Braised Pork with Bittersweet Variations

Ah yes, my enamalled dutch oven will be my best friend this winter. This slow cooked pork braise is a meal in a pot and was influenced by a few different recipes. Apples are an obvious match, I just like sweet potato, cabbage and pork - germanic fave but the use of bay leaves and vinegar interested me the most as the slight sourness and bitterness the two bring is less commmon. Takes a bit under 3 hours, so if you can get off work early and have dinner later, there's no reason it can't be a mid-week meal.

1 roasting cut of pork; olive oil; butter; 3 bay leaves; 12 peppercorns; 8tbs white (or red) wine vinegar; 200ml of appple juice; 1 sweet poatato; 3 organic red apples; half a red cabbage; salt

1. Heat the olive oil and butter until hot and then brown the pork on all sides. Set aside and rub with salt. Add the peppercorns, bay leaves, vinegar and apple juice and work the residue off the bottom of the pot and put the pork back in. Cover and place in a 160C oven (you could also consider using a crock pot).
2. Go for a 5km run.
3. Peel the apples and sweet potatoes and chop into Staedtler eraser sized chunks. Add to the pot. Keep an eye on it to make sure there's still liquid in there and you can also do the odd baste.
4. By two hours it should be getting nice and cooked and tender, give yourself about 2o minutes to chop up the cabbage and put it in the pot.
5. Remove contents and keep warm allowing the pork to rest. Remove the crackle from the pork , rub with salt, and place under the grill until crisp.
6. Place vegetables on place, place carved sliced of pork on, top with a piece of crackle and pour the remaining juices over the dish.

Mwah hmmm mmmm mwah was it good, I ate until I was full and sleepy and had to retire to the couch.