Create Your Dream Garden 
Pork & Chestnut Stew
1 pound of lean boneless pork loin, cut into ½-inch cubes
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon cooking oil
1 cup of thinly sliced leeks
2 medium-size carrots cut into 2-inch julienne strips
1 14-oz can of whole tomatoes, un-drained and coarsely chopped
2 cups of water
1 cup of Burgundy or other dry red wine
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
6 prunes, pitted and quartered
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
12 shelled chestnuts, roasted and coarsely chopped
Instructions
Sprinkle pork loin with black pepper. Pour 1 tablespoon of oil into a large saucepan; place over medium-high heat until hot. Add pork, and sauté for two minutes or until browned. Remove pork and set aside.
Add second tablespoon of cooking oil. Add leeks and carrots; sauté five minutes or until tender. Return pork to pan; add tomatoes and next seven ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for one hour.
Combine all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup of stew broth; add to pork mixture, stirring well. Add chopped chestnuts to pork mixture and simmer 10 minutes or until thickened.
Yield: 6 cups.
Read Carleen Madigan Perkins’ article Fresh Picked: Chestnuts in the October/November 2008 issue of Horticulture.
