Episode 7 Paul Hollywood's Pies & Puds

Today I'm going to get your taste buds tingling. I'm cooking with onions, spices

and a good dose of peppermint to cool it all down.

It'll be hot and it'll be hearty.

Sweet or savoury, there'll be something for everyone,

as I show YOU how to make simple recipes that are perfect to share.

Here's what's on the menu today.

'I find out the secret to producing delicious onions all year round.

'And, I fulfil a childhood dream.'

I've always wanted to drive a tractor.

I love it. I'm going to give up my job.

I don't want to be a baker any more. You can leave me here.

'And onions are the star ingredient in my creamy, savoury tart.'

And that will make a beautiful onion tart.

'I'm baking a gorgeously rich chocolate dessert with

'a touch of something special.'

There's a heady mix going on here between chocolate

and peppermint that you can't smell.

So you're going to have to make it.

'And it's all thanks to my guest Sir Michael Colman,

'more famous for his mustard

'but it's his cool peppermint oil I'll be using.'

-How do you use that peppermint oil yourself?

-I've got my wife trained.

She really likes peppermint tea!

Ah...

And when is a pie not a pie?

'When it's a biryani, of course,

'created by my old friend, and Indian food expert, Manju Malhi.'

-That's not a biryani.

-It is!

-That's a pie.

-No, it's not a pie.

-It's got a lid on it.

'What definitely is a pie is my Russian inspired puff pastry dish

'filled with rice, salmon and boiled eggs.'

Doesn't it look lovely?

-The colours look incredible.

-Mm.

'And all my recipes are on the BBC website.'

I love onions, me.

From having them on hot dogs, or a cheese and onion butty,

but how much do we really know about the complexity

that they bring to our dishes?

The answer, for me at least, is not enough.

'I've come to Parrish Farms in Bedfordshire to get to grips

'with the best of the bunch of British onions.

'Paul Cripsey has been growing all types of onions for decades

'and he certainly knows his stuff.'

Hello, Paul.

Hello, pleased to meet you.

How many different varieties of onions and shallots do you grow?

On the farm here we grow brown onions, red onions.

We've got round shallots, banana shallot.

-How long have you been doing this?

-Some 35 years, yes.

So, I imagine things have changed over that time?

Before the 1970s, the onions were lifted and dried in the field.

But the problem with the English weather then, is that September time

it used to rain and the skins used to get spotty and black.

Since the 1970s, a system was developed for doing the harvesting,

taking them to store, which enabled us to actually produce an onion

with a lovely skin finish because you're buying with your eyes.

'There are three stages to the onion harvest.

'First of all, this machine tops the plants by slicing off the leaves.

'Next, the onions are unearthed and strewn out behind it,

'left to dry naturally in the sun for up to 24 hours.

'Finally, it's time to load the onions up, before dropping them

'into a waiting container on this tractor and that's where I come in.'

Have you driven a tractor before?

I have when I was about 12 years old, straight into a tree.

ENGINE REVS

I'll give it a go.

I've always wanted to drive a tractor

and now I'm driving a tractor.

I love it. I'm going to give up my job.

I don't want to be a baker any more. You can leave me here.

'In Britain, we're now producing around 70,000 tonnes of onions

'every year and, with constant improvement in the industry,

'happily for us, it means the British onion can be

'in our shops all year round.'

This is the end of the shallot harvesting journey.

They're coming now into the drying rooms here.

We're going to blow air through them at 28 degrees centigrade

to dry them all off and cover them up,

and these will be ready for sale in about four weeks' time.

They can stay in this drying room until about next June.

It can be a long-term store.

'I'm going to bake a shallot and onion tart

'so I want to know which varieties have the most flavour.

'Dr Meriel Jones has an experiment comparing the flavour of a red

'and white onion.'

What I'm going to do here is show a way in which you can assess

how flavourful an onion is, without having to actually eat it.

I mean, I actually like raw onion in a butty.

But when you cook it down, it totally changes. It becomes sweet.

The sweetness is from sugars in the onion

and when you cook it, all the onion's characteristic pungent flavour

is taken away in the cooking process. It floats off.

'But Dr Meriel is going to be testing which onion,

'a red or white one,

'has the most flavour when it's raw with a little experiment.'

