Name: Latvian Stew Recipe
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 150 min
Cuisine: Latvian
Ingredients: 2 pound pork shoulder*, (trimmed of fat and cut into 1 – 1.5” cubes (3 – 3.5 pound bone-in pork shoulder)); salt and pepper; 2 Tbsp. olive oil; 2 Tbsp. butter; 1 large onion, (halved, thickly sliced then halved again); 6 garlic cloves, (sliced thin); 3 medium carrots, (thickly sliced diagonally); 1/2 tsp. red chile flakes* ((Urfa or Aleppo flakes)); 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp. Sweet Hungarian Paprika; 1/2 tsp. crushed and ground coriander seeds; 1/2 tsp. crushed dried oregano; 2 Tbsp. tomato paste; 1 cup dark beer ((porter or stout)); 2 – 3 cups water ((See instructions below)); 1 cup dried apricots, (halved); 2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, (chopped); Crusty Bread / baguette as a side

Latvian

Dutch oven

Bowl

If using bone-in shoulder, remove the bone. Trim the visible fat from the pork and cut into large chunks. Sprinkle generously with salt/pepper.

Heat half of the olive oil and half the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium low heat.

When the sizzling on the butter starts to slow down, turn up the heat to medium. Add the pork pieces and brown on 2 sides, about a 1 – 2 minutes per side. You should do this in 2 to 3 batches to keep from overcrowding the pot. Add more oil and butter as needed.

Add the onions and garlic to the Dutch oven and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook the onion for 20 - 30 minutes stirring occasionally until the onions start to caramelize (darken). If the onion starts to brown on the edge, turn the heat down a bit.

Once the onion is a rich brown, add the chile flakes, cinnamon, paprika, coriander, oregano. Stir for 1 minute. Return heat to medium.

Add the beer and deglaze the pot. Stir in the tomato paste.

Return the pork pieces to the pot with any liquid that has accumulated in the bowl.

Add the carrots and half of the apricots. Stir to incorporate. Liquid should be a little below the top of the ingredients as shown below. Add more water if needed. Spread the rest of the apricots on top.

Bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and check meat by using 2 forks to gently pull apart a chunk of pork. The meat is done when the piece easily separates. If meat is not pull apart tender, you'll need to cook another 30 minutes. But before returning to the oven...

check the liquid level. The liquid should have decreased and started to thicken.  If you can't see any liquid then add ½ cup of water. At the end of 1 ½ hours you want the liquid thick and flavorful so, if it doesn’t need more liquid, then don’t add it.  If needed, cover and cook an additional 30 minutes.

Just before serving, stir in parsley. Serve in large bowls with a crusty baguette.

Latvian Stew Recipe

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