Episode 10 Christmas Kitchen with James Martin

We have food, fun and festive spirit aplenty.

It's time for Christmas Kitchen.

And welcome to the show.

Coming up, we take a trip to Paris to Ken Hom's house

for an exclusive Christmas recipe,

plus we unwrap some more BBC food archives.

Today, we're visiting Nigel Slater.

Cooking with me here is a man who's brought a different type

of Christmas shine to the studio.

He's got two shining Michelin stars. It's the brilliant Nathan Outlaw.

And next to him, a man who's been talking turkey for the last ten days.

There's other names for it! It's Brian Turner.

And my special guest today is the nation's favourite singing teacher

who makes choral singing cool. It's the brilliant Gareth Malone.

So first of all, every bloke that I ask, Christmas shopping. Is it done?

-It's not done at all.

-It's not done? You haven't got long left.

-Well, I've bought a tree.

-Well, that's a start.

It's got baubles on it. What more do I need?

-Well, presents and bits of pieces.

-I'm getting on it.

-It on my "to do" list.

-There we go.

I'm presuming you've done it, because you're busy in the kitchen.

You're looking worried! What are you going to make for us today?

I'm going to make you a lovely smoked fish bubble and squeak

-with a poached duck egg.

-Sounds pretty good. Poached duck egg.

It's one of those one-pot dinners, really, everything that's left over?

Definitely. You've got to use it up. Can't waste it at Christmas time.

Everything without the turkey, I see. You're not a fan, either?

-I need to be convinced.

-Well, here's the man to do it.

Brian, over the last ten days, has tried to convince me and a lot of other people,

because I know the guy to my right doesn't like turkey as well,

in one final attempt for us to fall in love with turkey.

-What are you going to do with that, then?

-This is the one.

-This is it?

This is the one, James. I'm convinced. If it doesn't work,

then I'm not going to do any more. That's it.

-Great.

-So it's seasoned with black pudding and roast potatoes,

which I know will go straight to your heart.

They look a bit fancy roast potatoes, chef.

Well, they call them pomme fondant, but they're posh roast potatoes.

-Fancy roast potatoes. In stock. Chicken stock.

-Turkey stock.

-Chicken stock.

-Turkey stock.

-Turkey?

-Well, a bit dry, a little boring.

Are we talking about James?

I've got something far more tasty over here.

Come over here and join us.

We've got some nice little chicken croquettes,

Spanish-style croquettes for this one.

It starts off with a thick bechamel, so the first thing I'm going to do

is get our butter in our pan and we're going to add flour and milk.

This becomes a thick, white bechamel sauce. It's unbelievable.

2006, we first saw you on the TV.

What an amazing journey you've had.

You can't have known that this would be huge, not just in the UK

-but globally?

-I had absolutely no idea.

The first series I thought would go out at 11 o'clock without fuss,

without notice, and it was a big hit,

and then we did the second season and it's just gone on and on.

It's been wonderful, it's been really good.

For me, to be able to have that platform to say what I believe in,

which is that choirs are fantastic

and singing is a wonderful force for good, has just been amazing.

-It's a real privilege.

-It is a global thing.

The first show, wasn't it in China, the World Choral Games?

That's right, World Choir Games in China.

I worked in a school in Northolt, just outside West London,

for nine months getting those kids ready to go and compete

in the World Choral Games, where we spectacularly failed to win.

We were second from last.

But it was the choral equivalent of Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards.

Well, I noticed that because chuckling in the corner

-there is another protege...

-Alumni, yes.

Brian Turner.

Was it 2011 you tried to teach Brian Turner to sing, as well?

-That's right. Was it Comic Relief?

-Sport Relief.

-It was Sport Relief, that's right.

-Rick Astley.

After the huge success of getting sports stars to sing,

the next year I did chefs.

That's all I'll say!

Failed as well!

I thought they did very well. We had a good time.

Absolutely great fun, raised a lot of money on the night

and we still see each other, all that choir, we still sing together.

Not a lot. I've got a sore throat today.

We had that amazing moment where Rick Astley came out

from behind the glitter curtain.

And none of us knew it was going to happen. Pow, there he was.

Are you a great believer that everybody can sing?

Is that true or not?

Yeah, I think everyone's got a voice.

I think it's about where you use it.

If you go to an audition and you're not used to that,

obviously that's going to be very intimidating and could be off-putting

but there are plenty of choirs out there for anyone to join.

We have got something in common.

Aged ten years old, that's where you fell in love with the choir.

-I was the same.

-Really?

-Yeah, I was actually in a choir at school.

-And were you good?

-I wasn't very good, obviously,

because I only lasted two songs.

