Episode 4 Mary Berry's Absolute Favourites

'I'm Mary Berry and in this series I'm going to be showing you

'some of my absolute favourites.'

Not too difficult to make, not too many ingredients

and the sort of recipes that the family are going to say,

"Ooh and aah" and "Please can we have them again?"

'These favourites have been inspired by the places I love.

'The countryside, by the sea, markets and gardens.

'And, of course, my home.

'I'll be sharing with you some brand-new ideas

'and some recipes that I never ever tire of.

-'Tonight...'

-Is that a bit sharp at the moment?

-No, I think it's lovely.

-SHE LAUGHS

'It's my favourites from the local farmers' market.'

In this programme, my recipes are inspired

by a wonderful ingredient you find in farmers' markets and farm shops.

A visit to the farmers' market is such a lovely thing to do.

I enjoy seeing what's in season

and meeting the local farmers and stall holders.

As you can see. Creamy, mature cheddar taste.

There's nothing like the feeling of knowing exactly

where your food comes from.

Tonight - a delicious soup

using one of British farmers' best loved vegetables.

Salads inspired by all those wonderful things

that you can buy on the stalls.

A family favourite with lovely local sausages.

A show-stopper pud perfect for hand-picked berries.

But first, a dinner party dish

with one of my personal market favourites.

I love asparagus. It makes this dish very special.

I remember my father used to grow these with tremendous care.

I've tried to grow it and as soon as you get weed in it,

you're in trouble. I've never been successful

so therefore I go and buy it from a farm shop nearby.

'Start by seasoning six chicken breasts...

'..and seal them in a hot pan with 25g of melted butter

'and a tablespoonful of oil.'

All I'm doing with these chicken breasts is getting them

golden brown on each side.

But in no way are they done in the middle.

That's exactly what I'm looking for.

When they're golden on the outside, remove them from the pan

and start the sauce.

I've got these beautiful shallots here.

But they are absolute devils to peel.

I find it best to put them in boiling water,

it just loosens the skin and so that's exactly what I'm going to do.

I've got a pan over here.

And it's a very good tip if you're doing pickled onions.

You know those little onions that take ages to peel.

I'm going to leave that off the heat for about five or ten minutes.

Rinse them under cold water and off comes the skin.

Then cut the shallots into quarters to fry.

I'm using the same pan.

Not only does it save the washing up

but you do get the flavour of the chicken juices.

'To thicken the sauce, use a heaped tablespoon of plain flour.'

This is an old-fashioned tablespoon.

Measure it carefully, if you like, 30g,

but I promise you if I put that on the scales,

that's what it'll be. So...in the bowl.

'Combine the flour with some of the 400ml of cold chicken stock.'

I'm going to make that really, really smooth.

You might think it's a bit like making custard.

Then I'm going to put the remainder of the stock in here like that

and I'm going to pour that in, stirring all the time.

And that will thicken it.

Which indeed it has.

And this is absolutely smooth.

As you can see, there's no sign of a little white lump.

Add some freshly chopped lemon thyme

and the seared chicken breasts back to the pan.

Now, there are some juices on that tin

which I certainly do not want to throw away.

That'll all add to the flavour.

On with the lid and leave that to cook for about 20 minutes

on a very low heat. And keep your eye on it.

It should have just a gentle bubble from time to time.

'Next, the asparagus.'

So, to start with, take the asparagus

and it will break where it's tender.

Then they should really give a nice crack.

'Chop up the stems into thick-ish slices, nice and evenly,

'but keep the tips whole for garnish.

'Add them all to boiling, salted water for two to three minutes.

'And it's time to check the chicken.'

To make sure it's cooked, I'm going to look at my portion.

Now, that to me is perfect.

It's still got a spring to it.

So, let's put that back in the pan.

'And to finish, squeeze the juice of a lemon into the pan,

'add a 200ml tub of full fat creme fraiche.

'And of course, the cooked asparagus stems.'

Not only will they add flavour but they'll add colour.

So, in they go.

'Finally, add a couple of tablespoonfuls of parsley,

'just roughly chopped.'

It looks lovely. Now, ready to serve.

There are those who like a lot of sauce

and I'm married to a gravy man

so all my recipes have quite a lot of sauce.

Well, the smell is delicious.

It's a lovely, smooth sauce, it's a deep flavour of lemon

and it feels rich.

I think that is a great dish to serve on a special occasion

so 'a table' and enjoy it.

