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I love Mexican chillies for the subtle flavour they give to cooking. Take the ancho, with its sweet, earthy notes of chocolate and plum. That adds immense depth to dishes traditional and avant garde alike, and is now readily available online and in shops. In today’s one-pot, which is a near-perfect way to cook a whole chicken, the ancho adds character to a classic sofrito, while in the pudding the savoury notes and touch of heat complement the dark caramel, helping to create a banana cake that is anything but bland. If you can’t find ancho, try any other medium-heat chilli flake in its place (nora, aleppo), or simply leave it out. The results will be delicious either way.

Chicken pot-au-feu with wild garlic pesto

Wild garlic tends to be very strong at the start of the season, so I prefer to cut it with parsley; and if you can’t find wild garlic, go all-out parsley with a peeled garlic clove. This pesto is also magic on a jacket spud, pasta or a toasted cheese sandwich, but it really comes into its own when stirred through these sublime chicken juices.

Prep 10 min
Cook 2 hr
Serves 4-5

1 tbsp olive oil
150g smoky bacon lardons
1 medium chicken (about 1¾kg)
1 head garlic
4 banana shallots, peeled and halved
4 celery stalks, washed and trimmed
2 heads fennel, chopped into large chunks
2-3 rosemary sprigs
2 bay leaves
Salt
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp ancho chilli flakes (optional)
500g new potatoes, halved
180ml white wine

For the pesto
50g pine nuts
40g wild garlic
30g parsley
1 tsp salt
150ml olive oil

Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas 5. Put the oil in a large casserole on a medium high-heat, saute the lardons for five or six minutes, until golden, then transfer to a small plate. In the same pan, brown the chicken in the bacon fat, turning it with two wooden spoons so it browns all over. Once browned, transfer the chicken to a second plate.

Break open the garlic head, then bash the cloves to release their papery skins, which you can chuck away. Put the shallots, celery, fennel and garlic in the casserole, add all the fresh herbs, season generously with salt, then turn down the heat to medium and saute for eight to 10 minutes.

While the vegetables are cooking, lightly crush the fennel seeds and peppercorns, then stir them into the vegetables, add the ancho flakes, if using, and let the mix catch and caramelise lightly. Once the vegetables are looking wonderfully glossy and golden, return the lardons and chicken to the pan and add the halved potatoes.

Pour in the wine and 300ml water and bring to a simmer. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, pop in the oven, and cook for about 90 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and falling off the bone and the potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, make the pesto by blitzing all the ingredients in a blender until green and vibrant. Serve the aromatic chicken drizzled with the pesto.

Salted caramel, chocolate and banana cake with crunchy sesame topping

A rich, delicious fudgy cake that manages to be at once decadent and wholesome. Perfect with Greek yoghurt, but you could no doubt whip up a burnt caramel buttercream if you wanted more of that naughtiness.

Prep 15 min
Cook 1 hr 20 min
Serves 6-8

270g golden caster sugar
180g room-temperature unsalted butter, cubed
480g ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 large eggs, beaten
290g flour – I used a mix of white and wholemeal spelt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
90g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Greek yoghurt or cream, to serve

For the topping
2 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp demerara sugar
1 tsp ancho chilli flakes (optional)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon

Start by making the caramel. Put the sugar and three tablespoons of water in a light-coloured, stainless-steel pan (this will help you gauge the colour of the caramel later) and put it on a medium-high heat, stirring to help the sugar dissolve. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the caramel turns a deep, dark colour, then take off the heat and whisk in the butter. Keep warm over a very low heat.

Blitz the bananas in a food processor, then pour in the warm caramel, blitz again and pour into a large bowl. At this point, heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and line a 24cm cake tin with greaseproof paper. Add the vanilla essence to the banana bowl, then slowly beat in the eggs one at a time.

Start on the topping. Lightly toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan, then tip into a mortar and bash lightly. Add the demerara sugar, ancho chilli flakes (if using), salt and cinnamon to the sesame seed mix and toss to combine.

Back to the batter: sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt into a second bowl. Make a well in the centre of the banana batter, then tip in the flour mix and whisk to combine. Stir in the chopped chocolate, then pour the cake batter into the lined tin and sprinkle with the sesame topping. Bake in the middle of the oven for 35-45 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes before turning out, then cut into fat slices and serve with thick yoghurt or cream.