When life gives you lemons, make a posset…

… or a Gin and Tonic. Your call but I’m less interested in the posset now I've though of that.

Chicken and wine - them Frenchies know what they're about!

Not the best picture in the world I'll grant you but a lovely thing

Bechemal for grown-ups. You don’t always want milk in your dinner unless you’re 1yrs old.

Velouté is based on a roux in the same way as Bechemal but you add stock, wine or something else instead of milk. The classic velouté is a “white stock”; not beef or lamb, so think fish, chicken or veg. The absolute classic is veal stock.

Yes, I know it sounds weird: Bonkers but beautiful

This is adapted from a recipe in Sophie Grigson's Eat Your Greens - the only book on cooking vegetables anyone needs

It's lots of butter and is the basis of any Cheese Sauce, Parsely Sauce, or . . . you get the idea

It's simple but you can cock it up if you try to rush it. But then it only takes a couple of minutes anyway so why mess around? this makes about half a pint but you just increase each of the ingredients in this proportion. the important bit s that you have equal amounts (weight) of butter and flour

This is why it crossed the road

Get the best chicken you can afford and ignore the packet cooking instructions but make sure you know how much it weighs

To do this properly, 1lb of spuds to 1lb of butter. Not healthy but who cares?

Seems silly even putting this is in – how hard can it be, right? Just boil the potatoes – it doesn’t really matter what type but, again, floury makes your job easier.