It was the Nativity play, and then I got demoted to lighting.

That's nothing against the lighting guy in this studio, by any chance.

A short-lived love affair?

It was only two switches, on and off, and a dimmer.

And I messed that bit up, as well.

Anyway, we're about to see you, your tour is coming up shortly.

My first tour. I'm really excited about it.

I'm going out on the road with Voices,

who are my choir of young singers.

And it's also a chance for audiences to come and sing along.

So if you've always wanted to sing with Gareth Malone

or you're just looking for a good night out, it's my first tour.

-I've never been out on the road before.

-So this is touring in what?

We're going everywhere. Large venues,

Birmingham Symphony Hall, Manchester Bridgewater Hall, London Apollo.

-And this is May and June of next year?

-May and June.

So I'd better start planning it. After Christmas.

But keeping really busy at the moment because currently on the box,

what are we now, semifinal, final?

The semifinal just went out and we're building up to the final.

And very fiercely competed, it was.

And this is Sing While You Work,

so for anybody who hasn't seen it, tell us a little about it.

It's a very simple idea.

A great way to bring people together in the workplace is through singing,

and I took five British workplaces, P&O Ferries, City,

who are a bank down in Canary Wharf, Birmingham City Council,

Cheshire Fire Service and Sainsbury's.

Sainsbury's left us a couple of weeks ago

and Birmingham went in the semifinal,

and so that leaves three choirs to compete for the final.

And for anybody who hasn't seen it, here's a little clip for you.

# When I just can't see what you can see in me

# Somehow you still see, you see the best in me. #

OK, thank you very much. Not quite in tune. What's happened?

Because it was sort of perfect last time, tuning wise.

The problem with starting a choir in a workplace is that whatever happens

to the workplace affects the choir.

So we're on a downer at the moment

because the Fire Service is on a downer.

And I've got to pick them up.

# Ding dong merrily on high

# In heaven the bells are ringing

# Ding dong merrily the sky

# Is riv'n with angels singing. #

Thank you. That's finished me off. How's morale now? Bloody awful!

-There they are.

-Looks fantastic, but it's something that the whole world has embraced, really,

because you've taken this idea to America as well.

Yeah, I've just shot a series last year in America

and certainly the British series has been out all over the world,

so, yes, I often find Japanese tourists stop me in the street

-and get very excited, which is quite weird!

-Fantastic.

I'm just going to recap what we've got in here.

You've got a really thick, you can see it, it's like a thick bechamel

and I've thickened it up with some ground almonds

because the Spanish love almonds.

And we've got some tarragon, we've got some leftover chicken in there.

If you missed that, Brian, how it was brought together,

if you want to do it with turkey, the recipe's on Ceefax.

-I'm supposed to say that, not you!

-He's still got it on his TV.

Basically, we're going to pour this in and make a little bit

of mayonnaise, really, and thicken it with red pepper as well.

-All it is is egg yolks, mustard, and you pour in...

-What is this?

This is a little bit of rapeseed oil, but traditionally,

mayonnaise would be done with veg oil, that's why it's white.

Whereas if we use this oil, it's nice and yellow.

And it's not as strong as olive oil.

You wouldn't use extra-virgin olive oil for this,

you'd use a lighter, flavoured olive oil.

And then you allow that to cool down.

And in the fridge here, I've got some little croquettes.

Now the great thing about this, it uses leftover stuff this Christmas,

but you can make this out of fish, as well.

And it becomes this sort of tapas dish that the Spanish love,

because it thickens up and you can make these croquettes.

So, you just roll them up in a ball and then you flour,

egg and breadcrumb them. So a bit of seasoned flour.

Like that. In the egg.

I like messy cooking like this.

Good. >

-It's not that bad.

-Obviously, he's very neat.

So the 22nd December sees the final final show?

Yeah, it's a day earlier than normal.

They're putting it on on Sunday night for the Christmas special.

So what is it about it that you think people love?

I think it's a couple of things. It's really interesting for me

and for the viewers, as well, to go behind-the-scenes at various companies.

Last series, we had a waterworks company and I went to a sewage works,

which was actually more interesting than it might sound.

I went to, on this one, on ships with P&O,

I've been training with firefighters, so there's a kind of nosy...

-The jeopardy's there, as well?

-There is a lot.

There's a real passion that all these guys get

because they have the first successful performance

and then they go head-to-head,

so they were at the Royal Academy of Music

and then they learned to sing gospel music and they're now,

they're addicts, I think, choir addicts.

Because you get very caught up in it. There is such a sense of teamwork.

They are really desperate to win.

When you think of choral singing, you think of One Direction,

really, but there are so many different things.

I'm sorry, you think of One Direction?!

