Pork With Apples Calvados And Apple Cider Recipes

PORK TENDERLOIN WITH APPLES, CALVADOS AND APPLE CIDER

Steps:

• Place pork slices between plastic wrap. Using mallet, pound pork slices to 1/4-inch thickness. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Cover tightly and refrigerate.)
• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples and sugar to skillet and sauté until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Set aside.
• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in another heavy large skillet over high heat. Season pork with salt and pepper. Add pork to skillet and sauté until just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to plate; keep warm.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in same skillet over medium heat. Add shallots and thyme and sauté 2 minutes. Add Calvados and boil until reduced to glaze, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in cream and cider; boil until mixture thickens to sauce consistency, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Reheat apples, if necessary. Arrange a few pork slices on each plate. Spoon sauce over. Top generously with sautéed apple slices and serve.

CIDER-ROASTED PORK LOIN WITH PICKLED APPLES AND CHILES

Steps:

• To make the pickled apples, in a small pot, combine 1/4 cup water with vinegar, sugar, allspice, coriander and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Put apples and jalapeños in a medium heatproof bowl or jar, and pour hot vinegar mixture on top. Let cool to room temperature and let pickle for at least 2 hours. (Mixture can be made up to 1 week ahead and stored in the refrigerator.)
• Rub pork all over with rosemary, fennel seeds, salt and pepper. Refrigerate, fat side up and uncovered, for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place pork on a rimmed 11-by-18-inch sheet pan. Scatter apples, onion, garlic and cinnamon stick in an even layer around pork loin. Transfer baking sheet to oven rack, and add chicken stock, then carefully pour in cider (it's best to position pan in oven, then pour in liquid). You may not need all of the cider here. You can add more later as it roasts - stop if it threatens to overflow.
• Roast until pork reaches 135 degrees internally, 35 to 50 minutes. Keep an eye on the pork. If all the cider evaporates and baking dish starts to burn while the pork is cooking, add a splash more cider.
• Transfer pork to a cutting board, tent with foil, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, transfer roasted apples, onions and garlic to a serving platter (discard cinnamon sticks). Scrape jus and any golden bits from baking sheet into a small pot, and bring to a simmer (add a little more chicken stock if needed). Whisk in butter and a pinch of salt and cook until the sauce is reduced by about a third (you just want to thicken it up a bit), 3 to 7 minutes. Pour in any juices from the cutting board where the pork loin is resting.
• Slice pork and place on a serving platter, along with the roasted apples and onions. Drizzle some of the sauce and also some of the liquid from the pickled apples on top. Garnish with the rosemary, and serve with pickled apples and jalapeños alongside.

PORK CHOPS WITH APPLES AND CIDER

Steps:

• Make the spice salt: Put peppercorns, cloves, allspice and sage in a spice mill or mortar and grind to a powder. Remove to a bowl and stir in salt. Season pork chops on both sides with salt mixture. (There will be some salt mixture remaining; use it to season the sauce, Step 4.) Cover and leave chops at room temperature to absorb seasonings for at least 30 minutes.
• Peel, quarter and core apples, then cut each apple into 12 wedges. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a wide skillet and raise heat to medium-high. Add apple wedges in one layer and brown gently on one side, about 2 minutes. Brown on the other side and cook for 2 minutes more, or until apples are cooked through but still firm. Remove apples from pan and keep warm.
• Add 1 tablespoon butter to pan and swirl to melt. Dust pork chops with flour, and place in pan and brown gently for about 4 minutes per side. Adjust heat if necessary to keep pork from cooking too quickly. Remove chops and keep warm on a platter in a low oven. Discard remaining butter.
• Add ½ cup cider to pan, raise heat to high and cook down to a syrup. Add mustard and chicken broth, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Add potato starch and stir with a wire whisk as the sauce thickens. Stir in crème fraîche. Season to taste with remaining spiced salt. Add 2 tablespoons cider and the Calvados, if using. Cook for 1 minute more.
• Spoon sauce over the chops, then spoon the apples around the platter. Sprinkle with chives and parsley.

APPLE CIDER PORK POT ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C).
• Season the pork with the salt and pepper.
• Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the pork and brown well on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
• Remove the pork and add the onion wedges to the pot. Cook for a few minutes, letting them get a little color but being careful not to let them burn.
• Return the pork to the pot, placing it on the bed of onions. Add the cider and 1 cup (235 ml) water and bring to a simmer, then wedge the apple pieces under the meat among the onions. Toss in the thyme.
• Cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 3 hours, or until the meat is fork-tender, shreds easily, and is a deep brown color; the apples will have caramelized.

