Now for the Calvados cream sauce

Once again you can make the sauce ahead, leaving only the last step – adding the cream and the pork steaks and gently warming through, 20 minutes into the 30 minute finish time, on your hob, in a large frying pan.

I made my “base sauce” in a small saucepan which is much easier, when cooled, to fridge.

You'll need approximately 200ml of stock from the cooked pork steaks which you've already strained. Freeze the remainder of the stock.

Calvados cream sauce

15g/¾ oz unsalted butter

15g/¾ oz plain flour

1 tsp garlic paste or 1 clove, crushed

glug of Calvados

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

200ml/7 fl oz stock

300ml/½ pint/10 fl oz double cream

salt and black pepper

Melt the butter, take the pan off the heat, add the flour and whisk. Return to the heat and cook out the flour for 2/3 mins, stirring continuously – add the garlic paste and mustard and then, on a high heat, add the Calvados and cook for 1-2 mins. Add the cold stock straight into the sauce and whisk until smooth, then cook on a low heat for 10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper.

At this point cover and set aside to cool, then fridge.

On the evening, tip the base sauce – carefully – into a large frying pan - whisk and warm gently - add the cream and simmer for 5 minutes then add the pork steaks – simmer gently for 20 minutes as mentioned above.

P.s. Calvados is an apple brandy produced in Normandy, France.

Pp.s. Just in case you needed “glug” defining – about two tablespoons.

Appetiser up next!

Now for the pork …

This dish is perfect for slow cooking and ideal to cook ahead for a dinner party.

Slow cooked pork loin steaks with

Calvados cream sauce

600g/1lb 5oz pork loin steaks – 6 steaks, trimmed

glug of rapeseed/Canola oil

salt and black pepper

generous sprinkle of dried herbs – sage or

thyme

2 tsps of garlic paste – optional

500ml/1 pint approx vegetable stock – use a stock pot if you're

not using your own stock

Heat the oil in a large frying pan until hot. Seal the loin steaks on both sides, add salt and black pepper, garlic and herbs. Set aside the steaks in the slow cooker then add your stock to the residual juices in the frying pan, bring to the boil, pour over the steaks and slow cook for 3 hours.

At the end of the cooking time remove the pork steaks from the stock and set aside, covered, to cool.

Pass the stock through a sieve and set aside, covered, to cool.

Fridge the steaks and the stock.

Now for the Calvados cream sauce!

The best Apple Sauce!

I found this recipe by accident and it is truly the most delicious apple sauce. Even if you decide you haven't the time on this occasion stick it in your pending tray and try it when you do have time – you won't be sorry.

Eliza Acton's Apple Sauce – with Bramley apples

Pre-heat oven to 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

Grease a glass dish with butter.

This sauce is so easy – the only emphasis is on the preparation of the apples. All the peel and core must be removed. There are no amounts here, you can cook as much sauce as you desire – it freezes well!! So, peel, core and slice your apples – if you can slice them a similar size they will cook more evenly.

Place your apples in your dish and cover with a lid or foil – NO WATER, SUGAR OR ANYTHING ELSE!!

Bake for 20-30 minutes. Check after 20. Apples should be soft. Here's the satisfying bit – whisk the apples until they begin to break up, sprinkle with caster sugar plus a generous knob of unsalted butter, whisk again – enjoy.

You can use this sauce for loads of recipes – I use it as an addition to my Chestnut Roast at Christmas.

If you're not feeling so well I can recommend the sauce as the sweet alternative to chicken soup.

Enjoy!

P.s. The books … if, like me, you're interested in food history you might like to add the following to your list. Elizabeth David's “An Omelette and a Glass of Wine” which is a compilation of articles and is where I found “Big Bad Bramleys” which in turn lead me to “Eliza Acton Modern Cookery”.

The roast – step by step photo guide and method

the breadcrumbs and the blitzed chestnuts

season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper

with the apple, onion and two knobs of butter

fold the apple, onion and butter through the

breadcrumbs and chestnuts

here's the oval cast iron ovenproof dish

the roast in the dish – if you want to cook ahead

part bake, covered in foil for 20 minutes, 180fan/200c/Gas 6

cool and fridge

take the roast out of the fridge two hours before

finishing to allow it to reach room temperature then

bake, uncovered, for a further 20 minutes (10 minutes

in to the 30 minute finishing time)

cooked and served in an individual cast iron pot

The best apple sauce up next!