INDISTINCT CHATTER

-No, I didn't think that.

-Do you?

Well, my mate's got their album and he's a builder. Stephen Bircham.

I've just embarrassed him. He's 52 years old.

He's got a signed copy of their album, as well.

But no, what I'm saying is that it's different, and gospel is...

Oh, so much. It's so varied. And I feel that choirs can do anything,

which has been partly what the CD I released with Voices was about.

It was about proving that choirs could sing popular music

and do it convincingly.

And certainly on the series we tackle all kinds of things.

I really enjoy gospel, because that was a challenge for me.

-I've never conducted gospel music before.

-It is amazing.

Literally, I saw it in New York. It is fantastic, gospel singing,

the idea of it. You don't think you're going to get into it but it is pretty...

It's visceral. They really go for it, and the physicality of it,

they move and there's a pulse to the whole thing.

That's where you went wrong, Brian, you didn't move.

-I moved tremendously.

-I was moved!

I was just trying to hide from the camera all the time.

We've got a little bit of mayonnaise there,

so all I've done there is put a bit of watercress

and some of this red pepper, a sweet red pepper

so it's like a home-made dip.

But the key to this, because you have this mixture

when it goes firm and cold, it's liquid,

it's soft when it's still warm.

When you deep fat fry it, it becomes soft again.

You have these in tapas restaurants all over Spain but it's fantastic.

You can mix and match with chicken.

Not turkey, because it's going to dry it out too much.

Chef, it's the perfect foil for turkey.

-I don't know whether it is, chef.

-James, I'm telling you, it is.

Trust me, because it's the liquid, the sauce that actually

makes the moistness of the turkey accentuated.

-The moistness of the turkey?

-That's what I just said.

I'm sorry, I was sceptical.

We're going to prove it to you.

-Do I have to eat all of them?

-You don't have to eat all of them.

I've just done enough for Brian for a little starter, you see.

So, you just put these on.

Simple, simple, but soft in the middle,

that's the key to these sort of things.

It will be hot. I'll get you a knife and fork.

We'd hate you to burn your mouth, Gareth,

before the next round of singing.

-And my fingers are very important in conducting.

-Is your mouth insured?

It really ought to be.

They're not that bad. It's not going to harm him that much.

-Just a little blister.

-By mistake, some people just blister.

When you've got a blister, it isn't that easy to sing.

I've got hot coffee to go with it, as well.

It's time for a real Christmas treat.

We paid a visit to Ken Hom at his home in Paris

to find out what he likes to cook over the holidays.

So here he is with a delicious prawn dish.

Bienvenue a Paris!

I'm just so lucky to live in Paris.

It's a very special place, especially at the time of Christmas. Why?

Because it's nice and cold

and you want to go to the warmth of the kitchen

and cook all this wonderful food.

Now, I have a very special recipe that I want to share with you.

Welcome to my home in Paris.

I have for you today a very special Christmas kitchen recipe.

The special dish is sizzling rice prawns.

It's spectacular, it's easy to make and it will wow all your guests.

What you want to start out with is a nice red pepper and, of course,

for Christmas, this colour of red is just perfect for the table.

And, of course, a little bit of garlic.

Often we think about Christmas as sort of the traditional turkey

and Brussels sprouts and I think this will spice it up

because I think people's tastes have changed.

Because it's so spicy, it just launches the whole meal

into a very festive mood.

Now, remember to get your wok very hot, as always, before you start.

Just a little bit of oil, vegetable or groundnut oil.

And you want to start off first with the garlic.

Ginger.

Stir that around very, very quickly, and your peppers.

Of course, I know how difficult it is for Christmas preparation.

You're in a panic and you think,

I have to do all this at the last moment,

but the sauce you can make ahead of time and then you cook the prawns

at the very end to just warm it up.

Now, the secret ingredient in this whole dish will be these.

This is rice cakes. They come dry,

but this will make your Christmas meal very, very spectacular.

We add some spring onions, so as you can see,

that looks really festive and very Christmas-like colours.

We finish that with a splash of rice wine.

This Chinese black vinegar,

this will add a little bit of balance to this whole sauce.

Dark...

..and light soy sauce.

Now, the secret ingredient is the chilli bean paste,

and this will really add certainly a kick to your Christmas meal.

And some, either tomato paste or tomato sauce...

..a nice generous gulp of that.

You can finish that off with either some chicken stock or fish stock.

Let that simmer.

And we want to finish it off with just a touch of sugar. Why?

Because sugar will help balance the heat

of the chilli bean paste and sauce.

Let's see how that tastes.

Now what we want to do with the sauce later is we want to actually thicken

the sauce with a little bit of cornflour

dissolved in a bit of water.

