Pork and Cider Stew

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg pork shoulder, in 4 cm chunks
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 30 g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 150 g smoked bacon lardons
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 leeks, in thick rounds
• 500 ml dry cider
• 400 ml chicken stock
• 2 apples, in thick wedges
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• 100 ml double cream
• a few sage leaves

Method

1. Flour and brown the pork

   Toss the pork in seasoned flour and brown it hard in the butter and oil in batches. The flour gives a better crust and thickens the stew later — but only if the pan is hot and not crowded.

   15 min

2. Bacon and vegetables

   Fry the bacon until its fat runs, then the onions and leeks until soft and golden at the edges.

   12 min

3. Deglaze with cider

   Pour in the cider and let it bubble hard for five minutes before adding the stock, sage and the pork. Cider is sharp, and boiling it off first stops the finished stew tasting sour.

   5 min

4. Braise low

   Cover and cook at 150°C or on the lowest hob setting until the pork gives completely under a spoon. Add the apple wedges for the last 20 minutes only, or they collapse to sauce.

   1 h 40 min

5. Finish

   Stir in the mustard and cream off the heat and check the seasoning. Mustard cooked in disappears; added now it keeps its edge against all that cream.