CARIBBEAN STEW

Cook time: 20 Min  Prep time: 1 Hr 30 Min  Serves: 8-10 or more!

Ingredients

2 lb pork shoulder or thick pork steak

3 can(s) coconut milk--careful not to get cream of coconut, it doesn't work nearly as well.

1 large box fresh mushrooms

5 medium tomatoes, diced

4-6 medium zucchini-green and yellow, if don't have access to them, butternut or acorn squash, oven cooked, then diced

2 large red bell peppers

2 large orange bell peppers

1 large green bell pepper

4 medium mangos, diced

3 can(s) pineapple chunks

1--3 medium anaheim peppers

1/3 c brown sugar, firmly packed

3 tsp sage, rubbed

1 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced

2-6 clove fresh garlic, minced

dash(es) salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbsp olive oil

3 can(s) canned mandarin oranges

1 large red onion chopped

1 bunch fresh basil to taste

Directions

1. Cut the pork into 1 inch squares. In a large pot, braise pork in the olive oil, along with chopped red onion. Brown pork. Dice tomatoes, squash, and mangos, add to pork. Add pineapple chunks, mushrooms, garlic, and mandarin oranges. For a thicker stew, drain, but keep, the juice from the pineapple chunks and mandarin oranges. Add bell pepper last so they will remain crisp.

2. Using plastic sterile gloves (the kind you can get at your drugstore) slice open the anaheim pepper(s), remove seeds, and mince into very tiny pieces. I like this recipe with only 1 or 2 peppers, but you may like it hotter. IMPORTANT: while wearing the gloves, do not touch your mouth, nose, or eyes.

3. Add brown sugar, slowly to taste until right amount of sweetness desired is achieved.

4. Add coconut milk and simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Add sage, fresh chopped basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Trying after each addition to ensure no over or under spicing occurs.

6. You can add 1 teasp nutmeg for a different taste. You can make this into a stir fry, I haven't tried it yet. I will put this together and have you a recipe for the stir fry within a few days. You can also use chicken with/instead of pork, or go meatless. You can also use 1-2 pounds of precooked, deveined shrimp, but add them last so the don't shrink.