North East Main Great British Menu

This week on Great British Menu,

three ambitious newcomers from the North East.

Michelin-starred Tim Allen is aiming to out-cook his rivals.

I need to focus on getting

everything absolutely nailed, you know?

But he's facing a tough challenge from classically-trained Mini Patel.

Everything's well-rehearsed.

It's just making sure that I move like the wind and get it up on time.

And experimental chef, Michael O'Hare.

What are you doing?

-Just putting the sauce on the plate.

-That's a sauce?

Yes, it's part of the dashi.

They're competing for a chance to cook at a banquet

celebrating 100 years of the Women's Institute

at London's historic Drapers' Hall.

Yesterday's fish course saw the most experienced chef,

Tim, extend his lead.

I thought it was a beautifully-presented dish.

-I really, really enjoyed it.

-Thanks, Chef.

In today's main, he's vying to stay in pole position.

I want this to get a ten, I don't want any flaws in this one,

I want him to give me a perfect score.

But having fought his way to second place from bottom,

Michael wants to come out on top.

Is this going to be another four or another eight?

-Neither, this is going to be a nine, this one.

-Huh?

But with just one point in it,

Mini is confident he can still claim victory.

I think he will get a nine, Marcus. But I'm going to get a ten.

Good man.

Created 100 years ago

to encourage women to grow and preserve food,

the WI has helped shape the way Britain cooks.

Wow.

-Tuck in, ladies.

-Mm.

The chefs have done their research

and taken inspiration from the important women in their lives...

Ah, lovely to see you. Mm...

..to turn traditional dishes into modern masterpieces.

-Oh, that's amazing. It is a winning dish.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

HE LAUGHS

Judging them all week is culinary heavyweight, Marcus Wareing,

a former banquet champion and holder of two Michelin stars.

'As this is the main course and it's the pinnacle of the menu,'

I'm not going to take any prisoners with this one.

So, Tim, you must be feeling pretty confident.

Excited, looking forward to it, main course. Mini?

I got a five for my fish course. I can't have that today.

Today, I'm looking to really double that.

Likewise, but,

Tim going in the direction he's going, um,

seems to be a bit of a gap widening!

Everyone would love to get a ten, you know?

But a ten's a ten.

You don't see them very often and this is Marcus, so...

really got to try and get this right, you know?

First up, Michelin-starred Tim Allen.

Yesterday, his take on the brief and perfect flavours

impressed Marcus.

Today, he's hoping to maintain those high standards.

I'm not resting on my laurels.

I want to push on with the main course.

Completely different style of dish, this one,

but I want execute this, it has to be done perfectly.

-How are you, Tim?

-All right?

-How are you?

-Very well, thank you.

-What's the name of your dish?

-Not All Jam And Jerusalem.

My inspiration from this dish is based around the Calendar Girls.

The reason they're called the Calendar Girls is they produced

a calendar of themselves with no clothes on for charity.

I was lucky enough to manage to contact Patricia Stewart,

the woman on the left here. She's Miss October.

I discussed the kind of food she loves to eat.

-She said she loves roast chicken.

-OK.

The dish itself, Marcus, using all the chicken,

the legs will get confit,

-breasts are going to get poached, roasted...

-Yeah.

-..nicely.

Artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes,

we'll do a puree with these, and some crisps.

We're going to make a jam.

I've taken what was an original Women's Institute recipe,

-I've made a couple of adjustments to it, got some green tomatoes.

-Mm.

There's going to be some Bramley apple in there.

-Is there a sauce with the dish?

-There's two sauces being made.

-One's going to get turned into a roast chicken vinaigrette.

-Right.

Which is going to go with cos.

Then we'll take the reduced chicken stock

and that's going to get brushed onto the breast

-and on top of that we're going to use the baby spinach...

-Spinach.

-..really, really lightly cooked.

-Right, OK.

You've had a good score through the week,

an eight and a nine, is this going to be the ten?

I hope so, Marcus, I want to give you a dish

you can't find a fault in.

I think Tim's on a real high at the moment.

He's had two fantastic scores

and he wants to get the perfect dish,

and you know what? The main course could be it for him.

