Bread sauce is a quirky, old-fashioned accompaniment to a roast dinner. The comforting, thick creaminess compliments a roast chicken beautifully.

serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• • ½ a medium onion
• • 500ml milk
• • 2 bay leaves
• • 2 cloves
• • 6 slices of good, stale bread
• • ½ teaspoon English mustard
• • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To make your bread sauce

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• Peel and finely chop the onion half
• Put in a small pan over a low heat with the milk, bay leaves and cloves
• Simmer for 10 minutes, then remove and discard the bay leaves and cloves

To make your bread sauce

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• Slice the crusts off the bread and discard
• Add the bread to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes more, until the bread has absorbed all the milk and softened
• Stir now and again

To make your bread sauce

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• Stir in the mustard and season well to taste with salt and pepper
• The finished sauce should have a loose porridge consistency
• You can simmer it for a little while longer to thicken it up, or loosen it by adding a splash of water if you need to