Ragout of Pork & Prunes

From EatingWell: January/February 2009

Pork shoulder is an inexpensive and juicy cut that lends itself to roasting, grilling and braising. Here it's paired with prunes, which is a natural marriage of flavors, but you can also use butternut squash combined with a few dried apricots. Serve with polenta and roasted carrots.

READER'S COMMENT:

"Wow, this dish was delicious! I served with some rice and roasted carrots (the recipe with cardamon on this web). I didn't have port wine so I substituted with half Marsala wine and half apple juice. I'm sure it made the dish a little...

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6 Reviews for Ragout of Pork & Prunes

02/03/2013

Anonymous

Recommends this recipe

Richly flavoured yet simple

This has rapidly become my favourite pork recipe. It is simple to prepare and forgiving if you have to make substitutions. For instance, I've made it twice with red vermouth instead of port for equally delicious results. I usually buy Pork Blade steaks and trim as much fat off them as I can before browning them which left me with no fat to skim. I also chop up my prunes and let them soak in the Port/Vermouth/Sherry while the stew is in the oven - this speeds up the disintegration and lets the flavour develop. I also do not use the corn starch thickener as I find that the disintegrated prunes thicken the stew nicely. I serve it in a bowl over brown and wild rice.

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01/20/2013

Nicholas_23

Recommends this recipe

I served this to some friends last night accompanied by the Citrus Salad with Olives and Radicchio and the Cardamom Butter Carrots (thanks, ymatsuda!) It really was fantastic and I received many compliments.

I recommend using port as specified, but buy the cheapest bottle you can find (I found a bottle of Taylor Tawny for about $5).

I prepared the dish the day before, which was very convenient, and, in step 5, I baked the pork for two hours because after 1 & 1/2 hours it still didn't seem "very tender". As a result, the next day when it came time to warm it up for serving, the pork was super tender, the prunes were only just holding together, and the sauce needed no reduction. In other words: perfection!

I will definitely be making this again!

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07/15/2012

Anonymous

Recommends this recipe

Gotta try this!

I made this exactly as the recipe calls for. My family loved it. The only changes I would make would be to cut the prunes into small bite size pieces so they melt into the sauce a little more. The flavor the prunes impart to the dish is deep, sweet and blends excellently with the port. I served with rice but can't wait to try with other side dishes.

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10/17/2010

ymatsuda

Wow, this dish was delicious! I served with some rice and roasted carrots (the recipe with cardamon on this web).
I didn't have port wine so I substituted with half Marsala wine and half apple juice. I'm sure it made the dish a little different flavor than the recipe intended for but the outcome was great.
I'll make sure to buy some port wine next time I make this recipe though.

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07/28/2010

jeh255

This is the recipe that hooked me on "Eatingwell". I made this a few times last winter. It is delicious bistro food. I agree that it is in the OMG category. I could eat it over and over, and the leftovers just get better everyday until they are unfortunately gone.
I served it over the smooth polenta recipe that I got here online. I've also made that polenta recipe many times to accompany this pork and also with many other meals when I would normally have used potatoes. The flavors in this pork were everything I thought they would be. I like prunes but they are often still a source of schoolboy giggles for many people. Things are easier for the prune since they have taken on the new name of dried plum, but using them in a main dish was still a bit of a surprise for some of my guests. I have to say that the flavor they add was terrific and habit forming. The combination of ingredients and the slow cooking make this exotic and comforting at the same time.

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