A while back, I put up an instructable on 'Cooking Experimentally' , which gave some general tips on taking a more experimental approach to cooking. This recipe is one of the results of my experiments - a tangy Pork and Clementine Stew.

Step 1: Ingredients

To make enough of this stew for 2-3 people, you will need:

2 pork chops.
2 clementines (could use tangerines or satsumas).
3 tomatoes.
1 big leek.
2 onions.
2/3 cup red lentils.
1-2 tsp chopped fresh ginger root.
2 cloves of garlic.
1/2 tsp ground black pepper.
1 tsp marjoram.
1 tsp sage.
1 level tsp salt.
1 tablespoon olive oil.
1 tablespoon sunflower oil.

You will also need a big enough pot to hold all the ingredients, and a frying pan to sear the meat in.

Step 2: Chop and Fry the Onions

The first thing is to chop the onions (I do it into chunks but rings might be interesting too). Put them in the pot with the black pepper and the olive oil. Then fry them gently in the bottom of the pot until they begin to turn brown.

Step 3: Chop and Sear the Meat.

While the onions are frying, you can start preparing the meat. You can put the chops in whole if you have a big enough pot, but it's easier to stir later if you chop them into large chunks first. Then put some oil in a pan (sunflower would do), bring it up to a high heat and sear the meat until it is just beginning to brown.

Step 4: Chop Vegetables.

Another thing to do while the onions are frying is to chop the ginger root, garlic, leek, tomatoes and clementines.

The ginger and garlic should be crushed with the flat of a knife, then chopped finely. You put a big knife on top of the garlic, make a fist and hit the flat of the knife with the side of your fist (like you are banging on the table, not like you're hitting someone!). The garlic peels nicely after you've done this.

The tomatoes can be chopped roughly into eighths. The way I chop the clementines is to peel them then cut them in half 'equatorially' - i.e. with the stem end in one half and the other end in the other half. Having done this, you can break them into chunks and squeeze the pips out easily with your fingers.

Step 5: Add the Other Ingredients and Start Stewing

When the onions are nearly done, you can add the ginger and garlic to the pot and fry them a short while at the end.

Once the meat is seared, you can add this and the tomatoes, leek and clementines to the pot. Then add enough water to nearly cover the ingredients.

Finally you can add the herbs, salt and lentils.

It now just needs to stew for about an hour (longer if you like your meat really tender). Turn up the heat to full until the liquid begins to boil, then turn it down until it's just bubbling slightly with the lid on.