Before we do that, we're going to add our prawns.

These are raw, uncooked prawns.

We just put them in here like this.

Give this a nice stir and now we're going to thicken the sauce.

Now, when you're just about to serve this,

get your oil very, very hot,

add your rice cakes.

Fry them.

And they'll puff up really spectacularly.

Just bring that to your table.

And then in front of your guests, you pour this.

So that's my sizzling rice prawns, especially for Christmas Kitchen.

Now remember, the secret to Chinese cooking is preparation.

Once you have everything prepared, it goes very quickly.

So there's nothing left for me to say except have a happy Christmas.

Looks delicious. But what about the size of that kitchen?

I think the French just eat out.

Honestly, I think he'd get towed away after that because that's a motor home on the Champs-Elysees.

Still to come, Nathan will be putting his twist on bubble and squeak but, before that,

here's some of our favourite foodies with their festive tips.

You want crispy Christmas crackling on your pork?

This is how you do it. The night before,

rub the skin with hot water and vinegar and let it dry.

Rub it with some salt, a little bit of oil.

Leave in the fridge overnight and don't cover it.

The next day, put it in the oven at 220

and your crispy crackling will appear, like Santa.

Make sure that you are not so busy.

Prepare everything in advance and slowly, devise the menu

so that you have time for the others. And you will enjoy it.

Simple but nice.

My tip on Christmas Day with roast turkey

and all the trimmings is a rich white burgundy, but don't forget

that leftover turkey, served quite simply, can't take such a big wine.

The best wine to go for is South African chenin blanc.

It's fruity, it's well-priced and it's on terrific form this year.

Thanks for that. Some great ideas there. Another one coming up.

Nathan and his fish. What are you going to make now?

Were going to make a lovely smoked fish bubble and squeak,

using up all the leftovers.

I'm hoping people will have this on Boxing Day.

Not at Brian Turner's house, because the potatoes are quite a rare

occurrence, those ones that are left over. They'll be gone.

And after a Christmas breakfast, you should have one of these smoked fish.

But I like the combination of all three in this.

So this is a variant on bubble and squeak, is that what we're trying to do?

Yes, but instead of using the meat or turkey,

-which I'm not really into...

-What's the matter with turkey, then?!

Turkey works perfect in this recipe,

people who are watching should remember that.

I prefer fish, I think. Fish will be really nice with this.

So what are you doing on Christmas Day, then?

Do you cook traditional or is it going to be fish again?

Last year, we did do fish, but this year, I've been outvoted

because my mum's coming round and they want to go traditional,

-so we have to have turkey. So I'm sort of forced, I'm sort of outnumbered.

-Don't be ridiculous.

How can anybody force someone your size to do anything?!

You'd be surprised, you'd be surprised!

But no, we're going to do a turkey dish as well.

Hopefully I can cook it. I'm going to learn something today, actually.

-You're going to be inspired!

-Yeah, I'm going to be inspired by this black pudding.

-Right, sliced onions.

-Nice, chopped onions.

You can do them as you want to, really.

A little bit of garlic, as well.

This is the only bit of the dish that you would

actually need to do before you use up the leftovers.

I think it gives a nice sort of... The garlic's a nice touch.

Particularly December's been a busy time for you because,

especially in Padstow, you've had the food festival there as well.

That's gone down really well.

I mean, that area of the country goes very quiet this time of year.

So when Rick organises the Padstow Christmas Festival,

it works really well.

Brian was down there, as well.

He came down and did a bit of a demonstration.

Now it's gone quite quiet.

London's busy, though, the Capital's doing really well.

I won't be around in London for Christmas Day, I'll be with my parents.

Is it quite difficult taking on a mantle like the Capital,

because you've had some of the greatest chefs in the world cook there.

And Brian Turner.

These lines are all being built.

-Just so you're teed up every time, James Martin!

-But it is.

Take someone like that - when were you there, Brian?

We were there '71 to '86. 1971, before you say anything!

I think there's still some of the turkey there, as well.

Finding that in the fridge, are you?

-Are you serving turkey at the Capital?

-We are.

-It's what people want.

-They do, I'm afraid.

Right, so we're doing poached duck eggs with this, as well.

Poached duck eggs, which you're getting on there. They'll take five minutes.

But if you want to cook them in advance,

you can just shock them or refresh them in cold water

like you're doing there.

If people want to do something different this Christmas, particularly serving fish,

what's in season for them at the moment?

-What should they be going for?

-The best thing at the moment,

believe it or not, the crab's really good at the minute.

But it's very difficult for the fishermen to get it,

which is a bit of a problem, but if you get hold of crab,

the quality of the brown crabmeat is really, really good.

