Let's Do Lunch James Martin: Home Comforts

The heart of my home is the kitchen

and it's here that I love to cook delicious meals

for my nearest and dearest.

-ALL:

-Cheers!

There's no better way to celebrate everything good in life

than sharing some great food with the people you love.

These are the dishes that I cook when I want to bring people together.

These are my home comforts.

My kitchen is the ideal place

to rustle up something hearty and nutritious.

But when I'm away from home,

sitting down to a well-cooked meal can be much trickier.

These days, our hectic lifestyles mean that so often,

we never get a chance for a decent lunch

and just settle for the occasional soggy sandwich.

Well, not any more.

'Today, I'm showing you how to do lunch properly.

'I am creating a tray bake that's perfect to pack up...'

It's a wonderful lunchtime treat, this.

'..providing living proof

'that even the fussiest kids can be converted...'

My favourite packed lunch was a banana and Flake sandwich.

'..and reuniting with an old Ready Steady Cook rival

'who persuades me to break out the bandanna.'

I look like an old version of Karate Kid.

SHE LAUGHS

But first, I am heading Stateside for a hot deli delight

that'll satisfy even the hungriest of appetites.

It's a New York-style sarnie cooked in a paper bag.

Now, of course, sandwiches are a normal lunchtime thing,

but this one takes it to a different level.

It is a toasted pastrami sandwich, with Fontina cheese

and some lovely cucumber and dill pickle.

The first thing I'm going to do is make that pickle.

Now, you need a particular vinegar for this.

This is rice wine vinegar.

Some people call it Japanese rice wine vinegar.

It's much milder than malt vinegar.

It creates a very quick and simple pickle.

So what you need is a glug of that.

Then just warm it up.

This pickle is so straightforward.

Add sugar, salt and black mustard seeds

to the warm rice wine vinegar,

then thinly slice some cucumber.

The thing is with this is make plenty,

because this cucumber will keep

for a couple of weeks in the fridge as well

and you can also have this with things like fishcakes

and cooked crab, that kind of stuff.

It's brilliant.

Add the pickling liquid to the sliced cucumber

and let it infuse.

Now, this is classed as an instant pickle,

so you can almost eat this straight away,

but it wants ten minutes, just sat there,

absorbing all that nice mixture.

Now, I'm going to use sourdough for this.

I'm going to just toast a few slices of sourdough.

Now, chop up some dill and chuck it in with the pickling cucumbers,

but don't add it too soon, or the dill will discolour.

Now, over in the States, in these New York delis,

I've had pastrami with a little bit of rye bread,

but sourdough is perfect for this.

You want something that is full-on in flavour,

but also something that doesn't go soggy.

That's why I'm toasting it first of all,

because you can make this the night before.

Parcel it up, take it to the office,

and either reheat it in the microwave or chuck it in the oven,

and you have an amazing hot sandwich.

Spread wholegrain mustard on your toast

for a little added kick.

Now onto the pastrami. It doesn't always have to be beef.

I've had this in America - it's made out of turkey,

sometimes with mutton as well, but generally, it's done with beef.

Now I know if you are just tuning in,

you're just seeing me making a ham and cheese sandwich.

But just hold on a minute. I haven't finally lost it.

Of course, it's about this dill pickle,

that combination between the meatiness

and that lovely freshness with the pickle.

If you get as hungry as I do at lunchtime,

you'll need a double-decker.

See? That looks pretty good enough to eat as it is.

But remember we are going to warm this through in the oven,

so for that, we can wrap it up.

My favourite packed lunch was a banana and Flake sandwich.

That was it. Mainly because nobody wanted to share with me

so I could eat the entire lot by myself.

Unlike this sandwich, which everybody will want to try.

Better wrap it tightly, then, using grease-proof paper and string.

This is how my nan used to wrap my Christmas present -

in brown paper, just like this.

This is great to take to the office and warm up in the microwave.

To finish off your sarnies,

set your oven to 160 degrees Celsius and leave them for ten minutes -

the perfect amount of time to get cracking

with some quite special crisps.

I'm actually going to make my own, using some parsnip and a few carrots,

and all we do with that is just peel it

and just keep peeling and peeling and peeling.