Next, experimental chef, Michael O'Hare.

After a terrible start to the week,

he wowed Marcus with his fish course.

Now, he needs to produce another impressive dish.

I'm keen to get another high score today,

all my ingredients are great. I think if I cook it on point

and Marcus will like it, and hopefully

I can get the result I want.

-Morning, Michael.

-Morning, Chef.

What is the title of your dish?

The title of my dish is

My Mother Is Single And Looking For A Well-dressed Man.

MARCUS LAUGHS

So, er, this is my mother here.

She's retiring this year.

I wanted to take my main course

as a chance to give something back and say "Thank you" to my mum

and I thought I'd use the competition as a pedestal

-to get my mum fixed up.

-MARCUS LAUGHS

It's quite a simple-looking box of ingredients, very basic.

Completely.

Connections with the WI being the thriftiness,

-everything's inexpensive.

-OK.

My dish is pork, vegetables and potatoes.

So, starting with the meat itself,

it's not a prime cut, just the connective tissue.

From the shoulder and the loin,

you can see the marbling running through it.

What I'm hoping to do is melt that fat down through the middle,

so it stays really soft and really tender. The skin,

I'm just going to steam that

-and then crisp that up for a crackling.

-Yeah.

With the vegetables,

I'm using an old-fashioned preservation method,

clumping the root vegetables and covering them completely in soil,

or sand, just so there's no oxygen

-and they don't decompose so they last through the winter months.

-OK.

But it does affect flavour slightly. I think that will come through.

The sauce, just of the almonds,

-I'm just going to blend with a little bit of the apple vinegar.

-OK.

-And some oil.

-The potato, they're purple.

Purple potato, I'm going to salt bake, and serve with anchovies.

So, if you're going to try with this dish and get your mum a partner,

then you're going to have to cook really, really well. And who knows?

Mr Right could just come along.

Sounds good, he looks like he's on fine form today,

and he's bringing his family and his mum into the kitchen

and I think that's really sweet.

Finally, newcomer Mini Patel.

Yesterday he fell to last place

with a fish dish Marcus felt was too safe.

Today he must claw back valuable points from his rivals.

Extremely disappointed with the scores from yesterday,

but today is a new day.

I'm extremely motivated to go in today and score highly.

-What's the dish called?

-"Showing You A Bit Of Breast And A Little Leg".

-OK.

-It's based round the Calendar Girls.

-OK. I recognise these ladies.

-Good.

-They look familiar to me. OK.

I spoke to them about what they would see fitting in a banquet.

Pheasant seemed to get a really good response,

so, that's why I went with pheasant.

With the breast I will poach them first

and then lightly roast them in a pan.

Obviously the title is "Showing You A Bit Of Breast AND Leg".

So I'm going to use the legs, which I will mince down

and make into a Scotch egg.

-OK.

-Into that, I'm going to be adding a little bit of black pudding.

I've got some sausage meat, and I've got a little bit of streaky bacon.

-OK.

-So I'm going to be putting that all together

and then wrapping that round my egg.

I suppose one of the real challenges with a Scotch egg is making sure

that the meat is cooked properly but also that the centre is still runny.

-Yeah.

-So timing is really important.

-Sure.

To go with that I'm going to be using the Savoy cabbage,

a great British staple,

I will shred that down and cream it with a tiny bit of truffle.

-And then potatoes. I've got these lovely Pink Fir potatoes.

-OK.

I'm going to simply boil them.

What's going to make this dish stand out from what these two are doing?

All I've got to do is really get the best out of each ingredient.

If I can elevate them to their maximum potential,

-I've got a real strong chance.

-Good.

-Do I get a high five? Boom.

LAUGHTER

There is a very fine line with cooking pheasant.

You have to be very, very careful that you don't overcook it.

So I hope Mini's practised this dish and has got his timings right.

The main course is always the big one.

You've got your focus, you two have got the Calendar Girls.

So, Chefs, off you go. Get cooking. Good luck.

With cooking underway, talk turns

to the inspiration behind Tim and Mini's main course.

So you guys are doing fairly similar dishes

with the Calendar Girls' reference.