-Basically, you add a reagent that reacts with...

-A reagent?

-You add a chemical.

-OK. What chemical have you added?

-It forms a phenylhydrazone, which is...

-I'm sorry?

THEY LAUGH

A phenylhydrazone. That's not something you buy in a shop?

-No, no, no.

-What's a phenylhydrazone?

It's a chemical grouping that absorbs light, so it's coloured.

'And I thought onions were simple.'

Sorry, you've got what in there?

Pyruvic acid...

'OK, I think I'm going to let the good doctor get on with it.

'Meriel adds a reagent to the onions in the test tubes

'and places them in the water bath.

'Is everybody keeping up?

'Time to find out the results.

'Which of our onions has the most flavour?'

You can see there's more in the white one than the red onion.

-Ah, so the white one is the darker one?

-Yeah.

-And the red one, ironically, is the lighter one.

-Yeah.

-OK.

'So the onion with the strongest flavour from our batch is

'the white onion and the stronger the onion,

'the more flavour it's going to add to my tart.'

Meriel, I loved that out there but the tables are turned now.

Now you're in my realm.

What I've actually chosen is a white onion,

I've chosen a banana shallot and I've got some chives in there.

'It's the flavoursome white onions that make it into my first dish,

'along with banana shallots and chopped chives.

'And, by using three different types of onions, I'm hoping for a range

'of savoury flavours in my creamy shallot, onion and chive tart.'

Now I've given you some chives there. Can you do me...

I tell you what, do me a little favour, cut then up, little pieces.

You'll probably have to trim it off and then just cut them

probably about halfway down. All right?

Now, to start with, to make your onion tart you need flour,

to which you're going to add some lard and some butter.

'If you want to make a veggie option, just use butter.

'Mix until you get a good crumb structure.

'Add seasoning...

'..and a little cold water

'until the pastry dough comes together.'

Pop that onto the bench.

Get a little bit of flour.

Just dust it lightly.

Then you just give it a little bit of a knead.

That is enough, just a couple of turns,

turns it together into a lovely bit of pastry.

'Then wrap and place into the fridge for 15 minutes.

'This'll make it easier to roll.'

You can see it's a little bit more elastic,

it's a little bit more forgiving when you roll it out.

'Start by rolling the pastry

'so it's large enough to cover the tin base and the sides.

'The pastry should be rolled out to a minimum of 5mm.'

I reckon that's about there.

I like to roll it around a rolling pin.

Bring over your...

..tart dish and then, basically, just roll it out across the top.

Like so.

Then all you do is basically fit it into your tart case.

Go across the top with your hands.

Release the extra bit of pastry.

Then neaten it all off, all the way around

and there you have a beautifully lined tart base.

'Line the tin with baking parchment and fill with baking beans, firmly

'pushing the beans to the edge to prevent the paper from lifting up.'

That needs to go into the oven for about 20 minutes at 180 fan

and blind bake it.

Once you've baked it, this is how it turns out.

It's beautiful, it's dry, it's nice and neat.

The next stage is to prepare the filling.

'First, I fill my pastry case with the softened onions.

'Then, into the bowl I put eggs, double cream,

'chopped chives, and wholegrain mustard.

'Gently whisk together.

'Then pour over your onions.'

That will make a beautiful onion tart.

And then bake this off for 30 minutes.

This one here has been baked beautifully for 30 minutes.

Just run your palette knife underneath

and then just release it onto the tray.

I promise you that is going to be delicious.

'This scrumptious tart is perfect when served warm

'rather than piping hot.

-You can't eat it now.

-Oh!

-We'll have it a bit later.

-OK. Good.

Continuing today's theme of strong and interesting flavours,

my next guest is an old friend who's going to introduce us

to a traditional Indian dish.

-Hello, Manju.

-Hello, Paul.

-How are you?

-I'm OK, long time no see.

-I know, it's been a while, hasn't it?

-It has.

-Now, I was looking over at this here.

-I'm going to bring this over, this pie.

-Yes, pie.

-It is a pie.

Well, visually, it looks like a pie but this is actually,

would you believe, a biryani.

-That's not a biryani, that's a pie.

-It's not pie.

-It's got a lid on it.

