Normandy-Style Pork with Apples

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g stewing pork (shoulder), diced
• 2 brown onions
• 3 firm apples (about 150 g each)
• 1 kg waxy potatoes
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 20 g unsalted butter
• 250 ml apple juice
• 1 chicken stock cube + 250 ml hot water
• 150 ml light single cream, 12% fat
• 1 tsp dried thyme + 1 bay leaf
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Flameproof casserole dish with lid
• Frying pan
• Steamer or saucepan
• Wooden spatula
• Peeling knife
• Kitchen paper

📖 Steps

1. Pat the pork cubes dry with kitchen paper, season with salt and pepper, then roll them in the flour, shaking off the excess: it will help the sauce thicken. Peel and finely slice the onions.
2. Heat the oil in the casserole dish over a high heat. Brown the meat in two batches, 4 to 5 minutes each, turning it only once it releases on its own: too many pieces at once and it would stew rather than brown. Set aside on a plate.
3. Turn down to a medium heat, add the onions to the casserole dish and soften them for 5 minutes, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom with the spatula, until tender and lightly golden.
4. Return the meat and its juices to the dish, pour in the apple juice and the stock (cube dissolved in 250 ml hot water), then add the thyme and bay leaf. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently over a low heat for 50 to 60 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes, halve the larger ones so the pieces are all the same size and steam them for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tip of a knife slides in with no resistance.
6. Peel the apples, cut each into 8 wedges and remove the core. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and brown the wedges for 6 to 8 minutes, turning them gently, until caramelised but still slightly firm.
7. At the end of the simmering time, check that the meat is tender: it should cut with a fork. Remove the bay leaf, pour in the cream and let it thicken for 5 minutes, uncovered, over a low heat without boiling hard, until the sauce coats the spoon. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
8. Add the apple wedges to the casserole dish just before serving and gently spoon the sauce over them. Serve piping hot with the steamed potatoes, drizzling them generously with sauce.