Sea bass is really good at the moment.

One of the unfashionable fish that I think people should eat,

-grey mullet, is really, really good at the minute.

-Perfect.

-Really good fish.

-And not expensive.

You've got to know where that's coming from

-and how fresh it is, though.

-There's two types.

You get the estuary grey mullet,

which is the one that has the reputation for hanging around

in areas you don't want it to hang,

and eating what you don't want it to eat, but you also

get the type of grey mullet that swims in the channels and usually

its friend is the sea bass, so they usually hang around together.

I'm just going to show you these poached eggs. Vinegar in here, salt.

Just whisk it in the centre, just drop the egg. These are duck eggs,

so they're expensive and you need to look after them.

As the water swirls, it swirls around the whites

and then you can store them in ice cold water.

If you've got lots of people around for Christmas,

you could do this for breakfast

and then just drop them into hot water again.

How much vinegar do you have to use?

There's a couple of tablespoons in there, just to set the egg anyway.

So, you were saying crab. Any fish that people could be buying, or not?

I think at this time of year,

you can get a good bit of turbot and brill

if you fancy something on the bone.

That's a really nice fish to use.

Um... Mostly... A lot of shellfish,

scallops are very, very good at this time of year, as well.

But generally, the thing is, fish has a reputation for being

a summery thing but actually it's better in the winter.

When the water's colder, the fish is better.

The problem is, obviously, the fishermen getting out.

It's difficult with the weather. They do a fantastic job this time of year,

getting fish for lots of hungry people in the festive period.

This one's available everywhere, that you're doing now.

Smoked fish is fantastic.

It's a great way of using fish up, as well, preserving it.

This is smoked haddock.

I've got smoked haddock here that's just been poached.

A piece like this will take five or six minutes to poach in some

milk or you could just steam it.

Bake it, as well, in a bit of foil if you wanted to.

A food heaven of mine for another show that I just happened to do is Arbroath Smokies.

You must have had them.

Arbroath Smokies out of the newspaper that you have in Scotland,

I just think they're magical.

-Do you smoke your own fish down there, Nathan?

-Yeah, we do, yeah.

Definitely. One of the reasons why I really cook with fish

is it challenges me as a chef.

I think it's a fantastic product and obviously,

with the sustainability issues of fish,

you have to be more creative with the lesser-known species.

That gives you a challenge as a chef,

and it's good for the customer, as well.

They see something they haven't seen before.

And the great thing is that if you smoke your own,

you're in control of how deeply smoked it is.

There's nothing worse, I think,

than buying a smoked fish that's too heavily smoked.

Some fish, obviously, you've got to buy good quality smoked fish.

It is one of those things.

They do cut corners when they're producing smoked fish.

This is good quality stuff. The mixture of these is good.

You've got the oily, smoked mackerel, the smoked salmon, which is a bit decadent, I suppose,

and then smoked haddock is quite a northern thing, isn't it?

-It's a northern thing?

-A northern thing?

-North-eastern coast, yeah.

Haddock's got that reputation of being a fish

that comes from the northern areas.

I know my grandad was very happy to have a bit of haddock.

One of each and a bag of scraps. You guys down there haven't got a clue what we're talking about.

-I know what scraps is.

-No, one of each.

-One of each, what's one of each?

-One of each and a bag of scraps.

I don't know what one of each is. What's that?

Fish and chips. One of each.

-OK. I didn't know that.

-One of each.

One of each fish?

-You want me to write it down?

-It's known as once.

To save words. I'll have once, please.

-Once, is that what it is?

-That's what we call it, once.

You're losing me. All this northern lingo, I'm lost.

OK, so what you're going to do is stir that,

but don't break it up too much

because you still want to see all the different fish that's in there.

You put quite a bit of black pepper in there, as well.

I think smoked fish, black pepper.

Something like this, I might even serve a bit

-of horseradish sauce on the side.

-Now you've just destroyed it!

Let me tell you, Nathan, if you were cooking turkey,

James Martin would say you only put the pepper on to cover up the flavours.

He's not saying that to you but he'd be saying that to me.

-He's being nice to me.

-I do feel a little bit out of place today,

because Nathan's got two Michelin stars. What are you, CBE?

-Yes, chef. OBE?

-Yes, sir.

-And you're a C?

-Hmm.

-And I've got a 25 metre swimming badge.

It's Michael Crawford.

You know, but anyway...

The eggs going on?

Nice and simple with the poached eggs on top. A few herbs.

I've got a mixture of parsley, chives and tarragon.

-And that's it. It's as simple as that.

-And that's it.

You guys better come over and have a taste of this.

-We're going to serve it all in one pan?

