Pork 'n' Cider hotpot

With the weather taking a less than summery turn, comforting hearty dinners have been quite firmly back on the menu. I first had this dish when my very dear friends ( they are like family to me) Christine and David Huntley made it for dinner one night. Having watched David prepare it I think that I've managed to recreate it.

It is quite a special dish for my husband and I as it is the first thing I ever cooked for him. With our pig having been butchered and put in the freezer my thoughts turned to all the yummy foods to be cooked, so that we can make the most of all the meat she yielded.

whenever a carcass is being butchered there is always a pile of diced meat ready to be turned into stews, curries, hotpots and or sausages. with this 1/2 a pig we've decided not to make sausages as we still have loads of venison sausages in the freezer!

This hotpot is a great way to use diced pork and really helps the meat stay tender and juicy.

Pork 'n' cider hotpot

• 600g diced pork
• 5/6 fresh sage leaves
• 300ml cider
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 2 eating apples, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
• 4 large potatoes thinly sliced
• 1 large white onion thinly sliced
• 4 knobs of butter
• a good handful of grated cheese

Brown the diced pork in a very hot frying pan.

Add the garlic to the pork and let it cook out for a couple of minutes.

Transfer the garlicy pork to your casserole dish and sprinkle over your sage leaves, if you can't get fresh sage a 1 tsp of dried sage will work just as well.

Start layering up the onion, apple and potato slices. until they are all used up.

Pour the cider down through the gaps at the side.

Dot the butter over the top, then cover with tinfoil and place in to an oven preheated to 160c (fan) and cook for 1.5 hours.

Remove the foil and sprinkle over the cheese and cook for a further 30 minutes.

Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving as it will be hotter than the sun....

Serve with green vegetables of your choice and enjoy!