Normandy Cider Sauce

I've featured recipes from Normandy a number of times in this blog over the years, but I make no excuses for including another. Some of my previous recipes have probably been on the lighter side of Normandy cooking. This one isn't. This sauce doesn't use any stock or onions, it's just classic, Normandy ingredients, including rather a lot of crème fraîche. 

It's really important to use a sweet or medium-sweet cider for this recipe. Dry ciders may be nice to drink but they're bit too austere and somehow less flavourful in this sauce. In the same way, choose an apple that has a good flavour but is sweet rather than sharp.  

Normandy Cider Sauce

On this occasion, I've served this sauce with simply fried pork medallions, but it will also work with duck, guinea fowl or some well-flavoured chicken. If it suits what you're cooking, then you might fancy adding a little Dijon mustard before you liquidise the sauce. 

This should be plenty for 2 people, even in Normandy. 


500ml sweet or medium-sweet cider
200ml crème fraîche, full-fat
1 small apple (a sweeter variety), peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks
A dash of Calvados


Reduce the cider over a high heat in a non-reactive pan. You want to end up with around 4 tablespoons of liquid, so this will take a while. The cider will have darkened and started to look a little syrupy, but stop before it gets to be very thick and very dark brown or the sauce will become too bitter.

Add the apple chunks and Calvados and whisk in the crème fraîche. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and continue cooking until the sauce has thickened and the apple has started to soften.

Pour the sauce into a blender, or use a hand blender, and whiz the sauce until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Reheat to serve.

Comments

  1. Jean26 November 2023 at 14:51

    This sounds delicious as well as easy to do. Thanks for the recipe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phil in the Kitchen26 November 2023 at 22:42

      I'm very keen on easy and adaptable at the moment and it's a recipe that I've been meaning to get around to posting for quite a while.

      Delete
  2. Snowy28 November 2023 at 14:06

    This sounds delicious; will try this weekend. Merci.
    I'm having difficulty posting anything on my blog. It just shows the posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phil in the Kitchen28 November 2023 at 23:31

      The last time I made this sauce I realised just how unusual it seems to have become to find a sweeter style of cider (at least, it was around here), but it definitely makes a real difference to the flavour. I'm sorry you're having problems with your blog. Is this a problem that came up after you gave the blog it's lovely makeover? Although, I must admit, I don't really know why that would be a problem.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6 January 2024 at 08:02

      Am back blogging again! Bonne Année, bonne santé.

      Delete
  3. Jean | DelightfulRepast.com18 February 2024 at 16:35

    Phil, how did I miss this one?! I'm so far behind on *every*thing. This sounds wonderful. I'm sure I'm going to have to visit one of our local breweries to source a good sweeter cider. But soon, well, fairly soon, this will make it to my table with some good pork.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phil in the Kitchen1 March 2024 at 00:00

      This is such a simple set of ingredients that it's surprising that it can taste so good. But I'm definitely in favour of finding good cider and good pork for the recipe. I think that this recipe enhances good produce.

      Delete

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