POMMES PONT NEUF

These are fancy French chips: thick-cut and triple-cooked. I like to fry mine in beef dripping, which makes them pretty unforgettable.

SERVES 4

6 large floury potatoes, Maris Piper ideally, or King Edward

2kg beef dripping, or 2 litres vegetable oil

fine sea salt

sea salt flakes

1 Peel the potatoes and cut into large chips: aim for a 2cm square cross-section. Place in a bowl of iced water and wash. You can do this the day before – the chips will sit happily in water in the fridge overnight.

2 Place the chips in a pan of cold, fresh salted water and bring to the boil. Gently simmer for around 10 minutes, or until tender and almost breaking apart. Carefully remove the chips using a pair of tongs or a slotted spoon, trying not to break them. Place on a wire rack, cool then put into the fridge to dry.

3 Heat the beef dripping or oil to 130°C. For safety, do not leave the hot oil unattended; only half-fill the pan and make sure your cooked and cooled chips are thoroughly dry. Fry the chips for about 6 minutes, or until a fine skin has formed on the outsides. Lift out, place on a wire rack and put in the fridge to dry. (At this stage, you can freeze the chips or chill them for a couple of days.)

4 Heat the beef dripping or oil to 175°C, applying the same safety rules as before. This time cook your chips until nicely golden brown all over, then drain and season with fine sea salt immediately. Plate up your chips and season them with a pinch of sea salt flakes.

LOBSTER THERMIDOR

For me there are only two ways to eat lobster: either simply grilled with garlic butter, or as a thermidor, covered with cayenne-spiked fish velouté and grated cheese, then gratinated until golden. Serve with chips (far right) and salad (over the page).

SERVES 4

4 lobsters

120g emmental cheese, coarsely grated

sea salt flakes

For the fish velouté

50g butter

50g plain flour

400ml fish stock

For the sauce

50g butter

40g shallots (about 2), finely chopped

100ml dry white wine

350g fish velouté (see above)

50ml double cream

1 egg yolk

2 tsp English mustard

pinch of cayenne pepper

4 tsp parsley leaves, chopped

1 Put the lobsters in the freezer for 10 minutes to send them into a deep sleep, then take a sharp heavy knife and cut straight down through their heads to kill them instantly. Remove the claws by twisting them off.

2 Meanwhile, bring a very large pan of salted water to the boil. Have a large bowl of iced water to hand. Cook the heads and tails (still connected) and the separated claws in the boiling water (5 minutes for the claws, 3 minutes for the tails and heads). Drain and plunge straight into the iced water to stop the cooking. As soon as cool enough to handle, cut the bodies in half and scoop the head meat out into a small bowl (to use in the sauce). Pull out and discard the intestinal tract running along the back of the lobster tails. Carefully wipe the space where the head meat was. Remove the shells from the claws and cut the meat into small pieces. Fill the cleaned head shells with the claw meat.

3 Making a velouté is like making a béchamel, but with stock instead of milk. In a saucepan over a medium heat, melt the butter and add the flour, cook for 2-3 minutes, then slowly add the stock, stirring all the time, until you have a smooth sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes, then set aside.

4 Preheat the grill to high.

5 Now make the sauce. In another pan, melt half the butter and sweat the shallots. Once soft, add the wine and reduce until the liquid has almost gone. Add the velouté, remaining butter and the cream. Take off the heat and add the egg yolk, mustard, cayenne and the lobster head meat from the bowl. Mix well.

6 Strain the sauce into a clean bowl and add the parsley, then spoon it over the prepared lobsters, cover with the grated emmental and gratinate under the hot grill. Serve immediately.

TIP Use scissors to remove the tail meat and a flat, hard object, such as the base of a pan, to smash the claws open.

BEEF TARTARE

Many of us who enjoy beef tartare know it as a restaurant dish rather than something to make at home. But it is not difficult to put together and it involves no cooking so why don’t we?

