If there is one thing that I love about this time of year it’s the abundance of comfort food. There is nothing better then leaving the cold outdoors outside, wrapping up warm in comfy knits and having a nice comforting hearty meal to settle you in for the evening.
Ever since I was gifted my slow cooker from my Nan I have just loved it. Now that I am especially busy it has become quite the helping hand. I can just throw things in to the slow cooker and leave it to do it’s own thing for a couple of hours. When I come home from work I’m greeted by the luscious aroma of deliciousness from my ever so hardworking slow cooker.
One of my favourite meals to cook is my Slow Cooked Jerk Pork Stew. I have yet to share this recipe on the blog, but I thought that it was time to stop being selfish and let you all in on this wonderful recipe. Also, the cooking masterclass with the lovely Gok Wan that I was invited to last week by Activia, inspired me to try something new with this all time household favourite of mine.
- 300 g of diced pork shoulder
- 1 medium sized onion sliced
- 1 inch of grated ginger
- 2 gloves of grated garlic
- 3 peppers (I used red, yellow and green)
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 500 ml of coconut water
- 2 tbsp . tomato puree
- 1 tbsp . coconut sugar (I used ginger flavoured Coconom coconut sugar)
- 2 tsp . hot curry powder
- 2 tsp . all spice
- 2 tbsp . jerk paste
- 3 tbsp . Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsps . fresh thyme
- 3 large tbsp. Activia natural yoghurt
- salt and pepper to taste
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This really is a throw everything into the pot affair! Place all of the ingredients into the slow cooker except for the mixed peppers and yoghurt.
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Slow cook for at least 4 hours (more if you would prefer). Approximately, 1 hour before the end of the cooking time add the peppers and stir in the yoghurt.
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Serve piping hot with your favourite accompaniments.
This stew can also be made on the hob or in the oven in a casserole dish.
The warm spices in this stew are just yummy! Don’t be fooled by the hot curry powder either as it really isn’t hot at all, it just adds a lovely flavour dimension, which would totally change the overall taste of the stew if not included. Obviously, you can include which ever meat that you prefer, chicken would work great and it can be easily be made vegetarian too.
Adding coconut water and Activia natural yoghurt was a tip that I picked up from Gok. I normally use full fat coconut milk in this dish. If you are watching your calories it’s a great one to use as coconut milk can be very calorie dense. You still get that lovely creamy texture that coconut milk lends to a dish without compromising on the taste. Genius!
What are your favourite comfort foods?
What are your favourite ingredients to put in a stew?
*in association with Activia UK, all opinions and recipe are my own
This looks delicious Jemma! Clever tip about yoghurt and coconut water, is never have thought of that. Although coconut yog and cream is delicious I think it is a little rich to eat all the time (especially if you’re a nut butter addict like me!).
I thought that it was a great idea too…Gok is a genius!
I need to branch out and try things like pork shoulder…it just seems a bit scary to me! I’m OK with chicken and beef mince and steak but anything else is a bit foreign to me. This sounds delicious though and I love just throwing everything into my slow cooker.
Oh you could use any meat really. I just fancied pork for something different. The slow cooker is great for just chucking things in 🙂
I don’t eat pork but I would definitely try this with chicken.
p.s. I’m still jealous you met Gok Wan.
Hehe! I’m still chuffed about that, can’t quite believe it! 🙂
Ooooo this sound great for the colder weather we are having. I have shared this on the coconom page thanks for the shout out!
Thanks for that Tam 🙂