It's got a lid because it's known as a dum pukht pie.

"Dum" means steam

and "pukht" means choking.

The pie lid is made out of dough to choke the steam,

-to cook what's inside it.

-So, that's a traditional biryani in there?

-Biryani is a dish cooked with rice, meat, or vegetables.

-OK.

And the meat or vegetables are cooked separately,

the rice is cooked separately and the two are combined.

-That's a biryani.

-It's a biryani pie?

-No, it's not.

-That's all I'm trying to hear.

That's all I'm trying to hear.

-It's like a pie.

-It is a pie.

Generally, you're not meant to eat the pie crust.

-Yeah.

-It's discarded.

'Manju is going to show me how to make her traditional dish.

'It's the closest thing to a pie in all of India.'

'Manju starts by partially cooking basmati rice.'

So I'm letting that simmer for eight to ten minutes.

This is my little spice tin.

I'm making the garam masala from scratch.

We're going to spice our meat.

'Into a hot pan goes cumin seeds,

'coriander seeds,

'some green cardamoms,

'bay leaves,

'and some cloves.'

-They're beginning to toast...

-Yeah.

..quite nicely.

'Blend the spices into a fine powder.'

-Can you smell it?

-Wow!

'Manju is making a marinade,

'adding her home-made garam masala to natural yoghurt.

'With some root ginger and crushed garlic.'

Now, you can use chicken, or vegetables.

-But, predominantly, biryanis are made with meat, or mutton.

-Yeah.

'Then into the marinade, a dash of lemon juice,

'olive oil, salt, and chopped green chillies'

-You throw in the meat...

-Yeah.

..I use lamb chunks, and then you store this,

in the fridge for about ten to 15 minutes.

-OK.

-Then it ends up like this!

-It does smell incredible.

-Yeah?

'To make the lid, simply mix the flour with water

'You don't need to season as this dough will act as a lid

'for the biryani and won't be eaten.'

What I've done is I've heated some oil up

and I've added the marinating meat into the pan.

SIZZLING

The smell of that, I can't wait to smell that cooking.

I think I've made a pretty good dough. See?

That is impressive, actually.

What I'd like you to do is break it in half.

And I'd like you to make a little sausage out of it.

Not a little one, a large sausage shape.

-A sausage? What for?

-To fit the circumference...

-Ah, got you - your lining.

-Yeah.

OK, I'll do that now.

'Manju adds fried onions to her meat mixture

'before it's time to assemble.

'First, start with the meat.

'Then spread over the partially cooked rice...

'..oven-roasted cashew nuts...

'..some fried onions...

'and repeat.

'Finally, Manju's finishing touch -

'milk infused with saffron and chopped mint.

'Place the sausage-shaped dough around the edge of the pie dish

'then roll out the rest to make a lid.

And then just place it on the top, like so.

-Right, you do all your business, then.

-OK.

-It is like making a pie.

-OK, it's a biryani pie.

-Then stick it on the hob.

-Straight on there?

-Yeah.

'This recipe can be made in any pie dish and finished off in the oven.'

-That's going to take how long now?

-About 20 to 25 minutes on a hob.

OK, 25 minutes,

that'll be cooked and we'll get a chance to eat that later.

-Yeah.

-Can't wait.

'My next recipe is a rich chocolate roulade with a flavour

'I have loved since I was a boy.'

Do you remember when peppermint really packed a punch?

I remember in school,

when someone was sucking on a mint, the teacher used to go mad

and say, "If you're going to bring in sweets,

"bring enough for the rest of the class." And rightfully so.

I want to make a pudding that's full of the best

peppermint flavour possible.

'This is Summerdown Farm, in Hampshire, where resident

'mint expert, Ian Margetts, grows an old British peppermint crop

'called Black Mitcham.'

I absolutely love this stuff.

I've worked with it since we had virtually nothing

and now we've got 100 acres.

And you have to cherish this crop to keep it in the fine order

that it's in, to look after it.

'Today, Ian is getting ready to harvest his crop.'

The oil we're after in the peppermint plant

is actually in the leaf.

And in sunny weather that makes the oil rise to the surface,

so it makes it much easier to distil.

