How did she do that -:scratch cooking

When we were growing up, my mother cooked braised beef on mashed potatoes or noodles.   It was years later that I connected the dots and realized that braised beef  meant that the beef was braised!!  The term braised means that a tougher cut if meat is cooked slowly until it is fork tender.

This is for things like a stew meat or pot roast.   The technology would be the same for a pork cut or game.

The technique :

Brown your meat in a little oil in a Heavy pan with sides.   When the meat is brown, add stock  and stir the brown bits from the bottom of the pan and make sure you have enough liquid to cover the meat and a couple of inches.  Turn the pot down to a slow simmer and let cook until meat is tender,   The time will depend in the size of your meat,   Cubes will take a shorter time than a pot roast.

Another way to cook a pot roast is to put it in a roasting pan after browning, pour a beer over the top of it . Put the kid on the pan and bake the roast for 4-6 hours on 250 or closer to 4 hours on 325.

These days, I cook stew type meat in the insta pot.  Turn the pot on sauté, add oil and brown the meat,
Turn off the pot, add stock, potatoes that have been washed, peeled and cut in medium chunks, and peeled carrots.  You can also add mushrooms that have been washed and or celery.

Cover the pot and process for 35 minutes.   When it is done, turn the insta pot off, remove the stew with a slotted spoon leaving the stock.   Mix a slurry  of flour or cornstarch  and water , turn the sauté function on and stir the slurry into the stock until you have gravy.

Remember you must always have liquid in the insta pot .  At least a cup.   I do see some recipes  that call for less, but I wouldn’t try less without a specific  recipe,  it is usually because what you are cooking will  quickly release liquid of it’s own.  Never cook in the insta pot with flour when you are using a pressure setting.   Also, it’s not a good idea to make split pea soup on the pressure cooker setting.  You can use the slow cooker setting.  Ask me how I know......my husband and I were cleaning the pot for an hour,  lol

When we were children, my mother used to dredge the stew meat in flour, brown it in oil im a heavy sauce pan  over a medium heat.  Then she would add water enough to cover the meat, turn it down to low and let it simmer for a couple of hours.  she checked it a few times to be sure it didn’t need more water. This technique makes it’s own  gravy.  Meanwhile you can make rice, mashed potatoes, or noodles for a base.

We use cubes if pork from the end of a pork loin when I cut up a pork loin.   Buying a pork loin on sale and cutting roasts, chops and stew meat or stir fry meat is the most economical way to have pork.  Sometimes it is a  dollar a pound.  The buy price is less than two, preferable less than 1.69. Business Costco is a good source for that.