-Like that, on the table.

-Stick it on there, then. Let's dive into this.

-A great breakfast dish.

-Dive into that.

-Great brunchy dish.

-Nice, innit, that?

-That looks great.

Lovely. Lots of colour, that's the nice thing about it.

Naturally smoked haddock.

-And duck egg.

-Such a good combination.

Still to come on Christmas Kitchen, Brian Turner will be trying

to perform a Christmas miracle

when he creates a tasty turkey dish that even I can enjoy.

But first, let's delve into the BBC's festive food archive

with a visit to Nigel Slater for a winter salad

made from the gardens of Chatsworth House.

I think my garden is at its most magical after a sprinkling of snow.

Everything feels like it's fast asleep under a duvet of white.

But if I had to rely on my garden to feed me

through these winter months, I'd be in serious trouble.

Which is why I'm so envious of the kitchen garden at Chatsworth.

It provides fresh veg for the estate's house, shops

and cafes every day, whatever the season.

'I'm dying to find out from gardener, Adrian, just how they do it.'

So the Duke and Duchess give you a shopping list?

Well, in a morning I will phone the kitchens up

and chef will give me a list of what she requires for the day.

Then I'll harvest it and take it down to the private kitchens.

So, essentially, it's like a shopping list in a way.

'They've got things growing here that I'd never normally

'get my hands on in the winter.

'So I'm hoping I can pinch a few bits to rustle up a warming salad.'

What have you got in your greenhouses?

A whole number of things, from salad leaf, I've got rocket,

chicory, parsley. I've got dill, coriander.

I've got chervil, I've even got Cape gooseberries.

-In fact, if you'd like to come inside...

-I'd love to.

-..and have a quick look.

-So you've got some little salad leaves coming on?

-Yes.

These here. These are actually Pak choi, Chinese cabbage,

which look amazing on a plate.

Absolutely beautiful.

On your windowsill, they'll be just as good as that.

-I don't need a greenhouse to do that?

-No. No, not at all. Not at all.

-They're so juicy.

-Yeah.

-It's such a luxury having salad in the winter.

-Oh, yeah.

-We have lemongrass.

-This is lemongrass?

Yeah, lemongrass grows quite happily.

It's easy to get lemongrass seed.

You can sow it on your windowsill, but you must keep it warm for it to germinate.

-Just cut the bottom off...

-That's the tender bit inside.

-Yes.

-Can I stick that in my salad?

-Yeah.

It's just amazing.

'Just a couple more veg and I can't wait to get cooking.'

Celeriac...

I think there's some in here.

-On a really cold day, I like hot things.

-Yeah.

I like mustardy things, or a bit of chilli,

just something that will thaw out the freezing cold.

And, horseradish works very well.

In fact, I'm sort of tempted to put a bit of horseradish on this salad.

-You grow it, don't you?

-I can grab you some.

-Could I have a root?

-Oh, well done.

-There you are.

Good stuff, isn't it?

'Fresh horseradish like this doesn't need much else.'

Lovely.

'Maybe just a drizzle of olive oil and some black pepper.

You know what, I forgot to put a tiny bit of lemongrass in there.

It's just not often I get the chance to use lemongrass, as fresh as that.

Finish with a pinch of smoked paprika and it's ready to go.

It's going to be so fresh, as well, because it's only

15 minutes ago since these were harvested.

You think of winter stuff as being a bit bland and stodgy

but actually I'd really rather have flavours that were hot

and bright and refreshing and clean tasting.

Also, after Christmas, you know...

-Oh, yeah, after Christmas.

-I want something to wake me up.

So...

I'm going to have a proper mouthful,

make sure I get a bit of everything?

Mmm.

That is genuinely very, very nice.

That's lovely because I'm normally a real carnivore.

I wouldn't normally eat something like that. If I ate a plateful of that I'd be full.

You could put some shreds of cold turkey in that, a bit of cold ham.

-Thank you very much for those ingredients.

-No problem at all.

Thank you very much, indeed.

Right, we've come to my favourite part of the programme

when Brian Turner attempts to make turkey tasty in a challenge called,

Brian Turner's Turkey Challenge!

TURKEY GOBBLING

-And an amazing jumper you've got there, chef.

-Do you like that?

-Can you read that?

-I can read it but can you read this?

LAUGHTER

I've got one too, I've got one too.

I dare you to present the rest of it standing like that.

It would be a lot better for us, anyway.

-What are we going to make then, chef?

-This time...

TURKEY GOBBLES

-What are we going to make?

-This time...

This time we are going to season it with black pudding

and I want you to make some croutons for me, please.

-I paid the cameraman 20 quid.

-Good lad.

