Pork Loin with garlic and sage calvados sauce

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 45-55 minutes

This impressive pork loin steak recipe, with a garlic and sage calvados sauce, is the perfect romantic meal for two on Valentine’s Day or just wanting a romantic meal. 

Ingredients 

Pork loin Steaks 800g
1 tsp sea salt flakes
Vegetable oil
Large bunch spring onions, roots trimmed
30g butter
200g shallots, peeled and halved
3 garlic cloves, sliced
200ml calvados or British cider brandy (or see tip)
150ml chicken stock
½ tbsp wholegrain mustard
Handful fresh sage leaves
1 large bunch watercress

STEP 1

Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Remove the skin along with most of the attached layer of fat from the pork. Rub the salt into the score marks in the skin, then set aside.

STEP 2

Heat a glug of oil in a large ovenproof frying pan. When hot, season the chop, then add it to the pan and sear for 3-4 minutes on each side, including the fatty part where the skin was attached, until caramelised and browned.

STEP 3

Transfer the chop, in the pan, to the oven and cook for 15 minutes. Add the spring onions around the chop and cook for a further 15-20 minutes until cooked through and a digital probe inserted into the thickest part reads 65°C (the temperature will continue to rise to 75°C after you take it out). Remove the pork and onions from the pan and rest on a board, covered in foil. Turn up the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/ gas 9. Put the salted skin on a wire rack on top of a roasting tray lined with baking paper and roast for 15-20 minutes until crisp and puffed.

STEP 4

Meanwhile, in another deep frying pan, melt the butter and add the shallots. Gently fry for 10 minutes, then add the garlic and cook gently, stirring, for another 2 minutes.

STEP 5

Carefully pour in the calvados or cider brandy (or see tip) and stock, then bubble to reduce by half. Taste, season with salt and pepper and stir in the mustard and sage. In a bowl, toss the roasted spring onions through the watercress. Cut the joint into 2 chops and serve with the crackling, sauce and greens.