CROCK POT NORMANDY PORK WITH APPLES, SHALLOTS & CIDER

Steps:

• Trim the pork of any thick fat. Cut into large cubes of about 4" square or even bigger - it shrinks with cooking & works better with larger pieces of meat.
• Peel the shallots and set to one side.
• Halve & core the apples and set to one side with the shallots.
• Turn the crockpot onto High. Mix the cider, cider apple vinegar, creme fraiche, salt & pepper, thyme & thickened chicken stock together in a large pouring jug & pour into the crockpot.(If using fresh thyme - leave to last.) Add the cored and halved apples and replace the lid whilst you brown the pork & shallots.
• Heat up half the butter & half of the olive oil in a large skillet or wok-type pan, one with fairly high sides.
• As soon as it is smoking but not burning, brown the shallots in batches - you want a deep caramelised colour & the shallots just softened on the outside. When all the shallots have been done, put them all back into the pan - turn up the heat & add the balsamic vinegar and stir briskly making sure all the shallots are well coated.
• Add the shallots & Balsamic vinegar mixture to the crockpot.
• Heat up the remaining butter and oil, adding more if necessary & start to brown the pork pieces, again do not overcrowd the pan - they need to be well coloured & seared to seal in the juices. As the pork pieces are browned, add them to the crockpot.
• When all the pork is browned & added to the crockpot, give all the ingredients a good mix around in the crockpot with a wooden spoon. If using fresh thyme, pick about 4 large sprigs and place on top of the Normandy Pork - the leaves fall off during cooking & leave the bare branches for throwing away!
• Cook on high for between 6 - 10 hours.
• Just before serving, pour in Calvados and mix through. Serve each person with 2 -3 pieces of pork, a cooked apple half & 1 or 2 shallots; add a dollop of creme fraiche on the side & garnish with Thyme & a fresh Apple sliver if desired. Decant the excess sauce into a gravy boat for extra saucy bits!
• Great with spiced red cabbage, fluffy mashed potatoes or pommes Dauphinoise.
• To cook in an conventional oven, follow recipe as above, but cook in a La Creuset type oven proof dish; pre-heat oven to 175 C or 350 F and cook slowly for about 6 hours, checking after 4 hours. It will cook quite happily for up to 8 hours if this helps in your time management, you may have to turn the oven down to about 125 C, 250 F after 4 hours for a long slow 8 hour cooking time.

NORMANDY PORK WITH APPLES & CIDER

Steps:

• Heat half the oil in a large pan and brown the meat in batches. Don't overcrowd the pan, and only turn the meat when it has a deep brown crust on the underside, as this will add lots of flavour to the stew. When one batch is cooked, tip it into the slow cooker and continue with the next batch, adding more oil as you need it.
• When all the meat has been transferred to the slow cooker, add the onion, carrots and celery to the pan and cook for 5-10 mins to just soften, scraping any meaty bits up from the bottom of the pan. Tip the veg into the slow cooker. Add the lardons to the pan and fry until crispy. Pour in the cider, bubble for 1 min, again scraping the bottom of the pan, then tip the cider and lardons into the slow cooker too. Add the apples, stock cube and herbs to the slow cooker, pour in 400ml water, season well and turn the heat to Low. Cover with the lid and cook for 6-8 hrs until the meat is very tender. (If you don't have a slow cooker, tip all the ingredients back into the pan, cover with a lid and cook for 3 hrs over a low heat, stirring every now and then to prevent it from catching on the bottom. You may have to add a splash of water during cooking if the sauce looks dry.)
• Turn your slow cooker up to High. Add the crème fraîche and mustard to the stew and check the seasoning. If the sauce is thin, you can thicken it with the cornflour - ladle 2 spoonfuls of the sauce into a pan and bring to a simmer, mix the cornflour with 1-2 tsp cold water to make a paste, then stir it into the sauce. Once thickened, return the sauce to the slow cooker and cook for 10 mins more on High, stirring occasionally (or for 5 mins on the hob). Serve with mashed potato, greens and extra mustard and thyme, if you like.

ROAST PORK WITH APPLES, CIDER VINEGAR & ROSEMARY

Steps:

• Make some deep incisions in the pork, close to the bone. Mix together the garlic, chopped rosemary and 1 teaspoon salt. Rub into the cuts, spreading any extra over the meat. Set aside for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7/fan 200C.
• Scatter the onion and a few sprigs of rosemary into a roasting tin. Put the pork on top, skinned side up, cover tightly with foil and roast with the rind for 30 minutes.
• Turn down the heat to 190C/gas 5/fan 170C and cook the rind for a further 30 minutes and the roast for a further hour.
• Remove the foil and roast uncovered for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the apples. In a pan melt the butter and cook the onion gently until soft but not browned, about 10 minutes. Off the heat, add the lemon zest, breadcrumbs and rosemary. Season well. Core the apples. Cut a line through the skin all round the waist of each. Fill each apple with onion stuffing. Mix the vinegar and redcurrant jelly for the glaze.
• Remove the pork from the oven. Turn the heat to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Stand the apples around the pork, brush the pork with a little glaze and drizzle a little over the apples. Return to the oven and roast with the rind also in the oven, uncovered, for a further 20-25 minutes. Baste the pork twice with the juices and brush once with any remaining glaze. Test the pork by piercing in the centre with a skewer. The juices should run clear, not pink. If in doubt, remove the apples, keep warm, cover the pork with foil and cook for 10-15 minutes more.
• Put the pork and apples on a warmed plate, cover with foil and leave in a warm place for 15 minutes. Spoon off the excess fat from the tin and put the tin on the stove over a medium-high heat. Pour in the stock. Boil vigorously for 5-6 minutes. Taste and season, adding a little jelly and/or cider vinegar to taste. Strain into a gravy boat. Serve the pork and apples with the crackling, garnished with rosemary.