Now you can, of course, make this with any root veg -

beetroot works really well,

just stains your hand and stains the chopping board -

but carrots and parsnips, I think, work best.

These are just fantastic to use up any leftover root veg

you've got in the garden or at home, really.

They taste so much better than a standard packet of crisps

and they are quick, too.

Just give them a couple of minutes in a deep fat fryer.

Now, the key to a really good veg crisp

is not to have the oil too hot, cos you want the water,

which is inside the veg, to steam off -

that's what's happening here - then crisp up.

If the oil is too hot,

it browns and then you just end up with a soggy crisp.

When the carrot resembles orange peel,

the veg crisps are ready.

So, these are nice and crisp.

Of course, we just need to salt this, which will crisp them up even more.

Just roll them around.

The hard bit is not scoffing the crisps

before the toasted parcels are ready.

Now, trust me, if you do this, you'll be the envy of the office,

because it smells delicious.

It's lovely and moist inside, which is exactly what you want,

and you have a pile of your veg crisps to go with it.

It may be only a sandwich, but how good does that look?

If you've never tried pastrami before,

it really is delicious.

It's one of the best lunch sandwiches that I have ever tasted.

Lunches will never be the same again in the office, trust me.

Banana and Flake sandwich - what was I thinking?

Thankfully, I've moved on since then

and this hot, crunchy sourdough,

wrapped around a pastrami and pickle filling,

is better than anything I could have dreamt up as a kid.

If you are after a healthy lunch, then fruit is a great option.

But you don't have to stick to the usual supermarket suspects.

Father and son Robert and Simeon Medway

are on a mission to get more British apricots

onto our supermarket shelves.

And their HQ is in this much-loved British resort.

The Isle of Wight has been part of my life

as early as I can remember, really.

My father was born on the island

and he used to bring us across,

so it's happy memories, always happy memories.

When Robert's father passed away, he wanted to invest his inheritance

in something that would be a fitting tribute to his dad.

So he and his wife made another trip to the island.

I came looking for a holiday home. We were looking round the island.

We read in the County Press

that there was the possibility of a cherry orchard coming up for sale.

We walked around and within two hours,

we'd bought the orchard.

So it was a very exciting prospect.

Exciting for him, maybe,

but Robert's son Simeon was less keen.

Dad came home one day and said,

"By the way, I've just been on holiday

"and I have just bought a cherry orchard."

"Oh, great(!)"

But Simeon soon embraced the idea -

so much so that, back in 2010,

he and his dad bought another plot of land

and branched out into apricots.

This was originally a vineyard.

It wasn't successful and it had fallen into disrepair

and so we made an investment to plant 6,000 apricot trees.

Five years on and the Isle of Wight sunshine

has finally worked its magic.

The trees have matured

and some are really thriving in the British climate.

The apricots that we are growing are quite a lot bigger

than we'd initially anticipated.

This is what you tend to see on your supermarket shelves

and this is the size of some of the fruit we are growing at the moment.

You know, you get a lot more juice in the actual apricot.

It takes three to four days to get the fruit from orchard to shop

and the delicate business of harvesting must be done by hand.

The pickers are trained.

They have colour charts to know the ripeness

and a size chart as well, to know the size.

I guess they have a nibble now and again,

which, of course, we don't mind at all.

Hm...I'm not too sure I want Robert to catch me snacking.

When it is picked and packed, some of the fruit

then goes to local businesses and supermarkets on the mainland.

The shops reject up to 30% of the apricots

because they are not considered "pretty enough".

They are just as tasty, though,

which is why they have teamed up with local jam maker Erica Oulton.

She's come along to the orchard to rustle up her apricot jam

for Robert, Simeon and the gang.

What I am using today is some second-quality apricots.

They have got marks on, but if you just cut that off,

there is no mark underneath.

So it is absolutely wonderful for this purpose.

We should say this is not the ideal place to make jam!

SHE LAUGHS

But, having said that, jam can be made anywhere.

Even on the windy, but still very lovely, Isle of Wight.

A few miles away, jars of the finished product

are on sale in a hut run by Robert and Simeon.

The jam is a hit, as is the fruit itself.

Scrumptious.

Very fresh and juicy. Lovely.

Very nice. Very juicy.

I could eat lots more.

