BREAD SAUCE

This is essential: of course it is.

Serves 10

2 small onions, peeled and each stuck with 3 cloves 1 bay leaf

4 peppercorns

A blade of mace or ¼tsp ground mace

800ml (1½pt) full-fat milk A good pinch of salt

150g (5½oz) fresh breadcrumbs

30g (1oz) butter

2tbsp double cream

Fresh nutmeg

Put the clove-stuck onions, bay leaf, peppercorns and the blade of mace (or sprinkle the ground mace over) into a pan with the milk. Add a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil, but do not actually let boil. Remove from the heat, cover the pan and infuse. I tend to do this first thing in the morning when I get up, but if you forget or can’t, then just make sure you get the infusion done about an hour before eating.

Back on a very low heat, sprinkle over and stir in the breadcrumbs and cook for 15 minutes, by which time the sauce should be thick and warm. I have to say I don’t bother with removing any of the bits, the onions, the peppercorns and so on, but you can strain the milk before adding the breadcrumbs if you want to. Just before serving, melt the butter and heat up the cream together in another pan, grate over quite a bit of nutmeg, and stir into the bread sauce. Taste to see if it needs any more salt or, indeed, anything else.