I'm happy about it, Mini's dish is totally different to mine.

Mini's is full-on, mine is a lighter,

feminine kind of concept, you know?

It will be very interesting to see the contrast between the two dishes.

Mini removes the legs from his pheasant for the meat mix

in his Scotch egg.

And the breast, which he'll make into a ballotine.

I'm really feeling the pressure today.

I've got to beat yesterday's score of five.

But I'm confident.

With only one point separating Mini and Michael,

they know only a perfect dish will close the gap on leader, Tim.

Any worries, any concerns, Mini?

No, like I say, I've just got to get these Scotch eggs right.

Get the poaching and the roasting of the pheasant.

Everything's a concern, to be honest! Who am I kidding?!

Everything's a concern. I'm worried about every last bit of it.

SILENT SCREAM

Tim is hoping to maintain his lead with his take on

a roast chicken dinner.

He's roasting thighs for his warm salad

and poaching the chicken breast.

Then he moves on to his green tomato jam.

-Ah, the jam!

-The jam.

You're certainly a braver man than I, taking on the WI with their jams.

Yeah, this is true, this is true.

With jam there is always going to be a big sweet-and-sour element.

Where does that lie in the dish,

making sure we don't camouflage the chicken?

Yeah, there is a sweetness there,

-but it's also got an acidic kick behind it.

-Right.

This goes really well with the sweetness of the artichokes

and the savouriness of the chicken.

The first two courses you came up with an eight and nine.

You're not going to start sitting back

-and..."I've arrived, I'm at the banquet already"?

-No.

I hope Tim doesn't relax.

I think deep down inside what Tim is going to be looking for is a ten.

Experimental chef Michael is keen to build on yesterday's

high score with a floral tribute to his mum.

The centrepiece is connective pork tissue,

a cut from the shoulder that is rare in the UK.

I'm excited to show Marcus what I'm going to do with that tissue.

And if it's good, I think that bodes well for me

when it comes to the scoring.

He starts prepping the skin, which he steams.

Then moves on to salt baking his purple potatoes.

Yesterday, Mini struggled to perfect his flavours.

OK, so, mince.

Today he is out to redeem himself

with his risky pheasant and Scotch egg dish.

He works on the sausage mixture to surround the egg.

-This is what you're going to wrap around the egg?

-Yeah.

It's going to be quite a big piece of meat. Is it served on the side?

No, it's going to sit on the plate,

but you're not actually going to get a full egg.

Once I've trimmed off the bottom so it sits on the plate, and once

I've trimmed the top so you can actually see the yolk,

-you get about half an egg.

-OK.

-You eat about half an egg. OK.

-Are you going to beat these two guys?

-100%.

-100?

-100%.

-Good man.

When Mini actually cuts that Scotch egg,

that's when you're going to see whether he has won or lost.

He moves on to his pheasant breast, which he wraps

in clingfilm to make a ballotine, and cooks sous vide.

To accompany his chicken dish,

current leader Tim is doing Jerusalem artichoke three ways -

pureed, boiled, and as crisps.

Determined to impress Marcus again today,

Michael works on the almond and garlic sauce to accompany his pork.

What's your dish, Michael?

It's called My Mother Is Single And Looking For A Well-dressed Man.

That's genius, mate. Genius.

Will your mum feature when you present the dish?

I'm going to use a bit of flowers with it.

I think it's an opportunity for me to give flowers to my mum for once.

In Middlesbrough, Michael's mum Jane is a florist.

-Mum, how old were you when you started helping out here?

-About 11.

Just old enough to see over the top of the counter.

The business has always been a family affair.

My great-grandad took over this shop in about 1920, I think it was.

I took it over from my mum and dad about 27 years ago now.

So, yeah, fourth generation in the same shop.

Quite an achievement, really.

Jane will shortly hang up her shears for good,

and as Michael has chosen food over flowers,

the family business will close.

As the dish was created in honour of his mum,

Michael is preparing a sample of the pork so he can get her blessing.

So, as a sum, it costs nothing to make.

It's cheap food, but cooked well.