Back up in the orchard,

Erica has won her battle with the weather.

Her jam is now ready.

Well, I can't think of anything better.

Never mind strawberries -

there is nothing like apricot jam on scones

on the Isle of Wight.

After a busy morning in the orchard,

none of this lot are likely to disagree.

Delicious.

Very good.

So their first bumper crop of fruit is a success.

Yeah...

It feels such an achievement to actually see the trees,

having planted them in the ground, six years ago,

tending to them, to actually seeing the fruit come off the trees.

You appreciate something much more when you have actually done

the labour which has resulted in this lovely, lovely flavour.

Well, seeing all that mouthwatering locally-grown produce

has inspired me to get back into the kitchen.

Which is just as well, because midday is fast approaching

and I could do with a sticky and satisfying treat.

Now, just because it's lunchtime, it doesn't mean that you can't have

something nice and sweet to taste afterwards.

I am going to do, like, a frangipane tart.

Frangipane is a combination of almonds, sugar, eggs and flour.

First of all, we've got some shop-bought sweet pastry, here,

and what I need to do is line the tin.

With a tartlet, you would normally bake the pastry blind,

which is, you pre-cook the pastry before you add the filling,

but I find anything with frangipane, and this mixture that goes with it,

it's much better, I think, if you basically slowly cook it.

Only for about half an hour, but it cooks the base as well.

Otherwise, you can overcook the pastry underneath.

Now, we are going to line this with a little bit of silicon.

It is a good idea to butter this first -

it sticks the paper to the bottom,

makes it much easier to work with.

This is so we can lift it out after it's cooked.

Now, on with our pastry.

This is shortcrust pastry.

If you overwork it, particularly over-roll it,

it will shrink.

Sprinkle a little flour on a cold surface

before you roll the pastry out.

What you have to do is make sure it is nice and thin.

Once you get to that stage, take your rolling pin, roll it up,

and then what I do is just roll this over the top.

Then, basically, just use your fingers...

..to press it down into the edges.

Just trim off the pastry that you don't need.

It's a good idea to use a table knife,

rather than a chef's knife,

cos otherwise, you're going to cut the paper.

Once you have trimmed the pastry,

stick it in the fridge for five minutes.

Next up, for our frangipane.

200g of butter, 200g of sugar to start with.

It needs to be soft butter for this, because it needs to whip up.

Cream the butter and sugar by putting it into a mixer.

Once it has gone pale, add a couple of eggs.

Cracking them one at a time will ensure it doesn't separate.

What you end up with is a nice batter.

You must finish off the rest of it by hand

and I have got the same quantity of flour in here,

then I'm going to use 125g of ground almonds.

You can use ground hazelnuts for this as well -

it is entirely up to you.

But that classic combination of frangipane

is generally always done with almonds.

Just a touch of baking powder

and then all you do now is just chuck the whole lot in.

Then this bit is really, crucially important.

You mix this in by hand.

Don't, whatever you do, chuck the flour in

while it is still on the machine.

This is why Granny's biscuits always tasted really good.

Not just my gran's but most people's,

because they always used to make them by hand.

And cakes as well - you'd put them in the mouth and they'd almost dissolve.

You didn't need to bite them or crunch them or chew them.

So, we have mixed that together.

Now we can prepare our little apricots.

De-stone and quarter the fruit, then set them to one side,

ready to top this glorious lunchtime dessert.

Now, I have actually just recently bought myself an apricot tree.

There is no fruit on it, yet,

but I am hoping in maybe a year or two's time, I may get a crop.

Now, I am actually going to incorporate the frangipane

with a touch of apricot jam as well.

Now you can take the tray out

then scoop out this apricot jam

and just basically spread this nice and evenly over the base.

I like to use the same sort of jam as whatever fruit you're putting in.

It's entirely up to you, really. You can mix and match it,

but I think it tastes just as good with raspberries or strawberries.

Then, of course, grab our frangipane as well.

You can just dot this over the top.

And then, using a palette knife...

..we can just spread this over the surface.

With frangipane, what appears very, very thin

will almost double or triple in size when it is cooked.

Got to make sure it's nice and even.

Now, this isn't a mixture that spreads very well

when it's in the oven, so you've got to get this bit right first.

