Sauté de Porc au Cidre
(so-tay duh por oh seedr)
Les Plats Mijotés: The Sunday French Simmer
Tuesday at six-thirty, Normandy isn't about fussy restaurant reductions; it's about apples, butter, and a hot pan where the cubed pork hisses. This agrarian stew relies on a trick called singer—dusting seared meat with flour so it toasts in the rendered fat to build a velvety sauce. Pour in a supermarket hard cider and let the cast-iron Dutch oven do the real work. Drag a hunk of bread through the simmering sauce.
Ingredients
- boneless pork shoulder2 lb
- neutral cooking oil1 tbsp
- unsalted butter2 tbsp
- thick-cut bacon4 oz
- yellow onions2 med
- garlic2 small cloves
- all-purpose flour2 tbsp
- dry hard apple cider12 oz
- low-sodium chicken broth1/2 cup
- firm tart apples3 med
- fresh thyme3 sprigs
- bay leaf1 large
- crème fraîche or heavy cream1/4 cup
- whole-grain Dijon mustard1 tbsp
Method
- 01
Sear the pork shoulder aggressively until deeply browned.
Heat the oil and one tablespoon of the butter in a heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches so you don't crowd the pan and steam the meat, brown the pork cubes on all sides. Remove them to a plate.
- 02
Build the aromatic flavor base.
Toss the bacon matchsticks into the rendered pork fat and crisp them up. Add the sliced onions and sweat them until soft and translucent, scraping up any browned bits from the pork, then stir in the garlic for the final minute.
- 03
Employ the grandmother trick known as singer.
Return the pork and its resting juices to the pot and sprinkle the flour evenly over the meat and onions. Stir constantly over medium-high heat for two minutes; you want to cook the raw taste out of the flour and let the starches toast beautifully in the fat.
- 04
Deglaze the pot and let the stew simmer.
Pour in the hard cider and chicken broth, letting the carbonation and acidity lift the remaining flavor from the bottom of the pot. Drop in the thyme and bay leaf, bring to a rolling boil for a moment to activate the flour, then cover and drop the heat to a lazy simmer for one hour.
- 05
Caramelize the apples separately.
Cooking the apples for the full hour turns them into applesauce, so about twenty minutes before the pork is done, melt your remaining tablespoon of butter in a small skillet. Sauté the apple quarters until golden, then fold them gently into the stew for the final simmer.
- 06
Emulsify the final sauce.
Once the meat is fork-tender, pull the pot off the heat. Gently stir in the crème fraîche and mustard, which will bind the cider reduction and dairy into a glossy, unified sauce, and adjust your salt and pepper before serving.
Notes
Do not use sweet breakfast cider.
You absolutely must use a dry, fermented, alcoholic hard cider for this dish. The sweet, cloudy jug cider sold in the autumn will turn your savory stew into a cloying dessert.
Use the right cut of pork.
Pork shoulder (or Boston Butt) has the rich marbling and connective tissue required to survive an hour-long simmer and become meltingly tender. Lean cuts like tenderloin or chops will dry out and turn to chalk.
From Cook French in America.