FLOWER POT KITCHEN: PORK STEAKS BRAISED IN CIDER WITH A CALVADOS DIJON CREAM SAUCE

8 May 2020

PORK STEAKS BRAISED IN CIDER WITH A CALVADOS DIJON CREAM SAUCE

Succulent juicy seared pork steaks slow braised with apples in cider, served with a calvados apple brandy Dijon cream sauce and crispy butter fried sage leaves this is a family favourite, with the addition of our own organic raised pork and a gorgeous layer of old fashioned fat this is a winner dinner all round. Serve with buttery mashed potatoes and I mean buttery 250g butter to 1kg of potatoes is the rule in this kitchen.

Prep time 5 minutes / Cooking time 20 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

40g butter

1 glug olive oil

Himalayan sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

5 tsp Dijon mustard

4 pork leg steaks

1 apple

1 ltr dry cider

100ml double cream

25ml calvados apply brandy

12 sage leaves

Pre heat your oven 180 C / 356 F. Heat a skillet hot, season the pork steaks, spread 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard on each side of the pork and season generously with salt, pepper and pour over some olive oil, put 25g of butter in the skillet, sear the pork steaks each side for one minute including the edge with the rind on. Remove from the pan immediately, leaving the pan for use later, place the pork in a roasting tin with the apples and cider, pop in the oven, braise for 7-10 minutes then remove from the oven and leave to rest in the tin while you make the sauce.

Take the skillet that you seared the pork steaks in and place on a medium heat add the calvados brandy and bubble for a few seconds then add 200ml of the cooking liquor cider from the roasting tin and reduce by one third, add the cream and a tsp of Dijon mustard and bring to a simmer season to taste.

Melt the remaining butter on a medium heat and fry the sage leaves crispy. Serve with buttery mashed potatoes.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.