Escargots à la Bourguignonne

It was the furiously hot and bubbling arrival of this dish at the famous old Paris bistro, Chez l'Ami Louis, that was the original inspiration for this recipe. And these snails have been on the menu at Bibendum, without exception, since day one.

Serves 4

48 canned snails
48 snail shells (these are usually sold together)
a large glass of white wine
a large pinch of herbes de Provence
salt and pepper

For the snail butter:

450g unsalted butter, softened
50g peeled garlic, as fresh as possible, finely chopped
75g flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
25g dry breadcrumbs
50ml Pernod
1½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne
5 drops Tabasco sauce

You will need four traditional snail dishes, each with 12 indentations, or, for smaller servings, dishes with only six indentations. The butter recipe should then be halved.

To make the snail butter, put the butter and garlic in an electric mixer and beat together. Blanch half the parsley briefly in boiling water. Drain, refresh under cold running water, and squeeze dry. Chop this and the remaining parsley as finely as possible. Add to the butter with the remaining ingredients and beat together until thoroughly blended. Chill.

Place a baking sheet in the oven while it is heating to 230ºC/Gas 8.

Drain the snails and put in a pan with the wine, herbs and seasoning. Bring up to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or so. Leave in the liquor to cool, then drain. They are now ready to use.

Firstly, using your thumb, push a small amount of snail butter (about half a teaspoon) into the bottom of a snail shell, then insert a snail, with its curved and pointed end uppermost. Gently push it further down into the shell and then top up with more butter - about 3-4 times the amount than before - and smooth off around the aperture of the shell, leaving behind a concave surface, so that, hopefully, most of the butter will remain inside the shell as it heats through in the oven. Repeat until all the shells have been filled.

Place the shells on the dishes with their apertures as horizontal as possible. Arrange on the baking sheet and bake on the top shelf of the pre-heated oven for 15-20 minutes. Serve very much at once, with plenty of bread.

Mussels in Gewürztraminer with chives and cream

A refined version of the French classic moules à la crème. The Gewürztraminer's fruity flavour works wonders with the mussels.

Serves 4

2 kg mussels
100g unsalted butter
50g diced carrot (2-3mm square)
50g diced leek (2-3mm square)
50g diced celery (2-3mm square)
50g shallot, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
375ml Gewürztraminer
125ml double cream
½ lemon
1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

First make sure the mussels are clean by rinsing them in cold water and going through them one at a time, discarding any open mussels, and removing the beard that is a stringy bit that can stick out the side of the shells; if you just pinch it with your fingers and pull hard, it will come away.

In a large saucepan with a lid, melt the butter and gently fry the vegetables and garlic without colouring them, stirring frequently. After five minutes add the wine and boil until it has reduced by half.

Now add the mussels and cover the pan with a lid. Gently shake the pan to and fro keeping the lid on with one hand and holding on to the pan handle with the other.

After three minutes lift the lid and peek at the mussels; if they are not yet all open return to the heat and shake for another minute or two until open. Discard any that remain closed.

Now add the cream and stir it in. Taste the liquid in the bottom of the pan and season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.

You are now ready to serve so stir in the chopped chives and serve in deep bowls, making sure to pour in plenty of sauce.

Fish and chips

Serves 4

4 cod fillets, about 175g each
seasoned flour, for dusting
oil, for deep-frying the fish

For the batter:

200g plain flour
50g potato flour (fécule)
1 bottle of beer (300ml)
1 egg yolk
25ml oil
250ml milk
salt and pepper

For the chips:

4 large floury potatoes
groundnut oil, for deep-frying

To make the batter, blend all the ingredients together, sieve and leave to rest for an hour.

Depending on whether you like your chips thin or thick, cut the potatoes lengthwise into the appropriate thickness. Then wash under cold running water until the water is clear and rid of all the starch. Drain in a colander and leave to dry before frying.

In a suitable pan or an electric deep-fryer, heat the oil for the chips until it has reached 150ºC. Put in the chips and fry for 6-7 minutes. Lift one out and check it. It should be soft right through. If not, then give them another minute or so. Lift them out and allow to drain. Increase the temperature of the oil to 185ºC.

Meanwhile, heat the oil for the fish to 180ºC. Dip the cod in the seasoned flour, then immediately into the batter and deep-fry for 5-7 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets.

Fry the chips a second time between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. This depends very much on the type of potato. Certain potatoes just will not crisp, so ask your greengrocer which are best.

