Poach your leeks to perfection, then pair with pickled pears and nutty miso

I have a great respect for the leek, which is possibly the most demanding vegetable in its need to be freshly cooked before consumption. A warm leek, fresh from the pot, is an ethereal, collapsing sigh of diaphanous veils, whereas cold it can all too easily become a slippery and almost slimy mess of hopelessness.

Jackson Boxer is chef/owner of Brunswick House, Vesper and Dove, all in London, and culinary director of Cowley Manor near Cheltenham and the Henrietta in London

This moreish, flapjack-style oaty bake, flavoured with maple syrup and dotted with sour cherries, works as well for dessert as it does for breakfast

I’ve been making versions of these baked oats ever since discovering Heidi Swanson’s recipe in Super Natural Every Day. This is my favourite store-cupboard version, for when stone fruit and berries have slipped out of season. Morello cherries are a dark, tart variety of sour cherry, with an intensity of flavour and bright acidity that stand up particularly well to baking. I love them here paired with almonds and coconut drinking milk (the light kind sold in cartons, not the rich tinned variety). The cherries I use are whole fruit in syrup, which I drain and dot over the oats – they remain distinct while becoming deliciously jammy as they bake. Almost any fruit compote or jam will work here, though, so choose your favourite.