'Ian grows and distils

'the peppermint oil under the watchful eye

'of Sir Michael Colman, whose name you might recognise.

'It was Sir Michael's family who first set up Colman's Mustard

'over 100 years ago.

'Now, he has turned his attention to perfecting peppermint,

'after being inspired by Ian.'

He came back from a trip to America, and in his pocket he had

a bag of sweets that had been made with the quality American oil.

And I tasted it and I suddenly said, "Wow!

"This has got a characteristic

"which reminds me of humbugs when I was a boy,"

and I recognised that that was what peppermint used to be like.

'The sweets Ian brought back were made with American peppermint oil,

'but actually produced using a British peppermint plant

'called Black Mitcham.

'This was popular back in the early 1900s

'and was still here until the late 1940s.

'It's this peppermint that Sir Michael has reintroduced to the UK

'and now grows to produce his own peppermint oil.'

It's got a very lingering flavour in the mouth

and it gives you a lovely cooling sensation.

It's the menthol content,

and menthol is a really wonderful sensation if it's a quality product.

'Ian is responsible for distilling Sir Michael's peppermint

'to get the best possible flavour.'

What I'm doing here now, I'm just adjusting the steam pressure.

I always compare this to bringing vegetables to the boil.

So I switch the steam on,

and I'll bring it up to a certain pressure just so it gets the tub hot.

And then when it's hot, I'll turn it down to simmer,

and that's when we are cooking peppermint

and we'll see peppermint coming out of the condenser.

For me, this is the thrill,

to end up with the peppermint oil in your hand.

That's what the culmination of the whole year's work has been.

'The peppermint oil that is produced is going to be used in sweets

'and teas, and I cannot wait to use it in my next dish.'

-So, Michael, Ian, welcome to my kitchen.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Is this the real peppermint?

We model what we grow today on the old-fashioned, traditional,

quality, pure mint that used to be grown in this country.

This is the real peppermint. This is the real Black Mitcham peppermint.

If you get hold of a leaf there, Paul, and rub it between your

fingers and thumb, you'll smell just how intense that is.

-Oh, wow. Yeah.

-That is something you can't get anywhere else.

It's not like the normal spearmint that everybody knows as

garden mint, which is a totally different smell.

How do you use that peppermint oil yourself?

-I've got my wife trained. She really likes peppermint tea.

-Oh!

That's the big thing we use it for.

I'm going to use this peppermint in a roulade.

'And the combination I'm using is chocolate

'and peppermint in a flourless roulade, using dark chocolate.

'I'm going to use Sir Michael's peppermint oil mixed in cream.

'It not only tastes great, it's going to look pretty good, too.'

Now, to start with, you need to whisk up your eggs.

What I'm looking for is to take this to a stiff peak.

That's pretty much there at the moment.

The thing you do to test it is to hold it above your head.

THEY LAUGH

-My word!

-There you go. That's faith, right there. OK.

Now, what I'm going to do here is, I've got egg yolks,

lots of sugar goes straight in there.

I'm going to add that to the egg yolks.

'Beat together the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale.

'Then add some good quality cocoa powder...

'..before pouring in melted dark chocolate.

'This mix is the base of my roulade.

'Don't worry if it thickens, this is quite normal.

What I'm going to do is add a scoop full of this meringue to

the chocolate mixture to slacken it off a little bit.

My daughter makes a wonderful chocolate mousse.

I'm going to get her to watch what you do.

HE LAUGHS

-Does she use your peppermint oil as well?

-Of course she does!

'Fold in the rest of the meringue, being careful to keep in

'as much air as possible.

'Next, pour the mixture into a lined tin,

'making sure you spread it out evenly,

'tipping the tin up, if you need to.'

So, what you've got there is a beautiful base.

That's your roulade base.

That goes into an oven at 160 fan

for 15 to 20 minutes.

And you'll see it go slightly crispy on the top

and pulling away from the sides.

I'm going to pop that straight in the oven.

What I'm going to do now is prepare the filling for it as well.

'For the buttercream filling I'm whisking together icing sugar

'and butter until light and creamy.

'Then I'm adding about four drops of Sir Michael's

'peppermint oil to some milk, then pouring that in.

This is the way of enabling it

to go in all the buttercream. Oh, the smell!