And a bit of bacon and black pudding into timbales.

I've got a pan on here, nice and hot.

What we're going to do first is take the black pudding

and slice it into thin slices.

I like this black pudding we've got here

because it's got little, tiny bits of fat in it, not big lumps, which is really not my favourite.

I prefer black pudding when it's like that rather than smooth.

I agree with that. I agree with that and you need...

It's just the flavour you get.

Everybody's got their own personally private one.

We'll just stick that under the skins.

If you're in a two-star Michelin restaurant,

you'd normally do this with truffle

but we come from Yorkshire and he knows about the northern things

-so it's black pudding, chef.

-OK. Right.

-Black pudding goes in there.

What is that mark on there, chef? That's another wart again?

-No, it's where it slipped trying to escape.

-Look at that!

-It is not a wart!

-What is it, then?

I don't know what you..I don't know what you were like as a child.

It's like a growth, or something like.

So outrageous as a child. I must talk to your mother when I see her next,

tell her why didn't she make you eat all this stuff, for goodness' sake.

-She did, that's what's put me off it.

-OK, so, tie it nice and tight.

That's the secret. Take your time.

Make it look pretty.

How are you going to do that, then?

It's not a beautiful bird, is it?

-No, it's not beautiful.

-You're ganging up now.

As a guest on this show, I think you should be more polite!

-Stop siding with the boss man!

-How'd do you make that pretty, then, chef?

Well, because you make it a really nice shape, which it's looking now.

I think it's looking lovely.

-You're making it to what looks like a chicken.

-OK. Right, fine.

-So then plenty of butter on top.

-Yeah.

Salt and pepper, and that's not the largest of turkey breasts.

It won't take too long to cook.

Probably we'll cook that in 35 to 40 minutes.

I think that will take 2.5 days, that.

-It's the way you do 'em!

-Eh?

Let me get this over here into the oven.

That's good. Let me bring this over here.

Let me just talk about this because it has been rested,

it has been rested this for about 30 minutes since it came out.

Thank you very much, that's very kind.

It is quite important... What have you got?

The one that you just put in there is half the size

of the one that's out here!

-Did you not say you wanted me to do a miracle today?

-Yeah.

This is the miracle!

I put a small one in and I brought a big one out!

I put one into feed three and I brought it out to feed 12.

-That's what it's all about at this time of year.

-That's Christmas time.

-Yeah, exactly.

-Just go back to your timbale that you've got over here.

-Timbale's a bit fancy, isn't it, chef?

-It's nice, isn't it?

I've got a bit of cling film to help take them out afterwards.

When did they invent timbales?

About the time that I left Leeds to come to London, I think.

It's a French term. You've seen timbales all over.

We've got bacon in here.

We've got the breadcrumbs that we are just browning and crisping,

the bread cubes, I should say, which we are browning up there.

A bit of butter will help that.

-We need some double cream, some eggs and the black pudding.

-It's in there.

Bit of parsley...

-Have we got salt and pepper in there yet, young man?

-No, no not yet.

-Good man, thank you very much, it's very kind.

-Salt.

Where would you say the best black pudding comes from,

-and don't say "Lancashire"?

-No, I wouldn't.

-The one that I've enjoyed the most...

-I would say Lancashire.

No, no, mine came from Scotland, just outside Glenfarclas distillery.

A local butcher there, I can't remember his name

but it was delicious and it actually had this lovely fineness about it,

a bit of barley in there, as well, which I thought was great.

OK, we need a spoon.

You are going to like this next bit

because these timbales we are going to cook on bain-marie, yeah.

He's changed, you see, he's changed. That's a tray of hot watter, chef.

"It's a tray of hot watter," you're right!

You've been down south too long, you've changed!

Listen, I'm trying to get round to keep up with you now

to make it actually work. I'm trying to please you.

-Les timbales are cooked in a bain-marie.

-Yeah.

Just fasten those up for me, chef, there's a good man.

-Fasten them up? OK.

-Seal them up, James.

-Seal them up.

-So we've got clingfilm in there?

-Yeah.

We'll cook them in a water bath.

-Will people do this at Christmas?

-The nice thing about this,

you can do it a day in advance,

stick them in the fridge, put them into the watter and off you go.

-Right.

-I don't see why they shouldn't because, actually,

do you have breakfast on Christmas Day?

You don't have turkey, it's pointless talking to you!

-Do you have breakfast on Christmas Day?

-They don't have turkey, either. Haven't you been watching?

Does anybody have breakfast? Does anybody eat turkey?

Right, here we go. Those go into the oven. Let's take these out.

We've also got some posh roast potatoes for you, as well.

How long are you going to cook that for?

