Chicken dauphinoise - yes, it is a lot of cream...

 Watching everyone do interesting, green, challenging recipes for the last few weeks has been, for me, a bit like the Eddie Izzard routine where he describes watching the fruit bowl rot while eating a Mars Bar. Lovely to think about but absolutely not happening in practice. Our house is awash with cake and crisps and I have reverted (actually, not sure I ever actually 'verted') to easy food that I can make in my sleep. I even bought cheesy mash from Marks last weekend, though I had both potatoes and cheese. Not sure what it is, but everything feels very effortful and flat at the moment. Life feels both busy and slow. 

Anyway, harking back to heritage recipes, my most-used come from my mother-in-law, who taught herself to cook from scratch when she got married and has an infinite store of tweaked seventies-style meals, every one delicious. The main thrill of my life has been to give her a recipe that she reuses over and over - hello Sarah's bean chilli! The range is eclectic and includes an infallible lasagne, chilli, meatballs, bolognese and baked risotto. Also piri piri chicken, broiled steak with cashews (nicer than it sounds) and the best ginger cake recipe in the world. All (apart from the cake, obviously) propped up with enough garlic to sink a battleship.

Note: I love my mum, but her strength is in baking rather than cooking, which she hates on the grounds that it dirties your oven and makes the house smell. Fair enough.

On to a perennial favourite from the reams of scribbled recipes that I stole as soon as I ate them - chicken dauphinoise. This is not by any stetch of the imagination a healthy meal. I just serve a green veg with it and hope for the best.

You need chicken breasts - the recipe is for 6, but you can do as many as you like and fill in the gaps with potato - and about 2 pounds of peeled and thinly sliced potatoas. I got a dangerous-looking mandolin for Christmas, which did the job nicely and only took the skin off one of my fingers. Otherwise you can slice them freestyle. Parboil the potatoes for 3 minutes and drain.

Dredge the chicken breasts in seasoned flour, and then brown in a good wodge of butter (I think it's meant to be 50g) and a handful of chopped, fresh tarragon. You can use dried in a pinch. Once they're browned all over, layer in a dish with the sliced potatoes. This is always an interesting part of the process, as everything is a tad warm and slides around until you have reached a critical mass. It doesn't need to be beautiful or tidy, as all the sticky-up bits get lovely and crunchy.

Mix a crushed clove of garlic (right, I have been known to add 3) into 200-250ml of double cream and season really well. Pour over the layered chicken and potatoes and bake in a low oven (160) for at least an hour (recipe says 1 hour 15, but depends on your oven).

It comes out squelchy on the bottom and crispy on top and round the edges and is totally delicious, combining potato dauphinoise with lovely moist chicken and fresh herbs. Serve with some green beans or brocolli and all is right with the world.

Next up - I give up totally and make a corned beef plate pie....