mattski's posterous

@olvado's tarte tatin

Get 5-6 large bramley apples, peel, quarter and core You'll also need a 2 to 1 ratio of caster sugar to butter - for my pan I use 150gm butter and 300gm caster sugar, your amounts will depend on the size of your pan; also puff pastry sufficient to cover the pan Get a good sized, relatively shallow pan (that will produce the right tarte tatin shape and that can go in the oven) and gently melt the butter in it on the hob. Then gently shake the sugar in until all the butter is absorbed whilst on a heat. Do not mix the sugar in (just distribute evenly and gently shake the pan to even things out) and don't let anything burn. Keep a gentle heat under it so that the sugar/butter mixture bubbles evenly (still no burning!) Take the apple quarters and arrange them in the pan in the sugar - you may need to dice up one or two of the quarters to fill in the gaps (or peel a bit more apple) Cover the apples with the puff pastry, tucking it in round the edges then put the whole lot in a hot oven (around 200c, depends on the oven) and cook for 20-25 minutes - keep an eye on it. How this bit works depends on your oven - with mine I let the puff just begin to burn, or you could do a lower temperature for longer. Take it out, let it sit for a little bit (or as long as you can bear), serve with double cream, creme chantilly or vanilla ice cream

Chocolate cake

250gm of Menier Patissier chocolate, 52%/54% cocoa, no more 150gm butter Melt them together in the microwave - they mustn't get hot - doing the melting in the microwave makes the heating even, so do it gently Add 250gm caster sugar, 4 large egg yolks and mix well Mix in by sieving in 130gm flour, and make sure it mixes in well, so the flour can absorb everything Whip up the left over egg whites until stiff, and then fold carefully in to the mixture Get a cake tin, butter it and put in the mixture Put it in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 180c, or until it forms a crust, at which point you can leave it for another 10-15 minutes which will dictate how fudgy it is. This will depend on your oven, and you'll need find this out on your own Take it out, cover it in tea towels so that it can sweat while it cools Finally, wrap it in foil (or cut in in halves or quarters as you may want to eat it later) and freeze it. Remember, freezing it is part of the process, it's much nicer once it's defrosted

Lemon pudding

In a pyrex dish mix together:

• 16 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 oz melted butter

• Finely grated rind of 2 large, juicy lemons
• 4 egg yolks
• All the juice of the 2 lemons
• 2 glasses of milk (about 1/3 of a litre)
• Beat the left over egg whites until firm, then mix in

Tarte a l'onion

This one needs (naturally) lots of onions, but that number will always depend on the size of your  dish (ideally a shallow quiche-type dish). Cut the onions in to small strips; melt the onion in butter and oil and when they’re nice and translucent, add a bit of flour, then add cream and grated gruyere; blind bake your pastry in the dish, then pour the mixture in. Put it in a medium hot oven, for ½ an hour or so until golden

Slow cooked lamb shoulder

Get a good shoulder of lamb (so much of this is down to the quality of the meat), oil the lamb, chuck on garlic cloves, rosemary, salt pepper, wrap the lamb in tin foil , put it in a suitable dish, stick it in the oven, then leave it in the oven for 4-5 hours on a low heat, take out and serve

Chicory and veal

Get a veal shoulder to fit in the bottom of whatever size casserole you have; fry off the meat in butter, oil, salt and pepper; get a load of chicory, halve it, remove the hearts (since they're bitter, but great in salad!) and cover the meat in with chicory leaves. Stick it in the oven for 2-3 hours on a low heat, then serve

Pork in Saindoux

Le Tian de Marie-France

Vegetable Soup

Onions, leaks, carrots, turnip (no peas of beans), cabbage leaves. Sweat the veg gently in the pressure cooker (used as a pan). Add water to just cover the vegetable, salt and pepper, steam for 10 minutes. Don't open until all the steam has gone! Blend. If it's a carrot-oriented soup you can add a little orange juice (to taste).

Clafouti

Aluminium oval dish works best, but otherwise oval ovenware dish. Cut Bramley apples in big thick boat chunks until dish is overfilled with apple. In a mixing bowl 3 heaped table spoons of caster sugar, 3 heaped sifted tablespoons of selfraising flour, 2 eggs (yolks plus whites), 2 packets of vanilla sugar (small packets), good slug of calvado, medium sized glass of milk. Mix thoroughly, and put it through a sieve over the apples. In the oven at 160c total cooking time is about hour and quarter (but it depends on the oven), about half way through, add a few dolops of butter and sprinkle sugar over it. When it's thoroughly cooked, switch off the oven, and if you don't think it will cook any more, you can leave it in.