: Entrées

• Four large mild onions, no bigger than 10cm diameter
• One litrre of chicken stock
• 50g butter
• 50g sugar
• Thyme, ground bay leaves, salt and pepper

The Mimolette ice cream

• 100g mature Mimolette
• 250ml milk
• 250ml pouring cream
• 2g agar-agar or three sheets of gelatine
• Four pre-baked puff pastry bases 8 to 10 cm in diameter

Break the Mimolette cheese up into pieces and melt it in a thick-bottomed pan, stirring constantly. Add the milk and the cream, then bring to the boil and put a stick blender through  the pan to smooth out the mixture. If using agar-agar, add it to the pan, mix thoroughly for two minutes, filter and ttransfer the mix to a sorbetière or ice cream making machine. If you are not using agar-agar, soften the gelatine sheets in some cold water, then proceed as above. Once the sorbetière has been filled, start  a mixing and freezing cycle to make the ice cream.

While the sorbetière is working its magic, peel the onions and stab them all over to ensure they cook evenly. Having stabbed each onion in a dozen places, put them into a saucepan with the chicken stock, butter, sugar and seasoning. Cover the pan with greaseproof paper and set it to cook. As the stock evaporates, keep the onions moving and caramelise them on the increasingly sticky pan bottom. Add a little more sugar if necessary and check the seasoning. When the ice cream is ready and the onions are  just warm, lay out the plates and serve; with the option of putting the pastry bases on top of the cooked