Roast mallard with spiced quince compote

Mallard is a lovely game bird when served pink and juicy so be careful not to overcook it or it will become dry and tough.

Serves 4

For the quince compote syrup:

4 large quinces
1kg caster sugar
1 litre water
4 bay leaves
12 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
juice and zest of 2 oranges
juice and zest of 2 lemons

For the mallards:

50g unsalted butter, softened
2 mallards
125ml red wine
100ml fresh chicken or game stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make the quince compote syrup, peel the quinces, cut them into quarters then remove the core. Put the quarters of quince in the fridge. Place the peelings and core in a saucepan with all the other compote ingredients and bring to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer and leave for 3 hours. The syrup will develop a lovely deep rust colour. After 3 hours sieve the syrup then return it to the saucepan. Now add the quince quarters and simmer gently for 1 hour or until soft. Leave to cool before refrigerating until needed.

Smear the butter all over the birds and season with salt and pepper. Heat a large flamproof dish on the hob and fry the birds, breast-side down until the breasts are golden. Then place in a preheated oven, 200ºC/Gas 6, and cook for 15-20 minutes so they remain pink. Remove from the oven, transfer the birds to another dish and allow to rest somewhere warm. Return the roasting dish to the hob to make a quick gravy. Add the red wine and bring to the boil. Using a whisk, scrape away the bits stuck to the bottom of the dish and allow the wine to reduce by half. Add the stock and 50ml of the quince syrup and allow this to reduce some more until a tasty, slightly sweet gravy is achieved.

Now warm up 4 quince quarters and some of the syrup. Carve the mallards, and pour any of the blood and roasting juices into the gravy. Serve half a bird each with a quarter of a quince and spoon over the gravy.

Roast peaches with ricotta, almonds and port

Serves 6

200g amaretti biscuits
75g unsalted butter
150g flaked almonds
grated zest of 2 oranges
100g ricotta
2 egg yolks
50ml Armagnac
6 peaches
4 tbs caster sugar
1 bottle of port

In a large mixing bowl, crush the biscuits with the end of a rolling pin. Then by hand mix in the butter, almonds, orange zest, ricotta, egg yolks and Armagnac. Split the peaches in half and remove the stones. Place cut side up, in a roasting tin.

Put a walnut-sized piece of the filling on each peach half. Scatter 1 teaspoon of sugar over each half and add the port. Roast the peaches in a preheated oven, 180ºC/Gas 4, for 20 minutes. Remove the peaches from the tin and keep warm. Pour the port into a saucepan. Boil to reduce to a syrup - add sugar if not sweet enough. Serve 2 halves to each person and drizzle with the syrup. Add a spoonful of crème fraîche.

Sussex pond pudding

Serves 4

For the pastry:

400g self-raising flour
200g suet
pinch of salt
125m milk
125ml water

For the filling:

2 lemons
unsalted butter
demerara sugar
Butter 4 x 250ml heatproof plastic pudding basins.

To make the pastry, mix the flour, suet and salt together in a large bowl. Then add the milk and with your fingers, start to work into a dough. When you have added all the milk start to add the water. You may not need all of this. Keep working until you have a dough you can roll out with a rolling pin. Roll the dough out to 3-4mm thick and then cut out 4 circles big enough to line the basins.

A side plate is a good size to use as a template. Now cut out one-quarter of each circle. Place the remaining three-quarters in each basin, bringing the 2 cut edges together to overlap a little bit. Push the pastry down into the basins. Seal the overlap firmly.

To make the filling, weigh the lemons and then weigh out the same amount of butter and of sugar. Cut the lemons and butter into 1cm chunks. Mix in a bowl with the sugar and then fill each of the lined basins with the filling.

Now roll the remaining pastry quarters into circles and cut to fit as lids. Pinch the lining and lid firmly together to make a tight seal. Cover the top of each pudding with foil with a pleat folded across it. Place the puddings in a steamer with a tightly fitting lid, over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave to boil gently for 3 hours. Top up with boiling water, if necessary. To serve, remove the foil and turn the puddings out into bowls - don't forget the cream!

• The Bibendum Cookbook by Terence Conran, Simon Hopkinson and Matthew Harris is published by Conran Octopus, £25. To order a copy for £23 with free UK p&p go to observer.co.uk/bookshop or call 0870 836 0885.