Leftover Competition Pork in this Goulash Stew

A goulash is typically a stew made with some sort of protein and seasoned with spices, then cooked for an extended amount of time.

Smokin J’s Barbeque keeps the trimmings off our competition meat, for the exception of the fat; bring them home and store them in the deep freezer.

Recently, I found TWO, two-gallon zip lock bags in the deep freezer.

Frustrated, I decided to develop my own goulash recipe and use one of those 2-gallon bags as my protein.

Trim the Meat

After thawing the meat, overnight in the refrigerator; I had to trim any remaining fat off the meat.

It is difficult to remove ALL the fat.

Most of the trimmings were off our St. Louis style, larger ribs; therefore, I decided to leave most of the bones intact for added flavor.

All the chunks of fat were discarded.

The ribs were grouped in clumps of 3-4, sprinkled with salt and pepper, then placed in a large slow-cooker.

Any small remnants of meat, I cut into 1-inch by 1-inch chunks, sprinkled with salt and pepper, then placed them in the large slow-cooker.

Flavoring Up the Stew

The following vegetables were added to the stew, on top of the rib meat (I did not pre-cook any of these ingredients:

• 1 1/4 medium onions – finely chopped
• 4 carrots finely chopped
• 1 green bell pepper finely chopped

 

Other ingredients:

• 1 fennel bulb, stalks removed, finely chopped
• 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes flavored with basil
• 1 Tablespoon fresh, minced garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tablespoon dried, rubbed sage
• 1 Tablespoon dried, ground oregano
• 1 Tablespoon dried, thyme
• 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
• 3/4 Tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 Cup dry sherry
• 2 Cups low sodium chicken broth

Directions for Leftover Pork Goulash Stew

Set slow cooker to high for 2 hours; then cook on low for an additional 5 hours.

Turn off the slow cooker;  allow to cool and place crock in the refrigerator overnight.

Second day: Leftover Barbecue Pork Stew

Because the leftover barbecue pork has fat attached, this second-day step is necessary.

Remove crock from the fridge.

Using a spoon, remove the accumulated fat from the top of the stew.

Discard all fat.

Place crock back into the cooker and set to low for 6 hours.

After 6 hours, remove any remaining bones.

Using two forks, shred any remaining large chunks of meat.

Remove and discard two bay leaves.

Place meat back into to slow cooker.

Serve stew over accompanying white rice or southern cornbread.

I made enough stew to freeze several portions for easy meals.