Then, with our apricots, we can just...

..eat one, but put them on the top.

Don't push them down, otherwise you will lose them

when the cake rises in the oven.

And we just bake this now for about half an hour.

Half an hour for the kitchen to fill up

with that fabulous baking aroma

and for me and Ralph to do a bit of cleaning up.

How good does that smell? Fresh out of the oven.

Just leave this to cool and then just slide it out of the tin.

Now, the great thing about this is that it lasts all week.

What I mean by that is that essential oils,

oils from the almonds, keep the cake nice and moist,

and that's what you want.

By rolling the pastry out nice and thin and cooking it that way,

the pastry cooks, the jam stays in there,

keeping it nice and moist as well, but it's all about the frangipane

and the delicious apricots.

It's a wonderful...lunchtime treat, this.

And a good tip - I wouldn't keep this in the fridge.

It firms up the butter of the frangipane

and it doesn't taste the same.

Just pop this in a tin, just how my granny used to have it,

right at the top of the fridge.

Wherever you choose to store your cake,

I'm sure Granny would agree

that the tangy apricots and luxurious frangipane

make the perfect midday treat.

Lunchtime luxury -

it's been a British tradition for generations.

Our Victorian ancestors were especially keen on it,

as food historian Ivan Day is discovering

at Harwood House near Leeds.

Nowadays, our midday meal is often enjoyed on the hoof

in that quick moment as we escape from the office.

But in grand houses like this in the 19th century,

lunch could be a very extended affair.

I am going to prepare two lovely luncheon dishes

of the kind that would have been enjoyed here at Harwood.

First of all, a wonderful dish of lamb cutlets with cucumber,

and then a beautiful Strawberry Charlotte.

For the lamb cutlets, I'm going to use a recipe

from this really marvellous book...

..which was compiled by a master chef

called Theodore Garrett in the 1890s.

It was such a large collection of recipes

that it occupied eight full volumes.

It contains thousands of recipes from contributing chefs.

I suppose you could call it the Saturday Kitchen of its day.

I think that's a compliment. Thanks, Ivan.

Anyway on to the lamb cutlets,

which he seasons, then coats in egg and breadcrumbs not once, but twice.

After that, the cooked cucumber is ready to be drained

and sauteed for a few minutes in butter and parsley.

The cutlets are then fried

using an ingredient the Victorians were rather partial to.

They loved cooking in lard.

Lard is superb if you want to cook anything crisp in,

because it cooks at a very high temperature,

so we just need to melt this

and just get a nice blue smoke coming off it.

The origins of the word "lunch" are lost in time.

One theory tells us that it is derived from the word "nuncheon",

which actually is derived from an earlier word, "noonschench",

a meal in the middle of the day.

For the second dish in my lunchtime revival,

I'm going to make a Charlotte using finger biscuits, strawberries,

and a delicious, freshly made strawberry jelly.

This recipe is also from

the Encyclopaedia of Practical Cookery,

and there is a very good chance

that it could have been made in this very kitchen.

That is because one of the contributing authors

to the Encyclopaedia was a French chef called Louis Lecomte,

who worked in this very kitchen for the Earl of Harwood in the 1890s.

With Lecomte's ghost looking over his shoulder,

Ivan puts a mould into a bowl of ice, which will help the Charlotte to set.

The first thing to go into the mould

is a small amount of the freshly made jelly.

So, the next stage -

and this is the tricky bit, cos it can be like

a pack of dominoes, if you don't watch out -

is I'm going to make a pattern

using these sponge finger biscuits.

They were originally for dipping into wine.

That's why they are that shape, so they fit into a wine glass.

Because I have got a little bit of jelly in the bottom,

they will stick.

With the biscuit construction in place, it's then a matter

of carefully layering the jelly and strawberries into the Charlotte.

Back in Victorian times,

this would have to be done quickly, or else.

What I found fascinating, and a bit eerie, about this kitchen

is that Monsieur Lecomte, who was a bit of a hard taskmaster,

had his bedroom and office up there, behind that window

and he used to watch the staff

and if they were slacking, he used to bang on the window.

So I think I had better watch out and just get on with it.

I've worked under chefs like that myself.

After it has been left to set,

the Charlotte must be turned out with care.

