Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Pat the pork dry and season well with salt and pepper, brown on all sides in pan, working in batches if necessary. Transfer pork to a plate.

Add onion and celery to the pot. Sweat till softened, five to seven minutes. Add garlic and sweat another minute or two. Stir in the tomato paste, cook till lightly caramelized, about three minutes.

Watch this carefully, you will need to stir it and work it. It’s a fine line between caramelized and burnt. Dust with flour, cook a short minute or two to cook off any raw flavor, stirring. Have your wine or liquid ready; it will cool things off quickly if it looks like there is danger of burning.

Whisk in wine or water, scraping bottom of pan, simmer till reduced by half. Add the stock or broth. Return the pork to the pan with any juices, add bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Add water to bring the level of the liquid to just near the top of the pork, but do not allow the liquid to cover the meat.

Cover and place in oven to braise for two & half to three hours total at 325 degrees, until meat is fork tender. After an hour and 45 minutes in the oven, add in the potatoes and carrots. To promote browning of the vegetables, turn them in the sauce as you put them in. Check the liquid level and add a bit of additional water, if needed. It should be about halfway up the meat at this point.

Check it for doneness and liquid level again at about 2 and 1/2 hours. Depending on how hot your oven runs, it may be close to being done.

When meat is tender, transfer meat, potatoes, and large carrots to platter, reseason if necessary. Remove bay leaves and thyme stems, defat sauce, and taste. If it seems a little flat, stir in the jam, it is a “stealth” ingredient and adds richness and rounds out the flavor; you won’t recognize it the dish.

You may force the sauce with its diced vegetables through a sieve for a smoother consistency, or pass just as is, as I usually do.

Nutritional Analysis per serving: Note: this analysis does not take into account defatting the sauce) Calories 779; Total Fat 34 g 53 %; Saturated Fat 4 g 18 %; Monounsaturated Fat 16 g; Polyunsaturated Fat 4 g; Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 164 mg 55 %; Sodium 328 mg 14 %; Potassium 1952 mg 56 %; Total Carbohydrate 54 g 18 %; Dietary Fiber 5 g  21 %; Sugars 7 g; Protein 52 g 104 %; Vitamin A 150 %; Vitamin C 84 %; Calcium 11 % Iron 29 %