What beats croquettes? One massive one all to yourself, that’s what. As you are cooking large croquettes here, using more oil isn’t such a big deal because of the reduction in surface area, so just drain them well on kitchen paper and get stuck in. You can fry these without so much oil, too – you just have to watch them for catching and burning, almost toasting them in the pan until golden. Then cook them through in an oven preheated to 200°C/180°C fan (400°F), Gas Mark 6 for 15–20 minutes.

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Potato Boulangère

Joe Woodhouse · Your Daily Veg

I used to make this with the potatoes cut into slices and all laid out flat, which works just fine. But standing the potato slices up gives a brilliant crunchy element on top, while the bottom half steams and softens, going wonderfully creamy. When slicing the potato, a mandolin is great but by hand is fine; what’s important is to slice them as evenly as possible.