Lesley Fernández-Armesto on a superior cake for Christmas

MAKES 12 PREP 20 mins COOK 30 mins EASY 15g butter 15g plain flour 180ml milk 1 tbsp Dijon mustard 60g gruyère, grated 320g sheet ready-rolled puff pastry 80g wafer-thin smoked ham, torn 1 egg, beaten

To truly understand Irish food you need to cook with what’s around you in the hedgerows, gardens, fields and ocean. Irish cooking is rooted in simplicity, shaped by the land and sea, and passed down t

Here we’re jazzing up a handy grain packet, meaning you get big flavour, fast. SERVES 2 TOTAL TIME 13 mins EASY 160g long-stem broccoli 2 x 150g free-range skinless chicken breasts olive oil 460g jar

My smashed potato salad went viral on social media last year, and I’m always looking for innovative ways to use potatoes – here, they’re a great stand-in for a pastry case. SERVES 6-8 PREP 15 mins COO

Gary has just walked into The Muggleton Inn. The chefs in the kitchen of the Maidstone town centre Wetherspoons might feel pressure rising, for Gary is one of the most influential foodies in the land.