Voila!

That is not enough. I have to garnish it.

And what a garnish -

whole strawberries speared on a skewer.

Traditional and tasty.

That is my final cutlet, so we need to get it plated up.

So, there we have it - a perfect luncheon for an earl.

I must say that this looks really appetising

and I'm sure even an earl

would pick up a cutlet as good as that with his fingers.

It's perfect. Absolutely tender. Great flavour, too.

I'll try the cucumber...

Mmm - just melts in the mouth.

So, let's see what the Charlotte is like.

That is just the essence of summer. It's absolutely superb.

These Victorians really knew how to cook lunch.

Some of that 19th-century food may have tasted good,

but the preparation could take an age.

Nowadays, we like to get our meals to the table a little bit faster,

which is why this chicken recipe

should definitely be part of your lunchtime repertoire.

Now, if time is precious and you're looking for something

that is quick to eat, then this dish is perfect for it.

A Cordon Bleu, which is basically a combination of two things, really.

It's always done with a Swiss cheese, either Emmental or a bit of Gruyere,

anything that melts really nicely, and then we've got some ham.

We've got some traditional ham, here. You could, of course, use prosciutto.

The first thing we need to do is prepare our chicken.

For that, it's nice and simple - always use a chicken breast for this,

because you want a nice escalope and for this,

what you need to do is open them out.

I always think you're turning this from a chicken breast into a heart,

if you think of that.

I like to use skinless chicken breast for this but traditionally,

it would have been done with veal, of course.

I love the history of where the term Cordon Bleu comes from.

It's actually a French term, or translates from a French term,

meaning "blue ribbon".

The knights of the realm in France used to wear the blue ribbon

and it's thought this dish got its name from the chef's apron,

from that, the blue ribbon on the chef's apron.

That's what I like to think, anyway.

What we're going to do is just take our piece of chicken, like that.

We want to make this about twice the size

and the easiest way to do that

is to put it in-between layers of clingfilm.

Now, the reason we want to make it nice and thin

is we want this to cook quite quickly.

So just use a rolling pin.

Just bat it out, carefully.

The breasts need to be the same thickness

all the way round, so they cook evenly.

You can lift off the top layer of clingfilm - looks good to me.

Then we can fill this.

Now, we are going to fill this with some Emmental cheese.

You could, if you want to, grate it.

I think a decent bit of cheese is actually really good for this one.

Chuck that in.

Some of your ham.

A bit of black pepper...

Now, depending on what ham you use,

just got to check to see what the salt content is.

So, just a little bit of salt and then we can fold this over.

Now, dip the chicken parcels into seasoned flour,

followed by egg and panko breadcrumbs to seal it.

And now, we can turn our attention to cooking it,

because this cooks quite quickly - only about six to eight minutes.

So you grab plenty of butter.

Now, the definition of shallow frying is "to half immerse in fat".

Just a little bit of butter.

It's really important you cook the escalope in butter and not oil,

because the oil will brown the breadcrumbs too early

and you can't tell whether the ingredients inside,

either chicken or veal, is cooked.

Put this on sort of a medium heat.

And then as soon as the butter has melted,

then put the chicken in.

Just keep it on one side.

Do not, whatever you do, start prodding it, turning it.

Just leave it alone.

Leave it alone for about four minutes.

It takes some restraint, but the results are worth it.

Do NOT turn them over until the butter goes nutty brown

and the undersides are nice and golden.

Now you need to keep coating this in the butter,

because it keeps it nice and moist.

The key to, I think, a good Cordon Bleu

is to have it still moist all the way through the chicken and not dry,

but the butter does its job.

And you can see that - as I am just gradually cooking it,

this butter starts to change colour.

Cooks everything really nice.

When the chicken is almost cooked,

drop some French beans into a pan of hot water.

I'm going to serve them how I have it,

not how my nan used to do it...

..where you'd put them in your mouth and they'd dissolve.

Just a little bit of a bite to them - not too much.

My nan may not have approved of flaked almonds on green beans,

but we always agreed they should be tossed in -

yes, you guessed it - plenty of butter.

Then you have got your nice piece of chicken.

Slice it through the centre.

We've got this combination of cheese, melted, and the cooked ham.