SERVES 6

For the sauce

50g Dijon mustard

75g tomato ketchup

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp Tabasco sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp English mustard

½ tsp brandy

2 tsp horseradish sauce

For the beef (quantities given are per person)

80g beef fillet

1 tsp finely chopped shallots

1 tsp finely chopped cornichons

1 tsp finely chopped capers

1 tsp finely chopped parsley leaves

about 25g sauce (see above)

1 small egg yolk

sea salt flakes and fresh-cracked black pepper

1 For the sauce, put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasonings until it’s as you like it.

2 For the beef, remove visible sinew or excess fat (your butcher can help here). Place the meat in the freezer to firm up for around 15 minutes. Using a sharp knife, chop the beef into small (0.5cm-1cm) dice. Leave the diced meat to reach room temperature.

3 Add your condiments and sauce to the beef, mix well and season, then taste and decide if you want more sauce and/or condiments. Spread thinly over a large plate, or push into a ring mould on the plate. Gently place the egg yolk on top and season with some more cracked black pepper. Serve with toast for a starter, or chips (see right) and a salad (over the page) for a main.

TIP I’ve given the standard beef tartare ingredients, but if you don’t like any one of the condiments (shallots, cornichons, capers, parsley), feel free to leave it out.

GREEN SALAD

Crisp lettuce with a simple vinaigrette is the perfect side dish – it will accompany almost everything, from a simple omelette to lobster thermidor. I like to make this dressing in large batches. That way it’s always in the fridge and available to use.

SERVES 6 as a side dish

For the dressing

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

½ small garlic clove, crushed or finely grated

180ml cold-pressed rapeseed oil, or other good-quality vegetable oil

juice of ¼ lemon

sea salt flakes and fresh-cracked black pepper

For the salad

6 handfuls of leaves, washed and dried well and left whole

10g shallots, finely chopped

2 tsp chopped chives

1 Roll a tea towel into a tight rope, place on your worktop in a small circle and sit a mixing bowl inside this. It will stop the bowl from moving while whisking.

2 Whisk the mustard, vinegar and garlic in the bowl, and slowly stream in the oil, whisking all the while. Finish with the lemon juice and season.

3 Coat the salad leaves with plenty of dressing, add the shallot and toss with your hands until every leaf is evenly coated. Put in a large bowl and sprinkle with the chopped chives.

RASPBERRY SOUFFLÉS

Soufflé bases are usually made of a fruit purée or thickened custard. But I’ve gone for a rice pudding base for a very stable, beautifully light soufflé that won’t collapse quickly.

SERVES 4

For the rice pudding base

10g butter

55g pudding rice

250ml whole milk

250ml double cream

45g caster sugar

pinch of salt

1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out

For the soufflés

125g fresh raspberries, plus more if needed

100g (about 3) egg whites, room temperature

40g caster sugar, plus more for the moulds

135g rice pudding base (see above), room temperature

soft butter, for the moulds

icing sugar, to dust

1 For the rice pudding base, place a heavy-based ovenproof pan over a medium heat, add the butter and swirl to melt. Add the rice and cook for 1 minute. Add the milk, cream, sugar and salt, vanilla pod and seeds. Bring to the boil, then reduce and cook at a bare simmer, stirring frequently, for 20 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened enough for the rice grains to remain suspended in it when stirred. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 130C/110C fan/gas ½.

2 Cover the pan with a cartouche (a scrunched-up then flattened out circle of parchment), transfer to the oven for 1½ hours, stirring every 15 minutes. Discard the vanilla pod, then leave to cool for 10 minutes. Blend to a smooth purée in a blender. Push through a fine-meshed sieve, cover and chill. Bring to room temperature, or warm very slightly, before use.

3 Press the raspberries through a fine-meshed sieve. You need 100g of purée – prepare more raspberries if need be.

4 When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

5 In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites at a high speed for 30 seconds. Add 10g caster sugar, then whisk for 30 seconds. Add the remaining caster sugar in 3 further batches in the same way, whisking until stiff peaks form.

6 Place the slightly warm rice pudding base in a bowl, stir through the raspberry purée and mix well. Spoon one-quarter of the whisked whites into the mixture and fold in until incorporated. Fold in the remaining whites to create a smooth and silky mix.

