Editor's Pick #1: When You Have Another 5 Minutes Spare - Slow Cooked Pork Loin Steaks With Calvados Cream Sauce

Editor's note: People can be picky when it comes to pork and it's not for everyone, but take one look at the photo on this recipe and you'll undoubtedly want to give it a try. The sauce for me is the real secret of this one, a creamy mustard based sauce makes this a sure-fire hit on a cold damp night. Editors tip: Make twice the amount of sauce because you will want to add it to your meal the next night! 

… try this and before we begin can I suggest that if you're cooking a roast this weekend, cook extra veggies – par boiled or part roasted parsnips, carrots and potatoes would be excellent choices.

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 and slow cook for 3 hours.

Before you begin to make your sauce, time for the leftover veggies – try and make sure they are of a similar size. Place in a foil tray and drizzle with rapeseed or similar oil and season with salt and black pepper. Pop into a pre-heated oven 200c/180fan/Gas 6 for 25 minutes to allow them to finish roasting and become crisp.

For the sauce, you'll need approximately 200ml of stock from the cooked pork steaks - strain, cover and fridge until cold and ready for use. 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.

Add the cream and simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve in large bowls, veggies first then the pork and drizzle with the sauce.

It looks just like this :

Feeling peckish?

The mornay sauce and the fishcakes … and my second treat

By the time Boxing Day arrives we'll all be yearning for a lunch or a supper that's simple and doesn't include turkey or any of the usual suspects!

The following recipe comes from The Ivy – The Restaurant and its Recipes by AA Gill.

The best fishcakes in the whole world!

The Ivy Fishcakes

(makes 8 – freeze what you don't use)

800g dry mashed potato, no cream or butter added

650g salmon fillet poached in fish stock and flaked

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tsp anchovy essence

3 tsp English mustard

salt and black pepper

Plain flour for coating

Mix together the potato, half the salmon, the ketchup, anchovy essence, mustard and seasoning until smooth. Fold in the rest of the salmon. Mould the mixture into 8 round cakes and refrigerate.

When you're ready to serve preheat the oven 180fan/200c/gas 6. Lightly flour the fishcakes and fry them until they are coloured on both sides. Bake for 10/15 minutes.

You'll see that the recipe includes 3 tsps of English mustard – who'd have guessed! The combination of the tomato ketchup, anchovy essence and the mustard produces the best fishcakes – high praise.

The Ivy serves the fishcakes with Sorrel Sauce & Spinach – I serve them with the Mornay sauce and a raw slaw. You could serve them on a bed of mushy peas (pea purée if you want posh) home-made mayo or even a curry sauce – choose your own guilty pleasure!

My final Mornay treat.

My secret ingredient

Looking at the recipe for the Mornay sauce and the Dijon mustard in particular reminds me of another mustard that's always in the fridge and a spare in the pantry too.

Mustard generally is an acquired taste – English mustard is too hot for my taste – I don't want my head blown off, even the tiniest amount seems to overpower. There are exceptions to every rule I know – English mustard is part of The Ivy's Fishcakes recipe – you wouldn't know it's there but that's the skill of developing a legendary recipe but more about the fishcakes later.

Dijon mustard is an essential – it's delicate but distinctive flavour in sauces is perfect - in my house I use Dijon mustard with cheese on a sandwich, more famously of course it's part of a Croque Monsieur.

Here's my secret – Dijon mustard with honey. If you're not convinced about mustard I'd recommend you try it – it's mild and smooth with the slightly sweet hit of the honey. If you want a decadent sandwich with a difference, toast two slices of wholemeal bread, spread one slice with mayo and the other with Dijon honey mustard and add thin slices of mature Cheddar cheese.

There are various makes of Dijon and I'm sure there are good and bad. My favourite has to be Maille - originally made in France and around since 1747 (now a subsidiary of Unilever)

Here's the original and the honey version :

Add a jar to your shopping list - you won't be sorry!

Back to the Mornay sauce and the fishcakes and my second treat.