Enjoy, Colleen
Preparation 30 minutes
Cooking 2 1/2 to 3 hours. You will need to check sufficient liquid occasionally
Ingredients
2 kg pork shoulder, discard the skin and the thick fat. You need a bit of the fat but not all of it. Roughly 2 kg should leave you with about 1.5kg to cook. Cut pork into approx 2 inch/ 6cm cubes
olive oil
2 large onions - diced
4 - 6 cloves garlic - peeled ( I leave whole)
Dried Greek Oregano - approx 2 tablespoons, add more later if desired
Thyme leaves from at least 20 stalks
Salt (not too much)
Ground white pepper (add more at the end if desired)
4 cups (1 litre) Chicken stock (warm) - low salt is preferable
1/2 cup Dry white wine
additional hot Water to cover
4 potatoes - skin on, diced
1/2 - 1 sweet potato - peeled and diced
1 - 2 small carrots, diced
4 stalks celery - sliced plus some of the fresh inner leaves for later
4 spring onions - (scallions) white and green sliced
1 cup Pearl Barley, rinsed well
4 bay leaves
2 stalks rosemary
4 anchovy fillets
more Hot water
generous amount of chopped - parsley, mint and/or some dill
juice and zest of 1 - 2 lemons (I used 2) Add a bit at a time to your taste
Reserve some of the chopped herbs for garnish.
Method
Preheat oven to 160 ℃ (fan assist) and arrange oven shelves so cooking pot will fit in.
On the stove top, in a large (stove and oven suitable) lidded cast-iron pot, or similar, heat some olive oil.
Gently cook the onions til soften then add the garlic cloves.
Add the pork pieces and sprinkle over the oregano, thyme, a little salt and pepper.
Stir well and begin to brown the meat a little.
Gently pour in the chicken stock, wine and enough water to cover the meat. Cover with a tight fitting lid and place the cooking pot in the oven for approx 2 hours. (At the 60 minute mark, ie half time - check and top up water if needed).
After the 2 hours has elapsed, remove pot from oven, leaving oven on.
Add the diced vegetables, pearl barley, bay leaves, rosemary, pepper and anchovy fillets. Add extra hot water if needed. Don't let the meat dry out. Return to oven and cook for approx another 45 minutes or until potatoes and vegetables are cooked through.