HUNTER STEW - VADAS

In Hungary, hunting used to be the privilege of the gentry and during the communist era only high ranking government officials and foreigners had the opportunity to hunt for game. I don't suppose a lot has changed. Not that there would be an abundance of game left, but I digress. Consequently I never tasted Hunter Stew made from wild boar, but according to my old cookbooks it used to be quite an involved preparation to get the game ready for making the stew. The average Hungarian always cooked Hunter Stew from pork. Obviously the spices that are required for preparing wild boar would be superfluous here. The Hunter Stew that I am familiar with is made from domestic pig. The recipe makes a nice, homey stew with a bit of a twist. As a child my most favored part of the "vadas" was the bread dumpling.

HUNTER STEW 

4 thick slices of lean pork steak

salt and pepper to taste
3 + 1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
1 Tbsp sugar
2 carrots
2 parsnips
1/2 celery root
1 cup chicken stock
3 Tbsp flour
1-2 tsp French mustard to taste
3/4 cup 14% sour cream

• Dice the onions and set aside.
• Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper.
• Grate the carrots, parsnips and the celery root in a food processor and set aside.

• Place 3 Tbsp of olive oil in a non stick fry pan and braise the meat until golden on both sides.

• Remove the meat and place in a deep ovenproof stainless steal pot.
• Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to the pan and stir in the diced onions.
• Sauté the onions until they are translucent.
• Add 1 Tbsp sugar to the fry pan and stir in the grated vegetables.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Keep stirring until the vegetables are slightly caramelized, but they must not burn.
• Add the entire content of the fry pan to the pot.
• Add the chicken stock and place pot in the oven at 325F.
• Bake until the meat is very tender.
• Add more chicken stock if needed. Aim for stew consistency.
• When meat is tender, remove pot from the oven.
• With a slotted spoon take out the meat and set it aside.
• Ladle out a cupful of stew into a small bowl.
• Add 3 Tbsp of flour to the bowl and stir to combine.
• Put back the flour-stew mixture to the pot and stir well.
• Add the mustard and sour cream to the pot and stir to combine.
• Adjust the salt and pepper.
• Serve the hunter stew with sliced kitchen towel dumplings.