The Chestnut and Apple roast

Over the years I've tried lots of vegetarian roasts. The archetypal “nut roast” makes my blood run cold - for me it conjures up a dried tasteless mixture that you could use to lay a crazy paving! I've treated myself to a luxury version where the name has been changed to make it sound appealing when it's really appalling. Hence my own version.

Tried and tested, here it is :

Chestnut and Apple roast

170g/6oz of dried breadcrumbs

2 tsps dried sage

100ml/3fluid oz boiling water

or

1 packet of sage and onion stuffing mix – 170g/6oz

1 packet – 180g/7oz of vac packed chestnuts, blitzed to a

crumb – not dust!

300g of chunky apple sauce – preferably Bramley apple

or

Portion of apple sauce, a la Eliza Acton – 225-350g/8-12 oz

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Drop of rapeseed oil and knob of butter.

2 additional knobs of butter

I used an oval cast iron oven proof dish measuring 25x17x5 cms – 10”x7”x2” in old money.

For your dried breadcrumbs, remove the crusts and tear up into chunks – weigh to achieve 170g/6oz. Pre-heat oven 150fan/170c/Gas 3. Blitz the bread in a food processor until you get an even crumb. Spread the crumbs onto a baking tray and bake for 6 minutes until they are golden. You can make a finer crumb by blitzing again when cooled. Add dried sage to taste – I'd suggest 2 tsps.

You don't have to make your own breadcrumbs, you can buy them dried.

Alternatively if you're short of time, use a sage and onion stuffing mix.

There's a step by step photo guide and method coming next along with the Eliza Acton recipe for the apple sauce.

The Dinner Party – the vegetable fest!

My next decision is what vegetables I'm going to serve – here's the list :

Roast potatoes

Roast parsnips

Lemon glazed roasted carrots

Cauliflower cheese

Mange tout – because they are a favourite!

I've got crunch, sweetness, bright vibrant colours and a creamy cheesy cauliflower dish.

The added bonus – only the mange tout requires steaming on the night.

The potatoes, parsnips and carrots are peeled and chopped to size and part roasted on the morning of the party. I par boil my potatoes, drain, add a tablespoon of semolina then shake well so that they are coated. The Chestnut and Apple roast too. Bake in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover and set aside to cool.

For the cauliflower cheese I steam a whole head of cauliflower, minus its leaves and then set it aside on a tray lined with layers of kitchen roll. This allows all the moisture to drain away from the cauliflower, ready to finish later on. I make the mornay sauce – cover and set aside until required. I grate Parmesan cheese in readiness to garnish the cauliflower dish and plan to be generous and sprinkle liberally! If you're able to use the same oven proof oval dish as for the Chestnut and Apple roast (see the recipe for the measurements and a photo in the forthcoming step by step guide) – both can then be served straight from the oven to the table.

Why so many I hear you ask? Easy … variety is the spice of life and guests will try something new when offered a choice. Most of my American friends didn't know what a parsnip was never mind about sampling this most delicious under-rated vegetable … we'll see!

This is starting to take shape …

The Dinner Party - the table and hints and tips

To save myself as much time as possible I always set the table ahead of the party – preferably in the morning. It is also serves as a useful prompt – you can see what you've forgotten! Are your wine glasses pristine and polished? Plan ahead … choose your dinnerware, including serving dishes and spoons.

Unless you have a kitchen big enough you're not likely to have a warming drawer. I have a solution. You may not have the warming drawer but you might have two ovens – a small one without a fan which usually houses the grill too. Empty the small oven – it's perfect for your appetiser bowls, dinner plates, serving dishes and jugs for sauces. There's no need to turn the oven on, the residual heat from the lower oven rises and gently warms. There's nothing worse than hot food served on a cold plate or vegetables from cold dishes.

I decided to have some fun and chose colourful bowls for the appetiser – have a look at these :

They measure 12cms x 6cms deep – 4½ x 2½” in old money.

If you like the look of these, here's what you need to know :

I've deliberately chosen a menu that allows me to cook ahead and freeze and to pre and part cook ahead too, leaving me with a 30 minute finish time. The only dish I'll need to cook from scratch on the night is the appetiser.

Hmm … what to serve with.

The Dinner Party

We don't do much formal entertaining these days and when we do it's casual and more relaxed, the formality has all but disappeared, thank goodness! There are however times when you need to step up a gear or two when special occasions present themselves.

