I was trying to find a recipe which I could use Cider in, when I remembered the beer gravy I’d used in the Duck recipe a couple of months ago. This led me to think that I could use Cider instead of beer and have it with a pork dish (as pork usually goes with apple sauce and cider’s made from apples). I decided to have Gammon steak with the Cider gravy which I haven’t had for many years and a variation on mashed potato. My variation was the cabbage and leek Champ (normally made with potatoes and spring onions), as these are both in season.

I made the Cider gravy in exactly the same was as I made the Beer gravy previously. That is, I caramelised 2 sliced onions, added a tbps of dark brown sugar and then 250ml of Cider. I used Dunkerton’s Dry organic cider, although this was rather a random choice from the supermarket.  Once the sugar had melted, I added 300ml of pork stock and then reduced it for about 40 mins.

To make the champ, I finely shredded a quarter of a savoy cabbage and finely sliced half a leek. Once I had made the mashed potato, I added the raw veg to the mash and covered the mixture in the pan (but off the stove). This was to slightly steam the veg in with the mash.

The gammon steak  was the easiest thing to do, cooking for about 4 mins on each side under the grill, whilst the champ was coming together in the pan.

To serve, I spread some english mustard on the steak and covered both the champ and the steak in the Cider gravy.

The whole meal was superb, even if I do say so myself. The Cider gravy was very  tasty and the experimental champ worked a treat. The slight crunchiness of the cabbage and leek was a lovely contrast to the mashed potato. Even the leftover cider went down exceptionally well with the meal, despite me not having drunk Cider since I was a teenager!