Made for Each Other Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers

Two ingredients really made for one another are ham and cheese.

What I like to do is to bring them together with something very fresh.

So I'm adding green beans,

to make my classic combination of ham and cheese come alive.

I just want to shred this.

It's not going to cook.

It's just going to warm through with the cheese.

Almost any cheese will work with this.

That's the lovely thing about ham and cheese.

Any ham, any cheese - never fails.

But I want this to be like a creamy dressing for the beans.

So this is a soft cheese. And this is Taleggio.

Slice the cheese thinly.

Now, let the beans cook for about five minutes.

You want them to bend a bit. That's when their flavour is at its best.

Now you have to get your finger out.

Because the cheese isn't going to melt, isn't going to soften,

unless the beans are still hot.

Drain the beans, but add them quickly back to the hot pan.

Add the ham and cheese, a slurp of olive oil,

some black pepper, and toss.

As you stir, the cheese makes a sort of warm and voluptuous dressing

for the green beans.

With the melting cheese and that lovely ham,

and a nice bit of bread...

A nice crusty wodge of it on the side.

I've used Taleggio in this dish, but you could use any cheese.

I prefer something soft like Brie or Camembert.

This is a great main dish.

But today I want to treat myself with a pudding.

It's my midweek treat.

Some treats are all about textures that you love.

Heaven, for me, is a crisp meringue and some very softly whipped cream.

Break some meringues into your whipped cream.

Rough chunks are good.

Put a little bit of fruit in. Always things that have a sharpness to them,

to cut through the sweetness of the meringues.

To break up the smoothness of this sundae,

I'm adding some pistachio nuts.

Then gently fold it all together,

so that the fruits burst through the cream.

But this is more than a treat.

It's an indulgence.

So in goes some ice cream.

I've got something soft,

something crisp,

something sweet,

something sharp.

And then right at the bottom, I've got a big dollop of ice cream.

This is so very, very, very good.

Or very, very bad.

I've got to stop.

I've got to stop.

It is truly delicious.

So, go on, spoil yourself.

So many of the perfect partnerships in the kitchen

are ingredients we put together because of how the flavours work.

But there are other good reasons to put ingredients together as well.

A typical one is where you've got a very rich ingredient

and you want something sharp to cut that richness.

And with pork, sharp apples will do exactly that.

Seemingly, us Brits love cooking with apples.

The UK is the only country that grows apples especially for cooking.

With 7,500 varieties of apples grown worldwide,

there's a lot to choose from.

Apples are just so versatile. You can cook with them,

you can use them in drinks, preserves, pickles.

You know, you can do so much with them. It's just a fantastic product.

Ed Nicholson is head warden at Killerton Estate in Devon,

which grows 98 varieties.

OK, here we have a good local variety called Tom Putt.

It's a dessert and eating apple.

I think you'll find with this... Take a slice off this.

Have a little chew of that.

Mm! Really sweet. Loads of flavour there.

So here we have a Bramley variety.

Traditionally the cooking variety.

Quite fleshy, quite sweet.

But a little bit lacking in structure,

which then will come back when it's cooked.

And these will go in to make our chutney. So we'll harvest these, cos they keep well.

In contrast, this is a local cider variety.

Erm, this one, if we try a piece of this, much smaller, you'll notice.

Quite white inside.

If you take a bite of that, it's brittle,

not a great deal of the sweet flavour there.

All in all, not very pleasant.

The apples used for cider originally were the ones that were left over,

that were either on the floor, picked up,

or the ones that didn't taste particularly good,

but had a lot of juice, and quite a bit more tannin in them.

You see that one's starting to go brown already.

That's oxidised, that's the tannins that are starting to come out.

And that's what makes a cider apple.

There's so much you can make with apples. And everyone has their favourite recipe.

Probably my favourite is baked apples.

My mother used to do a baked apple, take the core out,

fill it full of raisins and brown sugar, and bake the apple like that.

I mean, that was a classic childhood recipe for me.

Erm, big favourite of mine is pork and apple.

Apple sauce goes with it.

There's lots of different ways you can cook pork with apples.

Which is also one of my favourites.

And for my Thursday night dish,

I'm going to be cooking pork chops with apples and cider.