Such was the case recently when our old friend Neil, who lives predominantly in the USA, was visiting with his lovely lady Rox. In itself not an unusual occurrence but this time they were bringing Rox's best friend and her husband – Gracey and Joe. Although Joe had been to London on business many moons ago, it was their first trip to the UK together.

A dinner date was duly entered in their busy schedule – definitely a special occasion and so the food should be too.

You may not be aware but we Brits do not have a great culinary reputation in the USA so all the more reason to be at the top of my game!

First and foremost - find out what the dietary requirements are – it's never a good idea to fly blind in these situations! Mission accomplished - I have two veggies – although to confuse the issue one does eat shellfish – the rest of the party eat anything - always good.

Now for the tricky bit - I want to spend as much time as possible with my guests and not be tied to the kitchen only to emerge hot and bothered – food you serve when you're flustered shows on the plate.

Here's the menu :

Scallops and king prawns in black bean sauce

Pork with Calvados cream sauce

Chestnut and apple roast for the vegetarians

Gateau a l'Orange with orange syrup, clotted cream

and vanilla ice cream

This is only the beginning ...

Birthday Dessert step by step photo guide – Part II

Add the raspberries

then the ice cream

have a look at a side view – it shows the almond cake

soaked in the juice from the raspberries

Ta dah – decorated with the crushed Amaretti

biscuits

Needless to say it was well received – and the reason I made enough for two – it's like having two slices of birthday cake.

The verdict … five stars and both servings demolished – not on the same day!

Birthday dessert – step by step photo guide – Part I

the Financier – cubed

the Amaretti biscuit

Amaretti biscuit crushed to a rubble

cubed cake in glass dish drizzled with juice

Part II on its way …

Birthday Dessert – Hints and tips

Note to self - I've learnt from experience that I'll always serve a dessert like this twice so I'll make sure I've sufficient ingredients to do just that.

I defrosted 250g of frozen raspberries and I didn't add any sugar, I wanted the pure, sharp raspberry juice.

The box of strawberry ice cream would certainly give me two scoops – tick.

A glass serving dish to serve – another tick.

I crushed 4 Amaretti biscuits in a “Bacofoil SafeLoc” bag – they each weigh 25g approximately and measure 4.5cms/1¾”. Bacofoil SafeLoc bags are really strong bags suitable for food and the freezer – yet another tick.

A financier weighs 25g and I used two cakes for each portion. Cut in half lengthways and then cut into small cubes – you'll get 12 small cubes per financier – 1cm x 2cm/½”x¾” . Place in the bottom of your glass dish. Drizzle the raspberry juice over the cake. You can do this ahead, cling film and fridge.

When you're ready to serve add half of the raspberries on top of the cake. Add one scoop of ice cream and then decorate with the crushed Amaretti biscuits.

Almond and raspberry are a match made in heaven. You have almond in the Financier and of course your Amaretti biscuits. Sharp raspberries and creamy home-made strawberry ice cream topped off with a crunch of the biscuits. What's not to love.

I didn't have to make a trip to shop for the dessert, it was in my freezer and my pantry.

I buy my financiers in bulk – Maison Jacquemart Les Petits Financiers – aka French Almond Cakes from Alma Trading Limited 24x25g cakes £11.99.

You can buy smaller quantities Bonne Maman have bags of 7 x 175g, normally £2. Available in Waitrose.

You could of course make your own but for me it's a really great product that has many uses and a long shelf life so perfect for the pantry.

A step by step Birthday dessert photo guide is up next!

Birthday Cake or Birthday Dessert?

We don't really do birthday cake in our house – I mentioned in the Dorset Apple Cake aka Comfort Cake series that we don't like light and fluffy.

It was H's birthday and he gets to decide his menu. Strangely he asked for salad … albeit my version of salad but that's another story. When I asked him about dessert he said I'd like one of yours please.

“One of mine” means an invention, which sounds too grand. Fruit is a particular favourite, especially soft fruit like raspberries and he also likes cake, biscuits and ice cream, obviously not all at the same time … or so I thought.

It's time for a treasure hunt!

H's birthday dessert came from my pantry and my freezer so I've decided to share it with you - I think you might find it useful.

My treasure hunt worked, it's amazing what you find when you look.

In my freezer I had the last box of home-made strawberry ice cream. Not a bad place to begin. I had frozen raspberries too – frozen raspberries vary considerably so you may need to shop around but if you can get decent quality with whole fruit, perfect. At the moment you can just about get the tail end of the season.

Now for the pantry.

Another of my pantry secrets … I have a bag of financiers – a must have standby. These individually wrapped treasures are sweet almond cakes, very handy to have around.

