How To Entertain This Month, With Alexandra Dudley

In a large heavy based casserole pan or deep wide frying pan, cook the bacon pieces until crisp and fat has rendered into the pan. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate with a slotted spoon, keeping the remaining fat in the pan.

Pat chicken thighs dry using paper towel and season lightly with salt and pepper.

Add the olive oil to the pan with the bacon fat, then add the chicken thighs skin-side down into the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes until the skin has browned and crisped, then turn to seal the other side (about 2 minutes). Transfer the chicken to plate.

Switch off the heat and add shallots and garlic to pan. The fat will still be hot so the residual heat will be enough to cook the shallots at first. Then increase the heat gently and cook until the shallots have softened. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to lift up some of the golden flavourful bacon fat from the base of the pan as you stir the shallots.

Once the shallots have softened, stir in the mushrooms and thyme, cook for a further 5 minutes, then add the white wine and stock, and bring to boil. Stir in the crispy bacon and add chicken skin-side up. Reduce the heat. Cover and simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes.

Transfer chicken to platter and increase the heat to medium-high heat bringing the sauce back up to the boil. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes until sauce thickens, then stir in butter and season to taste. Depending on how salty your bacon was you may not need to add any salt at all. Reduce heat again and return chicken to the dish skin side up. Cover and cook on a very low hear for another 10 minutes to warm through. I like to serve this from the table and garnish it with fresh thyme.

Blanch the beans in boiling water for 1 minute then drain.

Melt butter in a frying pan until bubbling. Just as the edges begin to turn golden add almonds and stir to combine.

Once the almonds are a light golden brown (usually less than a minute) switch off the heat and toss through the beans.

Add the lemon juice and a good pinch of salt and toss well to combine.

Transfer the beans to a bowl, spooning over any remaining butter and almonds.

Unroll the pastry and loosely cut a circle about 1cm larger than the pan, then return the pastry disk to the fridge on a lightly floured baking tray (or back onto the paper it came in).

In a large oven-safe 26cm diameter pan (I use a cast-iron pan) melt the butter. Once the butter has melted sprinkle over the sugar evenly and cook until the sugar has dissolved, and the edges have started to bubble.

Place the plums into the pan cut side down and cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until you can see the caramel bubbling up around them.

Test the caramel with a wooden spoon. It should be thick and glossy with the texture of smooth jam. The plums will release their juices as they cook. If the plums are particularly ripe and you feel they’ll release a lot of juice, you may want to spoon off a little of the caramel by pressing down between the plums. Keep this though as you may want to spoon it over later. The plums are ready when they are soft but should not be mushy, the caramel is jammy and a deep golden brown.

Switch off the heat and place the pastry over the top of the plums tucking in the sides. Make three slits in the centre of the pastry with a knife and bake for 20 minutes.

Very carefully, ensuring you are wearing oven gloves or are using a thick tea towel, remove the tarte tatin from the oven.

Taking care not to let the tarte tatin sit for too long (as it will stick), place a serving plate upside down on top of the pan. In one swift motion, invert the pan upside down so that the plate is now underneath.

Gently lift off the pan rearranging any plums that may have slipped during the motion.

Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice-cream or thick double cream.