Got some sauce and some anchovies.

Mmm!

-Oh, Michael, that's absolutely delicious.

-Thank you.

-Really.

Spending today with my mum was great.

Super stoked that she likes my food, likes the pork.

It's given me the motivation I need to go on

and make this a winning dish.

If Michael made it through to the banquet,

Oh, I think I would burst.

Absolutely burst with pride.

-So proud of you.

-Thank you.

Marvellous. Give us a kiss.

In the kitchen, Michael works on the floral presentation

for his pork and clamped vegetable dish.

Love the flowers, Mike. You look like you

know what you're doing with them.

-I absolutely don't.

-THEY LAUGH

He uses liquid nitrogen to freeze the flowers.

Then adds them to a presentation box.

Does that freeze them really hard?

-Yeah, freeze them really hard and then...

-That's mental.

Just shatter them up.

He's actually on fine form today.

I think my only concern with Michael is when he starts playing around

and laughing and joking, he can lose focus.

Mini works on his Scotch egg and pheasant dish.

He wraps the egg in meat mixture and coats in breadcrumbs.

Meanwhile, Tim preps the elements of his warm chicken salad.

I've got an eight and nine from Marcus so far.

I want this to get a ten. I don't want any flaws in this.

I want him to give me a perfect score.

With plating up approaching,

Michael deep-fries his cooked pork skin...

..and seasons with beetroot powder.

Is this going to be another four or is this going to be another eight?

-Neither, this is going to be a nine, this one, Chef.

-Mini?

I think he will get a nine, Marcus.

-But I'm going to get a ten.

-Good man!

Mini is first to plate up his roast pheasant and Scotch egg dish,

inspired by the WI Calendar Girls.

For any chance of a ten from Marcus,

his Scotch egg must have a runny yolk

and a perfectly cooked meat coating.

Timing's crucial for Mini today.

He's got to make sure his Scotch egg is bang on.

Backs and bums.

Happy with the yolk, he must finish off the Scotch egg in the oven.

But he's misjudged his timings.

His pheasant breast and creamed cabbage are ready.

But the Scotch egg needs longer.

So, Mini, what are we waiting on?

-We're waiting for the sausage meat to cook.

-OK.

Come on, eggs, don't let me down.

Finally, they're ready.

To a serving platter he adds creamed cabbage and vegetables,

pheasant breast ballotine,

sauteed potatoes, sliced truffle.

The moment of truth for his Scotch eggs.

-Happy with the eggs?

-Very.

-Sigh of relief.

-Yeah, big-time

The plate is finished with a drizzle of pheasant sauce.

-That looked like a lot of pressure.

-It was.

-I didn't get the eggs in the oven early enough.

-Right.

-Now that you've got there, are you pleased?

-Yes. Yeah.

I'm pleased that I got there

and I'm pleased with what I've delivered, as well.

-Shall we go and try it?

-Yeah.

That's what you wanted, is the runny egg?

-So, you pleased with that?

-Very.

It's cooked perfectly, Marcus.

-It tastes lovely.

-Yeah.

-Um, I like that it's not too runny in the middle.

-Mm.

The meat around the egg - is it cooked to what you're looking for?

It's not too hard. It's quite soft. It breaks away quite nicely.

-You get the little hits of black pudding.

-Yeah.

Really tasty.

Are you happy with the cooking of the pheasant?

Yeah, I mean, the pheasant...

I think I could make it a little bit more moist.

Yeah.

The pheasant's maybe a little bit colder than you'd like.

This white cabbage - are you pleased with the way it's seasoned?

It's got a bit of bacon in there, so it's quite, um...

salty.

Loads of flavour, there, in the cabbage.

You really get the bacon, it's really nice, innit?

And the taste of the truffle on the dish, um... Overpowering?

I don't think it's overpowering - I think I've been quite conservative.

-MICHAEL:

-I like the truffle.

-I think that's what elevates it a little bit. I think that's...

-Mm.

What Marcus is looking for.

Do you feel you've done enough with the dish

-to get ahead of Michael?

-I think so.

I think it's definitely a main course for the banquet,

and I think that if it was there, they'd really enjoy it.