I love its simplicity, its taste...

It's like the best chicken nugget ever.

Not that I've ever eaten a chicken nugget.

You know what? I really like this dish.

You've just got the melted cheese and the nice, moist chicken,

which is exactly what you want.

Just tastes great. What more do you want?

OK, it may be a little retro, but this buttery chicken,

packed with goodies, remains a classic.

What's more, you can rustle it up in ten minutes flat.

Variety is the key to keeping midday meals interesting.

Sam Moorhouse saw a gap in the market

and decided to use his dairy herd in North Yorkshire to exploit it.

Our family have been dairy farmers for generations.

We've been at this farm specifically for 40 years, my dad and my grandad.

My dad started with 60 cows.

We've steadily built up since then and now, we milk 180 cows.

When milk prices fell,

Sam had to think about diversifying the family farm.

I was looking into rare breeds, actually,

for another idea I'd had for diversification

and I came across skyr whilst reading into an article

about the Icelandic cow.

Skyr is a traditional dairy product from Iceland

and it is basically somewhere between yoghurt and cheese

and as I saw it was low in fat, high in protein, low in sugar,

I mean, it suits the market in the UK at the moment

and not only that, it just sounded like an interesting thing.

So Sam seized the day and jumped on a plane to Iceland

to see if he could find out more.

I hadn't actually tried it before

so I suppose I was kind of risking it in that area.

But I actually got off the plane and it was for sale in the airport,

so I just went up and bought a few tubs of skyr

and just tried it out there and then.

And obviously, I liked it - I really liked it.

It was good, so I just carried on,

to find out how it was made in Iceland.

His quest for the authentic recipe,

once consumed in great quantities by the Vikings,

brought him face-to-face with the godfather of skyr,

Thorarinn Sveinsson.

I'm a dairy engineer, born in Iceland.

In fact, I'm the second generation,

because my father was a dairy technician,

so if I cut myself,

you'd probably get milk out of the veins instead of blood.

But don't try it!

If there's one thing Thorarinn knows, it's skyr.

He knows the texture, how it should taste,

he knows what you should do.

And since I met him there, we've got on well -

he's been mentoring me for the last year and a half

on how to make skyr and how to get this business going.

Sam is now putting all those Icelandic skills

to good use back in the UK.

He aims to launch his skyr

at a prestigious food trade show in a few days' time

and the pressure is on.

It is quite a labour-intensive process.

It takes roughly about 20 hours to produce a batch

from start to finish.

Skyr is made out of skimmed milk,

so that's the reason it's got no fat and everything like this.

But you take your skimmed milk, you add skyr cultures and rennet,

culture it into a curd and drain it

and you end up with a really thick, yoghurty-type product.

These specific cultures can be traced all the way back

through most of Iceland's history for thousands of years.

They use the old batch to make a new batch, that kind of thing.

And it is the addition of this rennet,

normally used in cheese-making,

that gives skyr its unique, velvety texture.

Yoghurt is a completely different category.

Skyr is really, under international statistics,

skyr is classified as cheese.

You can eat skyr on its own,

but what we are doing is mixing it with fruit.

If you want to use it in cooking, you can mix it up into, like,

a coriander and chive dip or something like that.

You can make cheesecakes from it.

It is, like, an incredibly versatile product.

But creating authentic skyr requires a lot of hands-on process

and techniques that have perfected over generations.

Sam is doing it all on his own.

So, does he have what it takes?

It's a huge commitment to do it

and when I got the first phone call and talked to him on the phone,

I was pretty sure he wasn't going to make this commitment.

But he saw the potential in making skyr.

Gradually, I thought this young farmer from the UK

was...a-a serious guy.

With the launch only a few days away, Thorarinn has flown in from Iceland

to see if Sam's skyr meets his exacting standards.

Thorarinn! How are you? You have a good trip?

I'm very excited to see what you have been doing.

We'll go inside and try it, then.

This is a critical moment.

The consistency looks good on the hand,

but it's not being consumed by the hand,

so I think I will wipe it up, like this,

and then take it into the bowl.

It's shiny, a good smell -

obviously, the culture has been working very well.

In my opinion, this is a very good product,

so congratulations.

I think you have passed the test.

Good to hear, good to hear.

