The Winter Chill

When the snow outside is falling and the ground is covered with a sea of white frost nothing is better than a big pot of something warm and comforting. An elixir of flavors that both soothes and fills our souls. Most of us these days however are feeling the pinch of our wallets and economical eating is at an all time high. With this in mind, I recently ventured to Wegmans with no expectations or plan except for the simple fact that we have a small budget and need to stretch our dollar as far as possible. What we ended up with was 6 lbs. of pork for .99/lb, carrots, celery, cabbage, beans, canned tomatoes, and fresh herbs. Throw it all in a pot and let it cook for a few hours and what you have is a marriage of flavors and tender pork that melts just by looking at it. But what do we call it? It's sort of a stew, almost a cassoulet, a lot like southern pulled pork. And how should it be served? Smothered on toasty foccacia as a panini? Laddled over butter noodles goulash style? Maybe over some creamy parmesan polenta. Or simply on it's own with a nice bottle of Tuscan red wine. Anyway you serve it you it can be enjoyed with the peace of mind that it cost very little and you will have enough to keep you full on many cold days.