Recipes

Good food, properly written: French classics, family suppers, dinner-party desserts, slow Sunday things and the kind of recipes that earn their place at the table.

There are recipes you make once, admire politely, and never think of again. Then there are the ones that settle into the rhythm of the house: the Sunday braise, the pudding that makes people go quiet for a moment, the fish supper that turns a Tuesday into something rather better, the sauce that asks for time and pays you back fully.

This is where those recipes live.

The Finer Edit kitchen is drawn towards proper food rather than fussy food: French classics, Italian essentials, generous family suppers, elegant desserts, seasonal cooking and dishes that are worth learning because they teach you something useful. How to brown butter. How to build a sauce. How long onions really need. Why a bain-marie matters. Why some things cannot be rushed, and why others are better when they take ten minutes and absolute attention.

Some recipes are for quiet weeknights. Some are for Sunday afternoons when the oven can be on for several hours and nobody is pretending to be busy elsewhere. Some are for guests. Some are for the cook.

All are written with the belief that a recipe should be useful, but still enjoyable to read.

Featured Recipe

Four ingredients, a bain-marie, the most satisfying sound in all of dessert cooking, and a dessert that has been argued over by three countries for three centuries. The French won the naming rights. The tap of the spoon belongs to everyone.

“…The brûlée should be done immediately before serving and not a moment earlier. A caramelised top that sits for more than a few minutes begins to draw moisture from the air and soften, losing the crack that is the whole point. This is the one instruction I enforce without exception: make, torch, serve, in that order, with no gap in between…”

Read  how to make your very own creme brulee at home – The kind that will impress your guests and leave you wishing you had more left..

→ Read The Full Recipe

 

Browse The Kitchen

  • Duck Confit with Pommes Sarladaises

  • Moules Marinières

  • Gratin Dauphinois

  • A Proper Chocolate Mousse

  • Whole Roasted Sea Bass

  • Profiteroles with Dark Chocolate Sauce

  • Beef Bourguignon

  • Roasted Tomato Soup

  • Pea and Mint Risotto

  • Banana Bread Recipe with Muscovado and Walnuts

  • A Reliable Victoria Sponge

  • A Good Fish Pie

  • A Proper Lemon Tart

  • Brown Butter Madeleines

  • Risotto alla Milanese with saffron, Parmigiano Reggiano and butter on a table with red wine, salt and ingredients

    Risotto alla Milanese

  • A proper Shepherd's Pie made with slow-braised lamb shoulder, rosemary-rich gravy, butter-and-cream mash and a golden Parmesan crust.

    A Proper Shepherd’s Pie

  • Coq au Vin with red wine, lardons, mushrooms and pearl onions

    Coq au Vin

  • Crème Brûlée – Or “Creme Brulee” if you don’t have the accents.

  • Sole Meunière

  • French Onion Soup

  • Tarte Tatin

  • Spaghetti alla Carbonara (Or: No, There Is No Cream)

  • Spaghetti Bolognese (Or: The Case for Doing It Properly)

  • Salted Caramel Chocolate Fondant – Editor’s choice

  • Halibut fillets with brown butter and parsley

    Pan-Seared Halibut with Brown Butter, Caper & Lemon – Editors Recipe

  • Tarragon Roast Chicken

Latest Recipes

Duck Confit with Pommes Sarladaises

Duck Confit with Pommes Sarladaises Duck legs cured overnight in salt, thyme and garlic, cooked slowly in their own fat until the meat is completely tender, then crisped in a dry pan until the [...]

Moules Marinières

Moules Marinières White wine, shallots, garlic, butter and parsley. Live mussels, the widest pan you own, a tight lid, four minutes at the highest heat. The broth that forms in the pot is [...]

Gratin Dauphinois

Gratin Dauphinois Thinly sliced Maris Piper potatoes baked slowly in cream infused with garlic and nutmeg, with a Gruyère crust on top that the purists of Grenoble would disallow and everyone else will [...]

A Proper Chocolate Mousse

A Proper Chocolate Mousse Four ingredients, the right technique and an overnight rest. Dark chocolate loosened by egg yolks, lifted by whipped egg whites, deepened by a splash of cognac. The classic French [...]

Whole Roasted Sea Bass

Whole Roasted Sea Bass Two sea bass on a Provençal bed of cherry tomatoes, olives, capers and garlic, roasted in a hot oven until the skin blisters and the cooking liquor beneath the [...]

Profiteroles with Dark Chocolate Sauce

Profiteroles with Dark Chocolate Sauce Choux puffs filled with crème pâtissière, piled on a plate, with dark chocolate sauce poured warm at the table in front of everyone. Three components, none of them [...]

The Editor’s Picks

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Seasonal recipes, good places to visit and locations worthy of your time. Always worth opening.