One should always cover a pan while heating

How to bake blind

This method allows you to cook a tart case, and then fill with a preparation which may or may not need further cooking (fruit, chocolate, crème patissière , etc...).

How to prepare sorrel

Here is how to clean and cut fresh leaves to use in a recipe, by removing stalks and central vein, to retain only the very best of the sorrel.

Fillets of sole meunière

Sole "meunière" gets its name no doubt from the flour used to coat the fish ("meunière" is French for miller's wife). It is a classic of French bistro cuisine, rich with butter, basically simple, but easy to do badly. Here are all the tips you need to succeed, using fillets rather than fish on the bone.

Caramelised apple custards

A Parisian flan-style egg custard, poured over sautéed and caramelised (flambéed, even) apples, baked in individual ramekins.

Foie gras ballotine

Making your own foie gras, from raw liver, will give you not only the satisfaction of having made it yourself, but also a liver of simply remarkable quality and taste, far better than any commercial foie gras. It's a tricky operation, but one that's entirely within your grasp, as long as you follow the 3 delicate stages of the recipe, which are well explained here, in the following order: de-veining, seasoning and cooking. This recipe will be cooked "en ballotine", a simpler and much easier...