-I think he's got a nine with this.

-A nine?

-Mm.

I agree with you. I...I'd give him a nine.

Mm.

-Hello, Chefs.

-All right, Mini?

Well done, man. How did he take it?

I really don't know. Really don't know.

I'm quite happy. I'm happy - very happy.

Excellent.

But I was with me fish, as well... Uh-oh!

Tim is next, with his chicken and artichoke dish,

also inspired by the Calendar Girls.

-How you getting on, Chef?

-Yeah, good. Good, mate.

Having taken the lead in the first two rounds,

he's hoping his take on a traditional dish will be a winner.

He starts by warming cos lettuce in the pan,

and frying the poached chicken breasts.

-Just crisping the skin up?

-Yeah, that's it, man.

To a bowl, he adds the lettuce, white wine, shallots,

boiled artichokes and chicken thigh confit,

then drizzles with roast chicken vinaigrette

and places in a presentation tin.

-Take it over there, Chef?

-Please.

Next, the green tomato jam and crispy artichokes.

Then he glazes the chicken breast with chicken jus.

To a hot serving plate, he adds Jerusalem artichoke puree...

..garlic, spinach and chicken thigh...

-Watch it, you're really running behind now.

-Yeah, Now, Chef.

..and finally the chicken breast.

Why don't you, er...

-put a bit of that on the plate?

-Bit of the salad on there

just to ea in with it. My artichokes.

Got some on there.

Jam on the side - that's the idea.

And then with the crisps,

just a few sprinkled on top of the salad, basically.

-OK. So, let's go and try some.

-Yeah, please, I'd love to.

-The chicken you've poached and just finished on the skin side?

-Yeah.

What do you think about the cooking?

I'm a little bit annoyed about the chicken,

cos it is a bit overcooked.

-I got the plates really hot this time.

-Yeah.

-With them being cold on my fish course.

-Yeah.

Obviously that's then carried on cooking it more.

-MINI:

-It's a very nice tasting chicken.

-Mm.

And he's cooked it extremely well.

Do you feel you've got the sweet and sour element correct in the jam?

Yeah, I think that element works -

I think you need the jam to eat the dish.

I think he's got the jam spot on.

And over here, on the side you've got the thigh and the shallot,

-what have you done there?

-Lightly roasted and cooked in white wine,

-just to bring a tiny bit of acidity back through the salad.

-Mm.

He's got some artichokes in there, as well, and they taste lovely.

Yeah, nice and caramelised.

Overall, the dish - are you happy?

I'm happy with the combination of flavours.

It's very honest, good ingredients.

Well, should be handled well - apart from my overcooked chicken.

I think he's done very well.

-Again!

-Again, yes!

-You'd struggle to find anyone that couldn't like that.

-Yeah.

-What would you mark it?

-I'm on the 7s, there.

-Chefs.

-Happy?

-No.

-Oh, really?

-Not at all.

You know - overcooked chicken breast let the dish down completely.

-Sorry.

-Did he say anything?

-No, but I'm sure he's going to tell me later.

-Yeah!

Michael is last up, with a floral tribute to his mum,

featuring pork and clamped vegetables -

much of which relies on perfecting each element at the last minute.

He starts by pan-frying the connective pork tissue.

To a Perspex platter,

he adds the almond and garlic sauce and beetroot powder.

He cooks the clamped vegetables in ham fat...

..and adds the purple salt-baked potatoes to the platter.

He adds butter, thyme and garlic to his pork.

-Due at the pass about now.

-Yep.

Next, kale, anchovies, sliced beetroot and the pork skin.

He garnishes with edible flowers and cured ham fat.

Could you grab me a blowtorch, please?

Gently stick it over that fat if you would, mate.

He tops with clamped vegetables,

and finally adds slices of his pork connective tissue.

Almost speechless.

-What do you think, guys?

-Beautiful.

-Stunning.

-Tell me what this is called, again.

-This is called

My Mum Is Single And Looking To Find A Well-dressed Man.

Does your mum know you've called your dish that?

Absolutely no idea!

Do you think that's good enough to get your lovely mother a partner?

