Grown up sauce ideas … with fillings too

Here are a couple of other sauces you might like – both “grown up” in that they include alcohol and the pie fillings to match. The first sauce uses the “roux” principle, the second does not.

First up, the filling. If you're using your slow cooker these days, you could create a pie filling using diced pork shoulder – sealing it and slow cooking until melt in the mouth tender. Slow cook 600g of diced pork shoulder for 4 hours - serves 4-6. You can use the stock from the slow cooked pork in the sauce recipe – make sure the stock is chilled. The slow cooking can be done ahead, to suit your timetable and then set aside and fridged until required.

For the Calvados Cream Sauce :

Calvados Cream Sauce

15g/¾ oz unsalted butter

15g/¾ oz plain flour

1 tsp garlic paste or 1 clove, crushed

glug (2 tbsp) 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. Add the cream and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Set aside to cool, then fridge.

You will need 500g of pastry for your lid of choice.

All that remains is for the sauce to be added to the pork and then placed in your casserole or pie dish, add your lid of choice, egg wash and then bake for 25 minutes in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 to cook the lid – the filling is pre-cooked. You may have leftover sauce which is great – serve in small jugs as extra “gravy”!

The second sauce coming up …