1/2 pound ground raw pork
1 pound potatoes
4 ounces cooking apples, finely chopped or grated
2 ounces onion, finely chopped or grated
1 tablespoon fresh sage
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 dessert apples
8 sage leaves for garnish
Peel the potatoes and cut into even-sized pieces. Steam or cook in boiling salted water for about 20 minutes until tender. Drain thoroughly and mash well. Add the ground pork.
Add the apple and onion to the potato. Chop the sage, add to the mixture and season generously. Work the mixture together until evenly combined. With lightly floured hands, shape the mixture into 8 cakes.
Heat the oil in a nonstick frying pan on a medium heat, and cook the cakes for 12 – 15 minutes, turning them occasionally until golden-brown on both sides.
To check that the mixture is cooked, insert a skewer into the center of one cake and leave it there for 10 seconds. Draw the skewer out and touch it. If it feels hot then the mixture is cooked.
While the cakes are cooking, core and cut the dessert apples into quarters. Fry the apple and sage leaves in a small amount of hot oil until the apples are cooked through and the sage leaves are crisp. Serve the cakes with an apple quarter and a sage leaf on top of each one.