PORK WITH PRUNES

We recently invited friends round for a midweek dinner at short notice. We had commitments during the day they were coming so planning the meal was a challenge.  It was therefore a question of combining a quick trip to the shop with what we already had in stock and cooking something that wouldn't take all day in the kitchen to produce.

I looked up what I could do with the two pork steaks I already had, settled on this recipe and went to the nearest shop.  I ended up with a menu of Palestine soup (because the shop had Jerusalem artichokes) followed by pork with prunes, hassleback potatoes (because we had plenty of potatoes), green beans (in the freezer) and pumpkin pie for dessert (I had a tin of pumpkin purée).    All I needed to get was two more pork steaks, a bag of prunes, a pack of ready made pastry, a jar of redcurrant jelly and a tin of evaporated milk.  All available in the little supermarket (with the added bonus of spotting the artichokes).  I decided to use white wine rather than buy cider for the casserole as we had some already.

The soup was done in the soup maker earlier in the day while the pie cooked in the oven, both to be warmed up later.  The casserole and potatoes were happy to tickle along in the rather unpredictable woodburner oven in the afternoon while I laid the table and were ready when the guests arrived.

Apologies for the poor photo which I suddenly remembered to snap just before I took it to the table.  It was delicious.  The sweetness of the prunes and redcurrant jelly along with the creaminess of the crème fraîche turned it from a simple casserole into something rather special.  I shall definitely be doing this again.

Update……after a late afternoon visit to M&S in the UK between Christmas and New Year we came home with some amazing and fabulous yellow sticker items (called anti gaspi in France!). This included two gorgeous pork steaks.  I didn’t have any redcurrant jelly so used cranberry sauce instead.  It was delicious!

Ingredients

2 tblsp sunflower oil

4 pork loin steaks, halved  (or 500g cubed pork)

1 large onion, chopped

1 heaped tblsp crème fraîche

100 ml chicken stock (made with half a chicken stock cube or stock pot)

250 ml white wine

1 tblsp redcurrant jelly (or try cranberry sauce)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

16 prunes

2 level tsp cornflour

Method

Heat 1 tblsp of the oil in a frying pan and brown the pork steaks or pieces in two batches.  Transfer to a casserole or oven proof dish.

Add the remaining oil and the onions to the pan and cook for a few minutes until soft.

Mix the crème fraîche with the stock and add to the pan with the redcurrant jelly, wine and mustard.  Stir to combine, bring to the boil then transfer to the casserole dish.  Then add the pork with the prunes.  Stir, cover and cook in the oven at 180°C / 160° fan / gas mk 4 for about 25 minutes or until the meat is tender. 

Mix the cornflour with 2 tblsp water and stir into the casserole, returning it to the oven for another 5 minutes to thicken the sauce.

Serves 4.