if you can get it, 1/2 teaspoon of Urfa Biber Turkish chili

2 tablespoons of fresh oregano, chopped

1/2 glass of dry white wine

4 fl oz (100ml) of water

6 oz (170g) of brown button mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered

14 oz (400g) can of diced tomatoes and their juice

6 fl oz (170ml) of crème fraîche (or regular sour cream)

Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley to serve

Action:

Heat the oil in a wide, deep sauté pan or cast iron casserole (dutch oven) with a lid.

Pat the meat dry then brown it on all sides. Add the onion and garlic and continue cooking, stirring frequently until the onion is soft (not brown). Add the cubed sweet potatoes followed by the mushrooms, cumin, cayenne/chili, smoked paprika, oregano and a good grind of sea salt and black pepper.

Continue to stir and cook for a couple more minutes then add the white wine, the canned tomatoes and water.

Bring it to a boil then put the lid on and reduce it to a simmer for 1.5 hrs or until the pork is tender and the sauce has thickened.

Stir in the crème fraîche and scatter the chopped parsley over to serve.

This tastes even better the next day; keep  it covered in the fridge and reheat very gently. Don’t add the parsley until you’re ready to serve it.