Today I offer you pork casserole with sweet apple. This time we’re using specially selected pork to make for a super tender dish. And we’re not using just any old apples; we’re using Bramley apples. The sweetness of the apples combined with the succulent pork makes for a really special pork casserole that’s so hands off it’s easy to forget it’s in the oven.
This pork casserole is especially loved by babies and toddlers owing to the sweetness of the apples and carrots. The slow cooking in the oven renders the apples down until they’re part of the sauce. It also leaves the pork fall-apart tender, which can easily be pureed down if you’re going down that route. Or left whole if you’re more of a baby led weaner.
I remember weaning my three babies and finding the whole meat thing a minefield. It felt like the advice changed with each baby I had and was confusing at best. But really it’s very simple. From 6 months onwards babies are not just fine to have meat but actually advised to. The reserves of iron they started off life born with have depleted by the time they’re ready for weaning, so serving them recipes like this pork casserole is advised because pork is a great source of iron (as are beef and lamb).
If you’re looking for a little advice on the weaning front then check out this video for Good Family Food where I answer a few common questions. (Including how to deal with tricky fussy eaters).
I made this recipe for the Good Family Food kitchen for QMS. You can see a video of the recipe here, along with sweetcorn fritters too.
Don’t forget there’s a giveaway as well for a weaning starter kit; perfect for making this pork casserole recipe with. I have 5 starter weaning kits including an 8 piece Vital weaning kit in either pink or blue (made up of weaning spoons, a mini freezer pot stack, prep and go food pots, a tumbler and bowl with lid) along with a £20 meat voucher for Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Specially Selected Pork, a Good Family Food apron, placemat and top tips magnet.
If you skip to the bottom of the blog post there are details of how to enter. The closing date is 19th April 2016.
Lots of great recipes like this in my books, Recipes from a Normal Mum, (available on Amazon, at The Works, Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets) and The Power of Frozen (available through Amazon).
One year ago: Homemade Oreos and Ombre cake and Lemon and coconut cake and Jaffa cakes and All my weaning recipes in one place
Two years ago: Carrot & almond layer cake and Pecan & hazelnut granola and Banana & toffee muffins and Lemon drizzle loaf
Three years ago: Lemon animal biscuits and Oatmeal & fudge cookies and 5 ways with the humble Victoria sponge
Four years ago: Octonauts cupcakes and Walnut, fudge and fleur de sel biscuits
Five years ago: Mutter paneer and Hot cross biscotti
Makes about 15 servings for a baby/toddler or serves 2 adults and 2 children
Prep Time: 0 hours, 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 0 minutes
Yield: 4
- 400g Scotch pork shoulder, diced
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped (about 65g)
- 2 carrots, peeled, topped and tailed and diced (about 170g)
- 1 stick celery, diced (about 50g)
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 300mls hot vegetable stock/pork stock (made using low salt baby stock cubes, or homemade)
- 1 Bramley apple, peeled, cored and sliced
Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160/gas mark 4. Toss the pork in the flour. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the meat until lightly browned, in batches if your pan is crowded. Transfer to a casserole dish (with a fitted lid). Fry the onion, carrots and celery in the pan for 5 minutes until soft. Add to the casserole dish along with the rest of the ingredients. Oven bake for 1 hour with the lid on until the pork is tender and the sauce has thickened. (If you’re weaning with puree, simply blitz the casserole in a food processor with the blade attachment or use a stick blender. Portion into ice cube trays, freeze and then once frozen transfer into freezer bags).
There are lots of ways to enter – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 19th April 2016.
How to enter:
- Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
- This giveaway will close on 19th April 2016.
- Please read the rules below.
- Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
- First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
- If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
- Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
- Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
- Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
- If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.
Rules and things:
- Open to anyone over the age of 18, UK mainland only. Sorry to anyone younger or further afield.
- There are 5 weaning kits worth RRP £45 to giveaway to 5 people. There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
- Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
- I am running this giveaway on behalf of QMS who will be responsible for sending the prize to you by post should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into.
- This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.
This post was supported by QMS.
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