Dutch Oven Pork Roast with Red Cabbage & Apple

I am a great fan of finding ways to use cheaper cuts of meat - they are often tastier and with a large table to feed its just not economical to buy the fancy little chops that the supermarkets offer in their plastic wrapped, styrofoam trays!


This recipe is a winner in that it can be thrown together into a dutch oven in the half hour before school pick up then bunged in the oven and left to work its magic. Getting home from after school winter sports you then walk into a house smelling delicious and a kitchen warmed by the oven, then all that's left is to make some mashed potato and zap some frozen peas in the microwave and dinner is served!

1 large pork round roast - it will shrink to about half the size
1 brown onion
1/4 red cabbage
1 thumb sized knob of fresh ginger
1/4 cup raisins
6 whole cloves
4 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1 cup white wine or cider
2 cups chicken stock
3 large green apples
Mashed potatoes & frozen peas to serve!

Preheat your oven to 170•C.
Heat your dutch oven or Le Creuset pot on the stove top, add a little oil and brown your round roast, giving it good colour on all sides. This will take a little time so while you're doing that start chopping the veg. First the onions, thinly slice them and when you're about half way through browning the meat add them in to the sides. Remember to give them a stir and turn the heat down a little if they're browning too fast.
Then shred the red cabbage using a mandolin and peel and thinly slice the ginger, cutting again into rough matchsticks. Add these to your pot also along with the raisins, cloves and pepper and salt and finish browning your meat along with stirring the vegetables around the edges until the cabbage wilts down a little. Leave your meat with the lovely browned fat side up, this will help keep the exposed meat nice and moist during the cooking.
Now add the balsamic vinegar - when cooking red cabbage it is important to use an acidic liquid to keep the beautiful colour. Let this reduce a little then add your wine or cider and the chicken stock, scraping down the edges and bottom of the pot. The liquid should come about half way up the meat. Bring it to a gentle simmer then transfer the pot to the oven with the lid on tightly.

Leave for about 2.5hrs in the oven to cook slowly away...

Check the pot to make sure it is not drying out, then get your mashed potatoes on. Peel, core and quarter the green apples and add them around the top for the last 10minutes.

To serve, take the pork out and take off the string holding it all together, remove the fat and discard, then cut into very thick slices - if you can! Some of it will probably flake and fall apart. The Americans, bless their carotid arteries call this 'pulled pork'. Pork is often a dry meat, even when cooked slowly like this, but smothered in the beautiful cabbage and apple with the delicious juices the result is mouthwatering!