Yeah. Possibly you, Chef.

-Stunning.

-It's "wow" again. It's another "wow"!

Are you happy with the cut of pork and the cooking of it?

Yeah, I think the temperature was bang on.

-The texture's fantastic.

-Wow. I think he's cooked it perfectly,

-and I wouldn't want it cooked any more, myself.

-No.

-I've noticed that you've used a purple potato.

-Yeah.

I'll be honest, there's a huge benefit

of it being the colour it is.

It's more attractive, and that's a massive part of what I do as a cook.

It's so soft on the inside,

-and it's got that nice salty crust on the outside.

-Mm.

-And the crackling - what's on the outside?

-Beetroot and salt.

-You're expecting that crackling to be harder...

-Yeah.

..but it's not, it just dissolves. I really like it.

Have you tasted the sauce?

I really like it.

-Garlic content - are you pleased with that?

-Yeah.

I've never had anything with too much garlic in,

so I had to kind of pull it back from my personal taste.

I mean, it works really well with the pork.

What do you think the WI ladies will say with that?

I don't think they'll understand literally

the story of my mother being a florist,

but they'll see the connection to the humble ingredients

that are then made beautiful.

I can't... Personally, I can't fault it.

Wow.

Give yourself a mark.

I think it's a ten.

-Stunning, mate.

-Yeah, very impressed.

-Absolutely.

I think with that dish, you've definitely got me worried.

I've got a feeling he liked it.

For me, I'm not expecting to get a big score from Marcus.

He's not going to be forgiving.

I don't think I've let myself down here,

but it's for Marcus to tell me, isn't it?

Main course done. Pleased that's over with?

-Yeah.

-Very much so.

Yeah?

I'm going to start with you, Mini.

The highlights of the dish for me were the Scotch egg.

The cooking of the egg was bang on.

The meat around the egg, that was really well cooked.

But getting the egg right, for me, cost you the dish.

The pheasant being a little bit overcooked.

The cabbage had lost its sparkle.

Didn't really hit the mark.

Now for you, Tim.

For your dish, Not All Jam And Jerusalem,

I liked the presentation - I thought it was fun.

I thought the jam was delicious. Well done.

Thanks, Marcus.

The Jerusalem artichoke three ways - that also worked.

But...

..the chicken should have been perfect,

but in the end, as you well know, it was overcooked.

I don't think the spinach had a place on the plate.

It was a bit bland, a bit average.

I think you were just trying too hard.

I don't think it worked today.

Michael, for your dish,

of My Mother Is Single And Looking For A Well-dressed Man,

I thought you created an absolutely stunning dish.

I really do.

It was a work of art.

The pork crackling was delicious.

The almond and garlic sauce was brilliant.

The purple potatoes and the way you cooked them,

they were absolutely delicious.

I suppose the question for me -

is the dish fit for a banquet?

Will they get it?

I suppose now for the most important part -

the scores.

And we'll start with you, Mini.

A six.

Too simple, Mini.

Tim.

I'm going to give you...

..a six also.

-You overthought this one.

-Yeah.

And Michael.

I thought about this long and hard, Michael.

I'm going to give you that ten.

APPLAUSE

Hey, well done, mate! Well done.

You absolutely nailed it.

Well done, mate, it was beautiful.

Nailed it.

You should be very proud.

It's still not over. Desserts to go.

-Well done, we'll see you tomorrow.

-Thank you, Marcus.

Did I see you get a little bit emotional then?

No.

A little bit, maybe.

You should do, mate, it was amazing.

It was a stunning dish. Absolutely stunning.

You know, obviously, I'm feeling disappointed, but deservedly so.

My dish wasn't good enough, and not executed properly.

Don't know what to say!

-Ten!

-From Marcus.

Take it. Wear it with pride.

-MICHAEL:

-Getting a ten from Marcus Wareing has stunned me,

and to get the recognition from him

is an incredible, incredible feeling.

Despite a victory for Michael, Tim holds on to a one-point lead

with 23 points, with Mini five points behind in last place.

I'm going to pick myself up one more time,

and go in guns blazing for the final course.