So it's thumbs up from Thorarinn

and a huge relief for Sam to share the success with his family.

-All right.

-Cheers.

There has been a really positive reaction to the skyr

and everyone seems to enjoy it.

-Really creamy.

-Really tasty, yeah.

Confident now to get it to Harrogate Fine Food Show,

get it out there so everyone can try it, really.

It's almost as perfect as I have done it myself.

Really? Is that right?

It's very close to that, so I have to applaud him one more time.

When I was Sam's age, I was being RSC trained.

Well, I was on Ready Steady Cook,

competing against my friend and chef Lesley Waters.

-Hey!

-Hello! How are you?

-How are you doing? Are you all right?

-Good to see you.

-You've met little Ralph?

Hello...!

-How are you?

-Come on in.

-Nice to see you.

Are you coming?

Today, it's a bit of a first,

because Lesley and I aren't on opposite teams

but cooking lunch together.

We are going to make this incredible-tasting

Middle Eastern-inspired pork dish - colourful, flavoursome, beautiful.

Right, Lesley, welcome to my kitchen.

-Fantastic.

-Which do you want?

-That one.

It's all right, this matches my eyes. That's all right, that matches yours.

What we're going to do is we're going to go visit the Middle East...

-Great!

-..via Morocco and do a little tabbouleh, really,

and do that with a nice bit of pork.

-So we'll do a marinade for the pork.

-OK.

I love tabbouleh.

I think this is perfect for lunch, nice, light lunch.

The great thing about this salad,

you can mix and match whatever you want in it.

Have you soaked that already?

It's been soaked for two hours, this one.

-This is bulgur wheat, of course.

-Yeah.

A lot of people use couscous, and I just think...

I am not really into couscous.

This is really nice, because it's kind of nutty.

Yeah. It tastes much better as well.

First thing we are going to do is a dressing.

If I can get you to chop up a little bit of coriander.

OK. A bit of mint?

-A little mint as well.

-Yeah, OK.

We normally used to spend, what, 15 years

at opposite ends of the bench, really, didn't we?

-Competing against each other.

-Absolutely.

We weren't the competitive ones, were we?

What are you talking about? YOU were competitive!

I remember Brian Turner used to go out and see the audience,

you see, and if they were a certain age,

Brian Turner stood a chance of winning. Remember that?

I do remember that. Good job he's not here.

-So just do a nice little marinade for this, all right?

-OK.

So, this is our pork.

You know, I was thinking about the first time we met.

I remember this.

That studio is now gone. It used to be called Carlton Studios.

I remember going there, cos we used to do some filming,

and I remember leaving the studio and I was loaded full of bags

and I was waiting...

And to be fair, I was quite a smart little nipper back then.

I had a shirt and tie on and a suit. I was...

To be honest, I did look like a porter,

but we were outside a studio and I stood there with my bags

and this really blacked-out Mercedes came along with blacked-out windows.

I was obviously getting in a taxi and this car came round like that

and then this certain lady got out of the car...

Yeah.

..and just turned round, gave me a glance and went,

"The bags are in the back if you can bring them in."

-I can't believe I did that to you.

-And you walked straight through.

-I tell you what it was...

-That's what it was, wasn't it?

-No!

I'd met you once before, but you had the bandanna on

and you didn't have your bandanna on.

I was confused.

I found it. I found it especially for you - look.

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

-SHE GASPS

This...this is an antique. Look at this.

I bet that's worth a bit of money, now.

I used to make these. People didn't realise I made these.

This was a bit of old...

I think this was a pillow case, something like that,

cos I couldn't afford to buy a bit...

-Is that true?

-So you thought I bought them.

-I did - I thought...

-No! I didn't go around

in blacked-out windowed Mercedes and stuff like that.

-Are you going to put it on for me?

-This is... No, this is...

I look like an old version of Karate Kid.

SHE LAUGHS

And people wonder why I don't wear this now. How is that?

It's good, but you look much more handsome without it.

THEY LAUGH

Right, I'll leave the bandanna back in the '90s

and concentrate on today's pork marinade.

I'm adding ground coriander, cumin, sumac and za'atar

to fresh herbs along with some extra virgin olive oil.

Meanwhile, we will just do our pork loin here.