I'm very fussy about pork chops.

I like good, thick ones, with plenty of fat,

so that as the chop cooks,

that fat makes the meat really succulent.

Pork and apple works on so many levels, you know.

It works because of the richness, and the sharpness of the fruit.

But it also works on another level altogether -

that idea of pigs, in an orchard,

crunching their way through windfall apples in the grass.

And it just brings... I don't know, a bit of poetry to supper.

I don't think that's a bad thing.

I don't think we always have to be quite so practical.

I like to give the rind a good headstart to getting a bit crispy,

by just searing it in the oil.

Then, lightly fry each side - about a minute or so should do it.

I'm going to put a little bit of cider with these.

It could be any liquid.

But the reason I'm using cider is because it feels part of the dish.

It feels like it ought to be there, because of the apples.

I just want those to sizzle a bit, to get a really crusty outside

and to get the flavours going.

Once lightly browned on the sides, pull out the chops,

then bung the onions into the hot pan.

Whilst they're browning, chop up some dessert apples.

I'm using the Discovery ones from my garden.

You can use a cooking apple for this.

But it'll go really fluffy.

And it will lose its shape.

It doesn't matter, but you'll end up with a sort of froth in the pan

rather than something that looks apple-shaped.

It doesn't matter at all, the flavour will still be there.

I'm going to carefully add some sage.

Use it sparingly, because it can overpower the dish.

Then squash some juniper berries

to add a fresh, lemony quality to the dish.

I'm gonna pop the chops back.

These are such sweet little apples. They're so cute.

I'm gonna pop a couple of whole ones in as well.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

And add a good glass of cider.

Slide into a hot oven for about half-an-hour.

What's great about this dish

is you can either cook it quickly on high heat,

or leave it in the oven for hours on low.

What's happened is that all of the succulence from the meat,

and all of the juices,

all the flavourings,

just come together.

That, for me, is both supper and a big treat.

Of course, the perfect drink for this dish is a glass of ice-cold cider.

We all have our favourite combos -

ingredients that work perfectly together.

They're always on our shopping list.

The danger is that these favourites can become a bit predictable.

Which is why I like to bring something new to these existing relationships.

Some of our favourite culinary marriages

are with the most basic of ingredients.

Potatoes and leeks is one that works very well.

So I want to bring them together as the base of a sumptuous chowder.

Start by placing the chopped leeks into a warm pan of butter,

and adding some thyme.

I want the leeks to cook very gently in the butter.

I don't want them to brown.

And the best way to do that is to put a little bit of paper on top,

so that they actually steam as much as they fry.

And I put the lid on as well,

so that none of the steam can escape.

To give a little body, add some potatoes.

Put my potatoes in.

Into this soup, or stew, whatever you want to call it,

I'm going to put some smoked haddock.

And I want the haddock to go quite a long way,

because it's not the cheapest of fish.

So I'm going to use sweetcorn.

And the reason for that

is because the liquid in this soup

is actually going to be milk.

And sweetcorn loves dairy produce.

I've always cooked my smoked haddock in milk.

I'm sure there's some very technical reasons for it.

But I do it cos my mum did it.

Milk softens the smokiness of the haddock.

It's also wonderful with the sweetcorn.

Drop in a few bay leaves and a sprinkling of peppercorns.

Your fish should be ready in under ten minutes.

This is more than a single marriage of ingredients.

It's actually a marriage of the leeks and potatoes,

and the milk and the sweetcorn.

It all comes together.

Break the haddock into chunks,

drain some of the milk,

and resettle to the chowder.

Dishes like this, which are calming, they've got a quality to them

that brings a sense of peace into your supper.

There's something very gentle and old-fashioned

about these flavours and these smells.

And especially these ingredients.

Everything in this dish has a classic connection.

Leeks to potatoes, milk to sweetcorn,

and fish to some freshly chopped parsley.

There are some recipes I like to put on a plate,

and pop them in front of everybody.

And there's other recipes

that I like to put in the middle of the table, with a big ladle,

and get people to help themselves.

And this is one of those.

It's bowl food.

As well as soul food.

It has to be the bond between so many of the ingredients in this supper

that makes it absolutely mouth-watering.

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