Those were cooked for about half an hour but the beauty is

they don't take a lot of cooking, they just really need to be set up.

So we've got our garnish...

Get these ready for me.

-What do you want, these?

-Take them out and demoule them.

That means take them out of the mould!

I've got my roast potatoes here which we call a pommes fondant, which is

half roast and half braised in turkey stock and thyme.

-Chicken stock, I reckon that was.

-Scissors, here we go, I've some here.

It is very important that you rest this turkey breast when it comes out.

Why is that? Why is that, Brian?

It'll tenderise and get the moisture running back through the bird.

It will just make it more evenly tasting.

The thing is, and you should remember this, all roast meats

-should actually... Well done, are you doing...

-It's hot!

That's the best thing, that's why they're in the oven, chef.

-It's actually to keep them hot.

-Have you got the scissors?

I've got the scissors. You can have the scissors in...

-I'd keep the string on, it's the most tender part of the turkey.

-Find your own scissors!

LAUGHTER

-Right.

-Please just remember to take the string off.

This is the time when most people put their glasses on.

I've done that without glasses, which is good news. There we go.

-That's ready to go.

-They look like little Christmas puddings, though.

They do look like Christmas puddings but don't eat them with rum sauce.

-Right.

-They're perfect...

So, we're ready to go. This is the...

-Don't worry.

-James, will you stop throwing them.

They're not tennis balls!

-This is the moment of revelation.

-Revelation!

Just watch the juices ooze from this bird.

We cut them into nice slices, fairly thick slices, I think works well.

I'm holding the bowl here ready for the juices to fall out.

It's all right, I'm going to put the juices back into it, chef!

-So nice...

-It is like a sponge, though. It's like eating a sponge.

When was the last time you ate a proper sponge?

-Yesterday!

-No, that's out of order.

-You cooked it!

-You're so rude.

-You do need to put quite a bit of sauce with turkey.

I find it soaks everything up.

There are lots of dishes that are good served with sauce.

I can't believe why you're saying that.

I mean, there's a good meal there for 12 people.

These potato fondants go on there, little roast potatoes

and then these sit...

Just like that.

I just think it's a spectacular beginning to the meal.

You put it on the table, all the kids, the grandparents, the parents.

You've got plenty of sauce with it, is that right?

You can just have soup, it wouldn't really matter.

-I've got some here.

-Right.

What do you think to that, are we all right there?

When you said leave it to rest, how long did you leave it to rest for?

-For about half an hour.

-I had that ready for you to carve it up with.

-A serrated knife.

-That's very kind. I'll put the gravy on there.

I think it needs a little bit of greenery, I think, we want in there.

You better come on over. I've got some greenery for you.

-We'll use this.

-What have you...?

-No, no. James.

-That's what you did to me.

-Get out of here.

I didn't do that to you, off you go.

-Get out of here! A bit of watercress.

-It looks better like that.

Gentleman, my life is in your hands.

OK, it does look good. It looks great.

That's the starter, it looks good.

As we all know, it's not all about the looks,

it's about the taste, you see.

Some people have looks and no taste!

I'll definitely go for the ends because that's where it is dry.

I've got sinew.

There's no sinew in turkey, it falls apart.

It's either that or the wart that was on it earlier.

-I'll have that.

-You can do that.

I really hope that, Nathan, you are going to be inspired.

-I'll be cooking fish for New Year's Day.

-Yeah.

The black pudding's all right.

Get out of here!

-Do you want a drink with that, mate?

-It's...

Every day I decide if Brian Turner's turkey recipe should go

in our Christmas kitchen book, or in our bin.

So far we've got about a pamphlet, at the moment,

for Brian Turner's turkey book.

Two recipes are in the book.

Should this one go in there?

I'm actually pretty positive about this.

-Really?

-I tell you, and he can sing, an all.

Nathan? I can see you've got a bit rolling around your mouth.

I'm just getting there.

-It's very, very good.

-Excuse me...

Is it going to be in your new book, though?

Well, mine's a fish book.

That's out of order.

With this being the last show, I'd like to keep with tradition.

And throw it in the bin.

ALL GROAN

Please try the black pudding.

I hope you have a happy Christmas.

That's all from us today, on Christmas Kitchen. Thanks to Nathan, Gareth...

Good luck with the tour in the new year and, of course,

Ken Hom for letting us into his house.

And the brilliant Brian Turner!

TURKEY GOBBLES

All of today's recipes are on our website,

go to bbc.co.uk/christmaskitchen

There are special editions of Saturday Kitchen and Best Bites

to keep you going and satisfy your appetite until the new year.

That's all from us today. Have a great Christmas. Bye for now.

Enjoy your turkey! Whenever you have it!