This is not the most sophisticated-looking of dishes – you have to serve the meat in chunks rather than neat slices - but it’s incredibly long-suffering, is a cinch to prepare and tastes terrific. If you’ve only got four hours, cook it at 180C/fan oven 160/Gas mark 4. If you want to put it in the oven at noon, to eat at 8.30-9pm, cook it at 150C/fan oven 130C/Gas mark 2. The original French recipe uses dry white wine, but pink and red both work, and it’s not a disaster if you

If the sound of meat and milk sounds odd, remember that pork braised in milk has a impeccable pedigree from both Venice and southwest France, and the lamb and fennel combination is a winner. I’ve had teenagers claiming to hate fennel, then come back for more. You can use any cut of lamb, but the weight, trimmed of fat, needs to be at least 900g. That may not sound much for six people, but it’s a rich dish. Sometimes I buy boned, rolled neck joints and unroll them. A typical p