My other “go-to” stand-by stash is a bag of Amaretti biscuits.

Now I have an idea – this is like “Lego” only building with food!

Dorset Apple Cake photos …

… or, as I have now re-named it, Comfort Cake!

Photos for you :

the cake in the tin

and out of the tin

a portion with the clotted cream

Comfort Cake sounds so much better. This will be my Christmas Cake this year – the bonus – you get a cake or a pudding, hot or cold!

Dorset Apple Cake … the verdict

This cake recipe does exactly what it says on the cake tin and then some.

I served it to friends as a dessert with clotted cream – silence is the best feedback in my home – they loved it.

Backtracking the Dorset Apple Cake I found in Lyme Regis was good but a little too sticky and may be too dense. Hand on heart this version was better - it had a delicious richness with just a hint of cinnamon, just right. Sticky, treacly from the muscovado sugar, not too Christmassy but you can't help but think it would be perfect as an alternative if you're not a lover of the heavier, classic Christmas Cake if you'd like an apple alternative this could be the cake for you.

The cooking apples don't taste like cooking apples, they are soft and taste like plump pieces of squidgy toffee apples.

More pluses :

this cake is good warm or cold – serve with vanilla

ice cream, clotted cream, custard or a combination of all

three

it keeps well. I made it on a Friday, wrapped in foil – twice.

By Tuesday it was as good as Friday – just that there were

only two portions left!

In conclusion – I'm not a huge cake eater but I loved this. It's a perfect Autumn comfort blanket with a cuppa on a chilly afternoon.

Photos up next.

Dorset Apple Cake

There are loads of recipes out there for Dorset Apple Cake. The sample I bought was dark, rich, slightly and gooey but the glory was that you could see pieces of apple in the cake – you really have to eat this cake with a fork unless of course you enjoy licking your fingers!

This is another example of there's no real authentic recipe because everyone has their own. Add this, that and the other – who is to say which version is the right one?

I looked at lots of photos of the Dorset Apple Cake, some looked very pale, some looked dry, some looked overcooked on the top and pale on the bottom.

I really wanted a cross between a cake and a pudding, if that makes sense – so that you could serve it with cream, custard, ice cream or clotted cream or all four!

Here's my offering, tweaked as usual :

Dorset Apple Cake

225g cooking apples, peeled and chopped

slice an extra apple to decorate the top

juice of half a lemon – 1 tbsp

225g plain flour

1½ tsps baking powder

115g unsalted butter, diced

165g dark muscovado sugar – gives a dark

Chrismassy style cake or use light for a lighter

version – golden demerara too – use 50g of this

for the topping

1 egg beaten

2-3 tbsp of milk

½ tsp ground cinnamon

25g ground almonds

Preheat oven to 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

Grease and line a 7” round cake tin.

Toss the apple with the lemon juice and set aside. Sift the flour and baking powder together then rub in the butter until you get breadcrumbs then add the ground almonds.

Stir in 115g of the sugar, the apple and the egg, mix well, adding a drop of the milk at a time to make a soft doughy mix.

Transfer to your tin.

Finally, mix the reserved 50g of soft brown sugar, sliced apple and cinnamon and arrange on top of the cake mix.

Bake for 45-50 minutes. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

Coming next ... the verdict!

My pending tray …

For those who've been used to paperwork of any kind you'll know what I mean – in theory a pending tray holds the stuff that can wait, which you promptly then forget, it gets buried and then becomes urgent.

I have a cookery pending tray which is not as dramatic – it's the stuff I want to cook or ideas I have scribbled down as an outline that I want to develop when I have the time. Part of the contents of my pending tray are ideas and research I've brought back from holidays. One of my favourite holiday habits is to research food or local delicacies before arriving. I don't want to waste time or forget a thing – it's like a picture postcard but with food.

As I've already mentioned earlier this summer we had our first holiday in Dorset – you know because I've droned on and on about the Hive Beach Café. My Dorset research told me about Dorset Apple Cake. I love a mission or a treasure hunt and this sounded just the job - the sort of cake we like – not light and fluffy! It uses cooking apples so not overtly sweet. I'm on the case.

Some time later … it wasn't easy to find but eventually I bought a huge slice from a bakery in the centre of Lyme Regis. It was as described, dark, moist and delicious.

Dorset is a large County and has its fair share of celebrity chefs and their restaurants – I think I prefer researching cake.

Top of the heap in the pending tray!