Actually, James, it's really nice to cook with you

and to relax, isn't it?

Normally, you have Ainsley Harriot going, "Nna-nna-nna-nna!"

"Just get away! I'm busy, get off."

I always used to be the one that he'd come over to first.

-I know. It was the girlie one, yeah.

-I'm sure you paid him to do that.

No, I didn't.

But it was one of those things,

"Just get out of the way, get out of the way, I'm busy."

Without Ainsley interfering, we'll rattle through this recipe.

It's already time to put the pork in the marinade.

Leave it in there for five minutes so it takes on all the flavours.

-That looks good.

-That is your pork.

We'll leave that to marinate. Now for our tabbouleh.

-I'll chop everything up.

-You going to do the pomegranates?

Yeah...I knew I'd have to do this, you see.

-You're a strong man.

-I know my place.

The best way to do that, I just whack it with a spoon, really,

the back of a spoon.

-The seeds come straight out.

-Ah...that's a good way.

-See? Always learning.

-Absolutely.

This is another one for your cook school.

-You've still got it? Still doing your cookery school.

-Yeah.

14 years on, still doing it.

What we do is cut it into quarters

and then we put it in a bowl of cold water

and the seeds float to the top.

-But I think that way is much better.

-Less washing up.

-Don't get clever.

Remove the pomegranate seeds - your way -

them finely chop tomatoes and spring onions

and chuck them into the bowl.

Now, this is the key, I think, to tabbouleh.

You need as much filling as you do mixture,

if that makes sense.

-We need lots of...

-Mint.

Mint, coriander and parsley. Bucket-loads.

I think you are right about this.

I remember years ago, when I first made it,

and it had few ingredients in it

and then I went over to a mate's, who is Egyptian,

and he had made it, and you could hardly see the cracked wheat.

I mean, it was just all green.

Tonnes and tonnes of flavour, isn't it?

-Tonnes and tonnes of flavour.

-Yeah.

Now, this would make a fantastic lunch,

because it is nice and light, quite healthy actually.

Well, you know, true.

-But I'd have had about three bacon butties before then.

-No!

You'd probably need something like this.

SHE LAUGHS

-Right - honey and pomegranate molasses.

-Ooh!

That is the dressing for this one.

Then a decent amount of good-quality olive oil.

So mix all that together.

I will get on and fry this pork off.

Fry the marinated meat in a non-stick pan for two to three minutes.

While that's cooking nicely,

add the chopped herbs, bulgur wheat and dressing and mix in well.

-Look at that - that looks great.

-That does look beautiful.

Smells fantastic.

-I'm going to throw in some almonds.

-How easy is that? Oh, yeah.

This is the great thing about this - you can put things

like almonds, pistachio nuts, hazelnuts, that sort of...

-Oh, you've toasted those as well.

-No, I just bought them like that.

I picked up the wrong ones on the shelf.

I'm going to try this, now.

Mmm...

Happy with that?

Oh - horrible(!)

-Absolutely delicious.

-Is it all right?

-Stick it in the bowl.

-I like the almonds in it, actually.

Just chuck all the pork in.

This is really great cos you've got none of that...

For a lot of people cooking lunch, you've got none of that having to cook vegetables.

It's all there in the dish, isn't it?

-Looking fabulous.

-The brilliant thing about this is,

I always think, that it never deteriorates

even if it is out of the fridge.

Take it for packed lunch, would be great.

A bit of cheese in it, a bit of chicken, a bit of fish.

-Want to take that, I'll take this?

-Yeah, OK.

-Lovely.

Lunch is the perfect time to excite your palate

with fresh and vibrant flavours.

Great dishes like these are ideal to plate up or pack up

and enjoy wherever you are

and in keeping with tradition, I think Lesley should give this dish

its very own TV name.

What would you call this on Ready Steady Cook?

-We always used to think of stupid names.

-Oh, no.

Cracking - as in cracked wheat - Crackingly Good...uh...

..Pork Tenderloin.

HE CHUCKLES

You can find all the recipes from the series at...

We were all so young, then, weren't we, when we did that?

Thanks(!)

I've got bandanna on my brain, now.

I think you should bring out a range.

No, it's leaving me scarred for life, is that thought.