7 Prepare 4 individual soufflé moulds, each 9cm in diameter and 7cm-8cm tall: use a pastry brush to brush upwards from base to rim with soft butter. Then coat with caster sugar, tapping out the excess. Repeat to give a really thick coating. Spoon or pipe the soufflé mix into the moulds, filling to just above the rims. Run your thumb around the inside rim of the soufflé dishes to create a groove between the batter and the ramekin. This helps the soufflés to rise straight upwards as they cook.

8 Bake the soufflés on a baking tray for 5 minutes, turn the tray and bake for another 4 minutes or until well risen and golden. Take out of the oven and dust with icing sugar to serve.

FENNEL À LA GRECQUE, CRÈME FRAÎCHE, DILL

Fennel is great shaved raw and mixed through salads, but slow-cooking is my favourite way to enjoy it. The dish makes the perfect side to accompany some simply grilled chicken, or the gentle aniseed background flavour also makes it a no-brainer with any type of fish.

SERVES 4 as a side dish

For the fennel

50g caster sugar

8 black peppercorns

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 thyme sprig

1 tarragon sprig

400ml water

100ml olive oil, plus more to sear the fennel

100ml white wine

100ml white wine vinegar

1 tsp salt

2 fennel bulbs

Lemon wedges, to serve (optional)

For the dressing

150g crème fraîche

50g Dijon mustard

4 tsp chopped dill, plus more to serve (optional)

Sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper

1 Put all the ingredients for the fennel, except the fennel itself, in a large saucepan, big enough to hold the liquid and your fennel wedges. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, remove the outermost layer from each fennel bulb and cut each in half vertically, then cut each half into 3 even wedges, with the root attached at the base of each to hold it together. Put the fennel in the simmering liquid and gently simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until tender.

3 Once a knife easily pierces the flesh, turn the temperature off and leave the fennel to cool down in the cooking liquid. This can be done up to 1 week in advance.

4 It couldn’t be easier to make the dressing: just mix everything together, season up and check. It should pack a punch, so prepare for a little Dijon fieriness.

5 Take the cooled fennel out of the grecque liquor and leave on a piece of kitchen paper to dry.

6 In a large frying pan over a high heat, add a little oil and your fennel wedges on a flat cut side. Evenly caramelise all over, then finish with sea salt flakes.

7 Put the dill dressing on a large sharing platter and top with the roasted fennel, or dollop the dressing over the fennel if you prefer. Chef it up with dill sprigs and lemon wedges, if you’re eating this with fish.

SOLE MEUNIÈRE

This is not the classic meunière. I think this version is more delicious and slightly more interesting than the original, which includes only fish, butter, lemon and parsley. My version has the addition of capers and brown shrimps. Serve with some simply blanched vegetables; when samphire is in season, I recommend trying that, but spears of either purple-sprouting broccoli or asparagus would be great too.

SERVES 1, or 2 if you’re feeling generous or the fish is a good size to share

1 × 600g Dover sole (or see tip)

1 lemon, plus lemon wedges to serve

75g butter, chopped

30g shallot (about 1½), finely chopped

30g brined capers, rinsed and chopped

Pinch of chopped parsley leaves

50g plain flour

Olive oil

20g peeled brown shrimps

Sea salt flakes and freshly cracked black pepper

1 This is a quick dish to cook, so you want to make sure you have everything ready to go before starting! Start with prepping the fish (or get your fishmonger on it… much easier). First, you want to cut the skirts – the frilly bits – from the perimeter of the fish, using sturdy scissors. Next, you need to remove the dark skin from the fish (the white skin on the other side stays on for a classic presentation). To do this, free the dark skin at the tail end with a sharp knife, to make a flap. With a firm grip – and a couple of sheets of kitchen paper will help with this – pull the skin, by means of the flap you made, towards the head, peeling it away. Lastly, turn the fish over and remove the scales from the white skin by scraping a knife all over from the tail to the head end.

2 Prepare your lemon. Cut away a slice from the top and bottom and rest the fruit on one of these flat ends. Cut away the skin and pith from the lemon, following the curve of the fruit. Now, working over a bowl, cut very thin slices of lemon. The slices and any juice will fall into the bowl. Reserve 1 tsp of the lemon juice.

