Definitely a light summer lunch ...

Well, Sophie's headed off for a well-earned holiday in Crete for ten days or so, and in any case it's cold and extremely wet around here (which actually makes a pleasant change, it's been bone-dry and up in the high 30s for the past three or four weeks and the garden was starting to look more like the Sahel than anything else), so I've been rummaging around in the dimmer recesses of what I like to call my memory for something I've made that you might like.

So, if you've no objection, we'll start off with pâté de campagne, followed by a tarte frangipane aux cerises. I'd go for a nicely chilled white with the pâté, or maybe a beaujolais (shame you'll need some red to make it, too bad, you do that the day before anyway), but I'm not sure about the tart. Maybe some vermouth or arancio on the rocks? (Vermouth is one of the classic apéritif drinks in France, but either white or red, never dry. And for some strange reason they like to stick a slice of lemon in it.) Whatever.

As I said, you'll need to make the pâté at least the day before you plan on eating it, and it'll keep in the fridge for at least three or four days, so you actually get quite a bit of time with your lunch date. And a good pâté is impressive.

Whatever, start by lining a terrine or loaf dish with some long strips of bacon (good thing I told you how to make that last week, isn't it?), leaving the ends flopping over the sides. Then squash a couple of cloves of garlic with the flat of your knife, and mix them in a bowl with two eggs, a glass (that's a standard 125ml glass, by the way, not a beermug) of red wine (your choice, but I do not think a beaujolais would really be the best idea) and about 200gm of breadcrumbs. Fresh or dried, I've tried both and quite frankly it doesn't make any difference that I can see, and in any case it's a damned sight easier to get hold of dried breadcrumbs around here. (In case you were wondering, they're called chapelure.)

Now, bring out the trusty old kitchen whizz and use it to reduce 500gm of fresh pork liver and 500gm of chicken livers into a purée. (A couple of points here: you may need to do this in several batches, especially if, like me, your mixer is a small, 22 year old Kenwood Chef that we bought on first arriving in France, when we were only staying for a couple of years. It would also be a good idea to slice the chicken livers in half and remove as best you can the disgusting white spidery bit of fat or tubing or whatever it is inside them - do the same for the pig liver too, by the way. And finally, depending on the texture you like, you could also derind another 250gm or so of bacon, chop that into small chunks and stick them in the whizz too.)

The whole mess then goes into the bowl with the eggs, wine and the rest, to which you add some thyme, maybe some sage, parsley, and definitely a good teaspoon of grated nutmeg. Should be quite sloppy. Mix the whole damn lot well with a rubber spatula, then ladle it into the loaf tin and turn the dangly bits of bacon over it. Don't forget to stick a couple of bay leaves on top before covering it (with tinfoil plus, if you're using a terrine, the lid), then put it in a roasting dish with an inch of cold water and cook in a very moderate oven (around 170°C) for 2 hours 30.

Remove when done and put weights on the tinfoil (I find that two 500gm tins of catfood do the trick nicely) while it cools down (you get a better texture that way, believe me) then stick it in the fridge, at least overnight. When it comes time to unmould it in front of your admirative partner, it would probably be a good idea to stick the tin into some bloody hot water for a minute first, if not you'll have to dig it out with a spoon or something and it'll come out a complete dog's breakfast.

Well, that's half your lunch organised ahead of time, pat yourself on the back and pay some attention to the remaining 625ml in the wine bottle. Or you could always get dessert ready now too, but it's nice to at least pretend you've made an effort and do it in front of an audience. Even if it is only an audience of one. Your call.

Tarte frangipane aux cerises is a rustic tart, but none the worse for that. Start off with the pastry: take 100gm of softened butter and work in 75gm of sugar with a wooden spatula until soft and creamy. Add an egg, and beat that in well too. Now add 200gm of flour and beat that in - after a bit of effort you should wind up with a soft ball which comes away from the sides of the bowl.

Now place the ball of dough onto a chopping board (hope you washed it after squashing the garlic on it) and smear it out with the palm of one hand, then fold it back over onto itself, smear it out, fold it back over ... do this four or five times (or until you get bored) and stick it in the fridge for an hour. Check that the white wine is at the right temperature, and as this will require drinking some of it you should probably stick another bottle in there too, just in case.

While you're at it, put 125gm of softened butter into yet another bowl with 125gm of sugar, 125gm of ground almonds and 1tsp flour. Work it well with a wooden spatula then, with a beater, incorporate two large eggs and 2 tbsp rum. Or whatever. Try to organise this so that when you're done, the pastry has finished its hour of chilling out.

At which point you need to roll out the pastry and line a pie dish with it. Word of warning: it's very buttery and has a tendency to break so you may find it easier to roll it out into a large thick disk, stick that into the pie dish and then spread it out more or less evenly with your hands. Just saying.

If you happen to have 400gm of fresh black cherries sitting about you might want to stone them now, if not go into the pantry and drag out the dusty jar of preserved morello cherries that's been sitting there forlornly for years, open it and drain the contents. Spread the cherries over the piecrust, cover with the almond/butter cream, and bake at 200°C for about an hour (stick a sheet of tinfoil over after about 30 minutes, if it looks like the top is going to burn - and it will).

When cooked you can, if you're feeling sophisticated, heat 2tbsp water, ditto rum and 3 or 4 tbsp of redcurrant jelly over a low heat until the jelly shows signs of melting, then whisk in 200gm of icing sugar and continue heating until that's dissolved. Spread the glaze over the tart whilst still hot and put it out of the reach of cats while you set the table.

This is actually rather simple. Just tear up some lettuce and mix well with 2 tbsp olive oil, ditto balsamic vinegar - get out the little plastic tub of cherry tomatoes and put them in a bowl so that they look a bit more aesthetic - get the jar of cornichons out of the fridge and onto the table and toast some pain de campagne or, failing that, rye bread.

Now just unmould the pâté (remember what I said about hot water) and start eating.

By the way, there should be enough pâté for 10 or 12 people. As there are just two of you this may be a bit much: luckily it freezes well.