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Normandy Pork Casserole Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 50g (2oz) butter
• 1kg (2lb 4oz) shoulder of pork, cubed
• 200g (7oz) lardons or chunky streaky bacon, chopped
• 16 shallots, peeled and left whole
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 300ml (½pt) dry cider
• 300ml (½pt) chicken stock
• 6tbsp half-fat crème fraîche
• 2tbsp cornflour mixed with 2tbsp water
• 2tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2tbsp fresh tarragon leaves


Tip:
Put the shallots into a bowl, pour over boiling water and leave for a few minutes. This will help to make peeling them much easier

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 170 C, 150 C fan, 325 F, gas 3. Heat half the butter in the casserole dish, add half the pork, season and fry for about 10 minutes until thoroughly browned. Remove the meat from the pot with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the rest of the butter to the casserole and fry the rest of the pork for 10 minutes until evenly browned.

2. Meanwhile, in another pan, dry-fry the lardons until crispy. Remove, set aside, then fry the shallots, onion and celery for a few minutes, to soften slightly.

3. Combine all the pork, the lardons, shallots, onion and celery in the casserole. Pour over the cider and chicken stock to cover. Cover the dish and cook in the oven for 2 hours until the pork is tender.

4. Add the crème fraîche, cornflour mix, mustard and tarragon to the pan. Heat on the hob and stir until the sauce has thickened slightly.