It's becoming autumnal, and while the days are still warm the evenings are cool enough that my thoughts turn to stews, roasts, soups, and all the comforts of winter. One of my daughter's favourite recipes is perfect for this time of year, in that it's wintery comfort food paired with the bread and green salad of summer. 

While heaping piles of cream, cheese, breadcrumbs, and garlic could hardly be called healthy, there's nothing wrong with occasionally throwing caution to the wind and using hunks of bread to mop up a creamy, garlicky, breadcumb-laden sauce. And that's where this simple to make leek and celeriac dauphinoise comes in handy. 

half a bulb of garlic
1 celeriac
4 or 5 medium leeks
600 ml single cream
2 or 3 generous handfuls of breadcrumbs
2 or 3 generous handfuls of cheese
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
crusty bread and green salad
wholegrain mustard (optional)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220° C.
2. Using a mandolin if possible, or your sharpest knife if not, thinly slice the celeriac and the garlic. Chop the leeks into 2cm rounds.
3. In a deep baking dish, layer the celeriac. After each layer, scatter with garlic and leeks, and cover with cream. Season between each layer with salt and pepper. Repeat until you have run out of ingredients. You can dab small spoonfuls of wholegrain mustard between the layers to cut the richness.
4. Make sure the top layer of celeriac has been covered with cream, then scatter the cheese and breadcrumbs on top before seasoning with a final round of salt and pepper. Bake for around an hour, until the top is golden, a sharp knife can cut through the celeriac with ease, and the cream is bubbling away merrily.

Serve with huge chunks of crusty bread and a pile of green salad.

Last night, at yet another neighbourhood feast, my neighbour showed me the cookbook she used at school in the 1950s. The pages are spotted with age and splashed with sauces made half a century ago, and the binding is beginning to disintegrate. But the recipes on those pages are a complete guide to the culinary traditions of the Perigord, and of France as a whole, and I am determined to preserve them for posterity.

Over the next few weeks, I shall post as many of the recipes as I can before I am asked to return the book, as it is a perfect introduction to French cuisine for anyone who wasn't taught the fundamentals as a schoolchild.

Today's recipe is the simple and classic celeri remoulade, which formed part of last night's meal. My wife makes huge bowls of the stuff every summer; we eat it at lunch, sitting outside in the courtyard, where plates piled high with ham, cheese, and hunks of torn baguette always seem to have a little space left over for this crunchy, creamy, mustardy salad.

600g celeriac, washed and peeled
130g mayonnaise (homemade or store-bought)
2tbsps Dijon mustard
2tbsps lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Prepare the dressing. Like many vegetables, celeriac is quick to discolour once exposed to the air, and so the sauce should be made first and then put aside while the celeriac is prepared. To make the dressing, simply mix the mustard, lemon juice, and the mayonnaise together.
2. Grate the celeriac. You can buy special graters for the purpose in France, or you can use the coarse side of a standard cheese grater.
3. Stir the dressing through the grated celeriac until every strand is finely coated. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve as a vegetable side dish with almost anything - last night we ate it with roast chicken, but it works well on picnics, in lunch boxes, and with grilled meat and fish.