Mireille Johnston

Tarte Tatin

22 February, 20073 April, 2010 Veronica 3 Comments

There seems to be a great mystique surrounding Tarte Tatin but it really isn’t difficult to do. After all, the original Tatin was allegedly an accident! Credit for this version: the ever-reliable Mireille Johnston

The best implement to cook it in is a heavy frying pan (preferably non-stick) that will go in the oven. But if you don’t have a suitable one, you can cook the apples in a frying pan, then tip them into a cake tin and cover with pastry.

Note: I often just buy ready-made pastry for this rather than making it.

Marquise au chocolat

22 February, 20073 April, 2010 Veronica Leave a comment

Here is the most chocolatey dessert you are ever likely to eat. You must use the best dark chocolate you can get – ideally Valrhona, but Green and Black’s or Waitrose own brand are good as well. It can be prepared entirely in the microwave, on a low setting.

Le Cassoulet

21 February, 20073 April, 2010 Veronica Leave a comment

There are three sorts of cassoulet, from Castelnaudary, Carcassonne, and Toulouse. Naturally each place claims its version is the best. They all have lots of beans and goose or duck fat in them, it’s the other ingredients that vary. Anyway this is the ‘quick’ version that I make (doesn’t include separately cooked stewed lamb), which is probably closest to the Toulouse version. If you are going to make it, make plenty — it freezes well, and it’s one of those things that’s better reheated. Credit: the infallible Mireille Johnston.

Daurade au Four

21 February, 200729 December, 2011 Veronica Leave a comment

Daurade is sea bream. You could equally use sea bass for this recipe. Whatever you use, it must be very fresh.