3 Put your butter, shallot, capers and parsley in small individual bowls.

4 Put the flour on a large plate, season with salt and pepper and use this to dust the fish on both sides. Place a large frying pan over a medium- high heat and add a splash of oil. Put the fish into the hot pan, white skin side down, and cook for 3-4 minutes, then add the chopped butter and flip the fish. Reduce the heat to low and cook for another 4-5 minutes, basting the coloured white skin with the hot butter every minute. Be careful not to let the butter burn by letting the pan get too hot. Take the fish out and leave to rest on a platter, while you finish the sauce.

5 Now the butter is nut brown, reduce the heat and add all your other ingredients: the lemon slices and 1 tsp of lemon juice, the shallot, capers, parsley and brown shrimps. Bring the pan back to temperature and check the seasoning of the sauce, adjusting it if needed.

6 Once the fish has rested, the flesh should be easy to remove from the bone. To do this, you have 2 options. The braver can wiggle a spatula from the head end towards the tail, keeping it as close to the bone as possible. Remove the bone (lift it from the tail end: it should pull out whole) and replace the top fillet. The more fastidious (and/or scared) can cut the top fillet in half lengthways and remove each half-fillet with a wide-bladed knife or fish server, before removing the bone and replacing the top fillets as before. Cover in sauce and serve with lemon wedges.

TIP I’d strongly advise getting your fishmonger to prep your fish, or do it in the garden on a table, or you’ll be finding tiny fish scales for weeks, because they get everywhere! When cooking a Dover sole, treat it exactly as you would a piece of meat. Add your butter and baste until fully cooked; if the butter is browning too quickly, add some more and reduce the temperature. If you have a larger Dover sole, it might need two to four minutes on a baking tray in a hot oven once coloured on both sides, just to finish it off, but a smaller 600g fish should cook the whole way through in a pan. Once it’s cooked, you need to leave it to rest for at least five minutes. This will help when it comes to slipping the flesh off the bone: if the fish is cooked, that will happen very easily; if the flesh is still stuck firmly to the bone, give it a couple of minutes in a hot oven.

CRÈME BRÛLÉE

This could be one of the most talked-about French desserts of all time, a silky-smooth and rich vanilla custard which is just set, then topped with a thin pane of crunchy, dark, almost-bitter caramel. Everyone should have near enough all the ingredients to make this already kicking around, so there’s no excuses! The pastry chef from a restaurant where I used to work introduced me to this recipe, which takes all the guesswork out of the cooking: the result is a perfect brûlée with that silky-smooth mouthfeel every time!

SERVES 4

560ml double cream

1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out

3 eggs

25g caster sugar

Demerara sugar, for the sugar crust

1 Put the cream, vanilla pod and seeds into a saucepan over a medium heat. Bring the cream to the stage just before boiling, take off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.

2 In a bowl, crack the eggs and add the caster sugar, then whisk until fully combined.

3 Put the infused cream back on the heat and bring back towards boiling. Slowly pour it over the egg mix, stirring as you go. Pour everything back into the pan and set over a low heat. Stirring with a spatula, cook until it reaches 88°C on a probe thermometer. Take off the heat, pour through a sieve into a clean bowl and leave for 15 minutes.

4 Blend until very smooth. Pour into individual dishes and place into the fridge for 2-3 hours, or until set (the longer the better, so do this the day before, if you can).

5 When it comes to serving, sprinkle generously with Demerara sugar and caramelise using a kitchen blowtorch. You want to take the sugar as dark as you dare; it’s the sweet-bitterness from the caramel which is key to this dish.

6 Leave to cool before serving, so the brûlée has time to cool and the caramel time to set rock-solid. Do not refrigerate though, as that would soften the sugar crust.

NOW BUY THE BOOK

This week’s recipes are taken from French Classics by Matthew Ryle (Bloomsbury, £26), with photographs by Patricia Niven. To order a copy or £22.10 until 23 November, go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Free UK delivery on orders over £25.