Creamy chicken and mushroom pie, how to spot a plumber, and a spectacular wine cellar

We’ve had some very volatile weather in the last couple of weeks, including freezing temperatures, which are almost unheard of here. Our house’s plumbing isn’t equipped to cope with anything below freezing, and chaos quickly ensued. My office was completely flooded, with water pouring down the wall from a burst pipe. Of course, we weren’t the only ones affected and plumbers were in desperately short supply

The first plumber to arrive took one look at the torrent of free-flowing water and promptly called in a colleague. This turned out to be just as well, as Luc announced that ‘his trousers fitted too well to be a proper plumber’. He went on to explain that the true mark of a ‘proper plumber’ is being able to see ‘at least his underpants, and preferably his butt as well’. So now you know. The colleague, who had all the requisite attributes, and then some, fixed the burst pipe quickly and efficiently, never even stopping to pull his trousers up.

On a drier note, after lunch at the Bordeaux Opera recently, we visited the famous wine cellar, L’Intendant. Situated opposite the opera house, L’Intendant lies in Bordeaux’s famous ‘golden triangle’, the very heart of the city centre. The interior is spectacular: a 12-metre-high circular staircase lined with 1,200 oak lockers, housing some 1,600 different wines, many extremely rare, and all exclusively from the Bordeaux region. If you’re ever in Bordeaux, I highly recommend a visit.

Recipe for creamy chicken and mushroom pie (serves 4)

• 750g potatoes, peeled
• 250g butternut squash, peeled
• 15ml olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 100g parmesan
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 500g chicken breast
• 15ml olive oil
• 4 shallots, peeled and chopped
• 300g mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 600ml milk
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 80g fresh spinach

Cut the potatoes and butternut squash into even pieces, place in a saucepan and cover with cold, salted water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender. Drain, then mash well with the olive oil, garlic and parmesan and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Chop the chicken into 3cm chunks and place in a non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, stirring regularly. Add the shallots to the pan and then the sliced mushrooms. Cook for 10 minutes, or until golden, stirring regularly. Add the flour to the frying pan, then gradually add the milk. Leave to simmer until the mixture thickens (roughly 15 minutes), then add the mustard, seasoning and finally stir in the spinach.

Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof dish, cover with the mashed potato and butternut squash mixture, add some grated parmesan cheese and cook in the oven for about 30 minutes, until the topping is golden and crispy.