Why not ask my readers?

[harimad]

I see stew. I see stew in the cubed Boston Butt pork, a startlingly large number of portobelloes, roast garlic, roast onion, semi-dehydrated zucchini, celery in my fridge. I'm thinking about how to make it. I see something like this

Comments

[moontoad]

I tried really hard to come up with something, but I dislike most cuts of pork. Really good ham, I can handle. Ribs with good sauce. Sometimes bacon, sometimes certain sausages. But pork chops, pork loin, big hunks of pork? Too porky. My inability to eat pork left me unable to come up with a solution for you that appeared appetizing to me, and I couldn't suggest something to someone that didn't sound good.

[brashley46]

- Lard, bacon fat, or veggie oil?
- How many portobelloes? These are big enough for burgers.
- How long does Boston Butt need to be simmered to be tender?
- Canned tomatoes or no canned tomatoes?
- Wine or lager?
- Simmer the portobelloes and zukes long or short/add them early or toward the end?
- What spices? Rosemary, of course.

Olive oil.

Simmer until it is tender. Poke it with a small knife and if it cuts, it's done.

No canned tomatoes.

A good rough red would work, like Egri Bikaver, or Donini merlot from Venezia. Bheer? Find a really good porter. And have you considered hard cider instead?

I'd forget the zukes, but my preferred dose of zucchini is homeopathic. Slice the 'shrooms really thick and brown 'em like tofu.

Spices? Try some Jamaican allspice as a rub on the chunks of butt roast. And if you can find it, try anatto seeds lightly sauteed in the oil before you do the vegggies ... or McCormick's seasoned salt, which gets its red colour from anatto.

[harimad]

Doh! Definitely hard cider. How could I have missed that?

You also remind me thatmy store of fancy salts includes a French salt/spice mix for meat. I rarely cook steaks but I do remember it make lovely steak rub. And maybe allspice (and corriander?) in the liquid.

[leeble]

But isn't butt really lean? I think you will not get tender meat here. So I'd chop it really small, and then you don't have to worry about how tender it is. Also, my suspicion is that portobellos will be your dominant flavor, so work the rest around that (beer, wine, cider...)

[harimad]

From working with the other half of the butt, I'd say plenty of fat but it's not marbled fat - i.e, worst of both worlds. Cutting away that fat would lead to small pieces. Which means I should cube the mushroom smallish rather than larger chunks.

[leeble]

Looks like what you want to do with a pork butt is roast it - low and slow temperatures.

http://www.ochef.com/r49.htm

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_6446,00.html

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/pork3.html