Seeing the first crop of asparagus each year is always exciting

so here is another of my favourite recipes

to make the most of the season.

It is so simple.

And there's only three veggie ingredients.

That's onion, potatoes and asparagus.

To make enough soup for six, add a finely chopped onion

and 350g of diced potatoes to hot butter.

And cook them down on a gentle heat for about ten minutes.

Now to the asparagus.

This recipe I use about 500g of asparagus.

I'm cutting the top inch and I'm going to use that for garnish.

I'm going to put those into the bowl there.

So, those woody ends really haven't got so much flavour

and, also, to get them through the sieve would be difficult

so you just trim of those

and in my case, we put them on the compost.

And remember those ends that I had left over this morning

from the chicken.

There they are and I'm just going to trim them all off in one go.

You can see how woody they are cos I can hardly get through them.

By now the potatoes and onion should be nicely softened

so add 900ml of either chicken or vegetable stock

and bring it to the boil.

Chop up the asparagus stalks and add them to the stock

with some salt and pepper...

..and leave to simmer for a further ten minutes.

Now, you can put this in a processor or you can use a hand blender.

BLENDER WHIZZES

Do you want to know something?

I always use a processor

and I'm not used to these hand blenders

and I'm learning...

BLENDER WHIZZES

..that you don't lift it out with hot liquid

cos it goes all over you.

So, into the liquid and then switch on.

I have to say it's rather efficient, it's working very well.

'Once you've finished blending, press the soup through a sieve

to remove all the woody bits.

I can remember making pureed soups at college

and not only did we have to sieve them,

you then had to put them through a cloth,

fold it over and twist the ends.

It was called tammying.

Nobody ever does that now.

Now, all that needs to be done is to reheat the soup

and add two or three tablespoons of double cream.

Now, that adds a touch of luxury.

Doesn't that look good? It looks sort of velvety.

Bit of all right.

Let's pour that in the bowls.

Little drop of cream on the top.

And top with the tips of asparagus

that have been boiled for just two or three minutes.

I know what you're thinking, it's an awfully big spoon.

But my grandmother used to serve soup

with this size spoon so I'm following in her wake.

You know something? That really is delicious.

It is so smooth and velvety

and there's no doubt what the flavouring is.

I might eat the rest of that bowl in a minute.

Farmers' markets like this one in Guildford are relatively new.

Many of them were started up to help farmers

after the foot and mouth outbreak in the late 1990s.

And now there are around a thousand of them all over the country.

That's the sharp one. Going down to sweeter.

I've got a few things on my list today.

First stop is the fruit and veg stall of a local farm.

-Good morning.

-Good morning.

-What an amazing selection of apples.

-Thank you.

Are they all locally grown?

They're all grown on our farm in Kent, yes.

-We grow just over 200 varieties now so...

-Gosh.

-..lots of variation.

I like a fairly hard, sweet apple. Very, very crisp.

What do you suggest?

OK, well, this is a little tart at the moment.

This is a Pitmaston pineapple so in the warm atmosphere

-you get that lovely scent of pineapples.

-Really?

It's quite an old variety from the 1700s.

When it gets a little ripe you might get a bit more sweetness.

-Is that a bit sharp at the moment?

-No, I think that's lovely.

Of course, it's not just fruit and vegetables farmers here.

All sorts of people get the chance to meet their customers

and showcase their goods.

From local cheeses...

-A cheese feast.

-Thank you very much.

..to freshly caught fish.

I had sea bream yesterday.

Absolutely delicious.

And some beautiful artisan breads.

Which are the most popular ones?

Well, the most popular are the spelts, wholemeal, Sussex kibble...

What's Sussex kibble?

Sussex kibble, this is a recipe that I found

in a village called Storrington in Sussex

and this is kibbled wheat.

It's literally just cracked wheat.

-Cracked wheat but cut up very small?

-Yes.

-I'd also like some sourdough.

-What about that one there?

Now...is it nice and brown underneath?

Ooh, you want to see the bottom, don't you?

-I like that, yes, I do.

-HE LAUGHS

Very good.

'What I find so exciting nowadays is the amount of speciality goods

'that you can find in these markets.'

-Hello.

-Hi, good morning, madam. How are you?

-Bit cold.

-Can I help you?

'And I've got some salads planned

'that will make good use of some of them.'

-Do you have black olives in oil?

-I have black.

Now, how should I keep those when I get home?

Don't put them in the refrigerator,

it's the worst place you can put them.

Best place I always tell people,

by the cooker, by a bottle of red wine.

