A heartily Germanic winter soup. The basis for this was Delia Smith's recipe for a pork casserole with cider, but I was after something a bit simpler to make and quicker to cook. This was the result.
- 12 rashers back bacon, cut into thin strips
- 3 large onions, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 large cooking apples, cut into thin wedges
- 750g pork steaks, halved lengthways then sliced into 1cm-wide strips
- 1kg potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes (or larger if you prefer)
- Approximately 2l stock (we used Knorr vegetable stock, but pork or chicken would be good too)
- Black pepper
We used a large pressure cooker for this. It'd work in a regular casserole too, but the cooking time would need to be increased.
Fry the bacon in the pan until the fat melts. Add the onion and cook until it's just starting to soften, then add the garlic, apples and pork and continue to cook (stirring occasionally) until the pork is completely sealed. Add the potatoes and stock to cover, along with a generous quantity of black pepper.
Pressure-cook for 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft all the way through. (You may want to add further salt and pepper to taste, but with the stock we used it didn't need anything extra.) Serve in bowls with blanched cabbage and brown bread.