Butternut Squash Recipe.......Again

It seems like everything I'm making cooking has butternut squash as a main ingredient. It may seem monotonous to you with previous postings about roasted butternut squash soup and penne with chicken and honey roasted butternut squash. But this is an ingredient that can be used in so many ways. I haven't mentioned butternut squash ravioli, curried butternut squash and chickpeas, butternut squash pudding or something I'm going to make this weekend, butternut squash lasagna. It's so diverse and can be used so many ways either as a main course as in the lasagna, as a side dish as in the pudding or roasted and used in a salad for Thanksgiving.

On the weekend, Alan and I spent most of the days outside continuing to build the fence along the back property line. It was a beautiful fall day, full of sunshine and wonderful colours on the trees. But after working outside all day, we needed something warm and hearty to fill our empty stomachs. And this stew, an adaptation of one I found on the Better Homes and Gardens site did just the trick. Quick to make using mostly ingredients I had on hand, it was a great Saturday night meal (and a great Tuesday lunch leftover).

The sweetness from the apple cider and the apples cooked in the sauce are such a nice contrast to the subtleness of the curry. Don't be shy if curry is not your thing....you just get a hint of it and I think if you didn't know it was curry, you'd never guess. You'd just be asking yourself "what is that wonderful flavour?" I don't very often "stew" pork, so this was a refreshing lighter version of the traditional beef stew. Here's the recipe:

• 1

ingredients

• 2
  pounds boneless pork shoulder
• 4
  medium red and/or green crisp-tart cooking apples
• 1
  tablespoon cooking oil
• 1
  large onion, cut into thin wedges
• 3               tsp curry paste
• 1
  14 ounce can chicken broth
• 2/3
  cup apple cider or apple juice
• 1/4
  teaspoon salt
• 1/4
  teaspoon ground black pepper
• 12
  ounces baby carrots with tops, trimmed, or packaged peeled baby carrots
• 2
  stalks celery, sliced
• 1 - 1 1/2
  pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed (2 cups)
• 
  

directions

1.Trim fat from pork; cut pork in 1-inch cubes. Peel, core, and chop two apples; set aside. In a 4-quart Dutch oven brown pork, half at a time, in hot oil; return all pork to pan. Add chopped apples, onion, and curry powder; cook and stir 2 minutes. Add broth, cider, salt, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2.Add carrots and celery to pork mixture; return to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cut remaining apples into 1/4-inch-thick wedges. Add apples and squash to pan. Cover; cook 10 to 12 minutes or until pork and vegetables are tender. Serve with sour cream or Greek yogurt (which is what we did). Makes 6 servings.