There's nothing like bringing a selection home.

And I think I've got everything I need for my next recipe.

So, the first of my six market salads

is celeriac remoulade.

And that's celeriac in a lovely, creamy, strong dressing.

'Start with the celeriac.'

I really need to be taller, don't I?

'Cut off all the knobbly bits and it's ready to shred.'

I'm going to use a slicer.

This is quite inexpensive, I think they're under £10

but to go back when I was at college this was part of our equipment.

You had a set of knives and you had a slicer like this.

So this is...I hate to say, it's 60 years old.

And you could do the celeriac on there but there's no guard

and you could so easily cut yourself.

I'll just keep that to admire and keep it as part of my history.

Right.

'To stop it from discolouring,

coat it in a little lemon juice and a little water.

And now for a lovely creamy, piquant dressing.

'I'm using six tablespoons of light mayonnaise,

'a tablespoon of Dijon mustard,

'the juice of half a lemon, a dash of sugar and some seasoning.

'When it's mixed, drain off the celeriac

'and bring it all together.'

And there we have our first salad. Celeriac remoulade.

Next, it's my quick and easy Caesar salad.

The classic lettuce to use is a cos lettuce.

Dad used to grow these and he called them London lettuce.

Don't ask me why and it's not called London now

but often plants change their names.

'My version of this salad is really just a matter of chopping

'the beautifully crisp lettuce and making a simple dressing.'

And for me that is what makes the salad.

So, in the bowl, I'm going to put six tablespoonfuls of mayonnaise.

Now, a tip about doing this, you see how I put those blobs like that?

If you actually put the blobs so you can count them

because at home, the dog can want to be let out, the phone can ring

and you can never remember how many spoons you've put in.

So I know I've put two in.

Three, four.

'Add one and a half tablespoons of Dijon mustard.'

And then I'm going to have a dash of Worcester sauce.

That just gives it a little pep up.

'Then season. Now add some grated Parmesan...'

One.

Two.

'..and crushed garlic.'

'If the mixture is a bit thick, just add a little water

'to thin it out.'

So, that's looking good.

I'll just toss it. Make sure that it's really well coated.

'And finish with shaved Parmesan and some crispy golden croutons.'

I've made my Caesar salad without any meat added.

You could add chicken, you could add avocado.

Just whatever you like.

Another idea to make the most of those market veg

is to spruce up some marinated artichokes and red peppers

with fresh basil and a little balsamic vinegar.

Very, very colourful.

And it's rather nice with the flecks of green.

'And to use those olives, how about my version of a Greek salad?

'Just add them to some crumbled feta cheese and sundried tomatoes

'and finish with olive oil and little salt and pepper.'

That's it.

A lovely mixture.

Then, I've got some carrot.

Now, carrot coarsely grated is delicious

but I like to add some lemon juice and some poppy seed

and that's exactly what I've done there.

All very simple, little bit of pepper and salt

and it's as cheap as cheap.

Very effective.

'Lastly, a tasty bean salad.

'Drain a tin of mixed beans, add some finely chopped spring onions,

'sliced celery and diced tomato.'

And for the dressing,

I've put some fresh tarragon in there with some oil,

mustard, pepper, salt and a dash of sugar.

So in that goes to dress it.

'Give it a good stir and there you have it.'

So, that is my market salad.

And I think that looks very tempting if you just want a light lunch

and a little bit of everything.

'If I'm not in a hurry, I always like to have a chat with the farmers

'and find out a bit more about them.'

I'm the wife and that is a farmer, so...

'Georgina and John Emerson have been bringing their meat

'and poultry here since the market started almost 15 years ago.'

And what do you sell most of?

We sell a lot of sausages, as you can see this morning,

-people have sausages during the week.

-You've got all sorts of varieties.

We do about 25 different flavours

so we bring a selection each time we're at a market.

-Which is the most popular?

-Ohh.

Probably the plain out of all the flavours we do

but we do all kinds of different flavours with caramelised onion,

we've got black pudding where we use a black pudding from Scotland.

Oh, and here at the end, pork and leek, my favourite.

Lovely. Thank you.

'One of my favourite ways of using sausages is in my next recipe -

'roasted sausage supper.'

This is a true favourite of mine. It's a great family dish.

'Start with the vegetables, I'm using 500g of new potatoes

'just chopped in half.'

'Two large onions sliced into wedges.

'Keeping the root on will help them stay together.

'And two red peppers roughly chopped into bite-size pieces.'

Now, to the magic part of the recipe.

A simple plastic bag.

I'm going to put all these vegetables in the plastic bag,

some olive oil and as you rub the bag, it's a light coating,

I don't need to use too much oil and my hands are clean.

So, let's just put those into the bag with everything else.

'Add two cloves of chopped garlic and some thyme to the bag.'

In it goes.

Lastly, the sausages.

As we saw, there was a huge variety of different sausages

in the farmers' market.

I still like pork sausages best

but I do like trying all the different flavours.

These are herb and leek.

'Prick the sausages. I'm using 12 in this recipe.' That's it.

'Add them to the bag.'

'And in goes two tablespoons of olive oil.'

So, then, you want to hold the top of the bag

and tip all these until every single one is well covered.

I think that's a good job done.

'You'll need your biggest roasting tin for this.

'Just tip everything in.

'You want one even layer with the sausages on top

'so they cook through.'

Right, that's all ready for the oven and I'm going to cook that

at 200 degrees fan for about 35 or 40 minutes.

'When the sausages are brown, turn them over.

'And for a bit of extra flavour add 200ml of white wine

'continue to cook at the same temperature for another 20 minutes.'

So, I'm off to lay the table so I'm ready for supper.

Well, it's had its time, let's have a look.

So, how about that then? Doesn't that look inviting?

You want to have everybody absolutely ready

to come and help themselves

and you can really see why this is one of my favourites.

All the washing up I've got is one tin.

Of course, the market is full of ideas for sweet things too

and I always keep my eyes peeled for the ingredients

for one of my favourite tried and tested puds.

You know, I get more letters, e-mails and questions

about how to get success with a meringue than anything else.

And I have a foolproof way that will give you success every time

so your problems will be over.

So, first of all, I'm going to separate the eggs.

I've got three eggs here and they're nice and fresh.

The secret is to whisk on full speed

whether you're using a big mixer like this

or a hand-held one or even...

I had one when I was first married...

one that you just went like this like mad.

The main thing is you've got to get as much air

into the egg white as you can.

So full speed ahead now.

When the egg whites start to look like cloud,

add 175g of caster sugar - a spoonful at a time.

Keep your mixer on full speed until the meringue is stiff.

That looks about right to me. Let me just show you.

It really looks as stiff as can be.

And I'm going to be brave and you'll watch it drop, is it going to drop?

No. Really, really stiff.

Now, as it's a pavlova, I want to make it

nice and marshmallow-y in the middle

and to do that you add cornflour and vinegar.

So mix a level teaspoon of cornflour

and a teaspoon of white wine vinegar together

and then fold it into the meringue.

'Take a baking sheet topped with baking paper

'with a 20 centimetre circle marked out.

'And spread the pavlova mix on it.'

I'm being very careful to keep it within that pencil circle

because that is the shape that I want.

So, squash that down.

And push it all out to the edges.

And if you have children or grandchildren who enjoy cooking,

let them do something like this, perhaps for Sunday tea.

So, I'm quite happy with that. It looks nice and informal.

There are little peaks sticking up

and I've got a really nice cavity in there

to put lots of cream and fruit.

'Turn down the preheated oven from 140 degrees fan to 130 degrees.

'And cook the pavlova for an hour.

'Once it's cooked, the key is to turn off the oven

'and leave the pavlova inside to cool for a good two or three hours.

'So, now to make the filling.'

I've got 225g of beautiful blackcurrants

which I've taken off the stalks.

And the same of redcurrants.

And then I've got some blackberries, as well.

Those are huge blackberries.

'Add 175g of caster sugar.'

So, on with the heat.

'And stir gently until all the sugar has melted.'

'Then turn off the heat and add the 175g of blueberries.

'And leave it to cool completely before adding the raspberries.'

And then, to make it really special, a little bit of cassis.

About two or three tablespoons.

One, two...oh, definitely three.

'Once the pavlova has cooled,

'it's time to bring this show-stopper pud together.'

Well, that's just as I wanted it to be.

That very, very pale sort of creamy colour and it is...

..beautifully crisp.

I've got some whipped cream here.

Push it right to the sides.

And this will stop the fruit juice going into the meringue

That looks pretty good, doesn't it?

Do you know, I've been making this for years and I still get excited.

It really is magical.

And it is the most perfect thing to serve at any celebration.

'Next time...'

-Hello!

-Rosemary. Welcome.

THEY KISS

'..it's my favourite recipes inspired by the allotment.'