The smell of peppermint.

'Next, I'm adding some dark chocolate drops.

'Just stir those in.

'Take some baking parchment and give it a good dusting of icing sugar.

'Flip out your cake...

'..and peel off the paper.'

So there we have our roulade base,

onto which I'm going to put the peppermint buttercream.

There's a heady mix going on here between chocolate

and peppermint that you can't smell,

so you're going to have to make it.

'Now spread the buttercream over the cake, making sure you get right to

'the edges and it's nice and even.'

Now I'm going to roll this up and this is the tricky bit.

The way to do it, you can get a palette knife or a knife

and just what we call break its back.

So you make a ridge about half an inch in

and just break it all the way down so it's loose.

Then fold that first bit up and that'll be the inside.

Then, basically, you roll it over...

release it all the way back... You can see it's beginning to crack.

That's absolutely fine. And again, nice and tight.

Try and keep it as tight as you possibly can with the paper.

Look at that!

-The final roll comes over...

-Oh, wow.

Then you release the paper totally

and there you have your basic roulade.

'And I like a final touch of icing sugar over the top.

'My chocolate and peppermint roulade is delicious on its own

'but even better when served with fresh strawberries

'or a raspberry coulis.'

We can't eat at the moment. We'll have to eat is a little bit later.

We look forward to it with anticipation!

LAUGHTER

'Earlier, Manju Malhi showed me her take

'on a traditional baked rice dish,

'a biryani, a kind of pie. Well, in my eyes. But now it's my turn.'

'And I'm taking my inspiration this time from Russia

'and I'm making a coulibiac,

'a pie wrapped in puff pastry and filled with rice,

'baked salmon and soft-boiled eggs.

'And I'm going to give it an extra kick by adding some spices.

'I'm starting by frying some finely chopped onions

'whilst Manju grinds cumin and coriander seeds.

-Here you go. Coarsely ground.

-Lovely.

-Happy?

-That's perfect. I'll throw that straight in.

OK, so I've got the onions in there with the spices.

Mushrooms. The mushrooms are going to release a little bit

of water in there as well.

-And the rice is completely cooked?

-Yes, the rice is completely cooked.

And then I'll mix it with the mushrooms, the onions,

a little bit of zest of lemon.

That's going to go inside there with the mushrooms now.

And then leave that to cool

cos you can't use the hot mixture

going on top of the pastry because the whole point

when you're making a pie, you've got to keep your puff pastry cold.

That's how you get the laminations in there,

that's how you get the steam and that's why it jumps.

'Tip the rice mixture into a bowl.

'Now I'm adding some roughly chopped parsley and dill,

'but you could use coriander or any of your favourite herbs.

'Leave to cool before wrapping in puff pastry.

'I've made mine, but shop-bought will work, too.'

So this is the base of the coulibiac.

I'm just going to stretch it slightly.

'Place the cool rice mixture in the middle of the pastry.'

Make it nice and neat

so you've got a channel running right down the middle.

The next thing you're going to add to this dish is the salmon.

Obviously cooked,

and you want to break the pieces off

and lay them

neatly across the top.

Try not to get any down the side.

I want to try and build up some layers in this.

'Finally, top with sliced boiled eggs.'

And over here I've got just basically a beaten egg.

This is going to be the sealant for the top.

So brush it all round the edge,

get your lid...

..pop that onto the top...

..and then push it right the way down onto the tray.

Be quite firm with it.

It's like a blanket, really.

I'm going to trim this down a little bit,

neaten it up.

This one I'm going to pop in the fridge just to chill it down

and it'll be ready to go in the oven.

However...I have one in the oven, ready just for you.

Thank you. All for me.

-Oh, wow.

-Look at that.

-Wow.

There you have it. Look how flaky it is.

It's even flaking off at we speak.

That is my version of a baked rice dish, the coulibiac.

'My coulibiac is best served

'with roasted onions, carrots and parsnips,

'or simply as a supper on its own, with a sour cream dill sauce.'

'For me, today has been all about flavours, starting with

'my shallot, chive and onion tart, with the help of Dr Meriel Jones.

The tart's awesome. It's sweet with a bit of savoury in there.

'And we brought back an old-fashioned flavour

'in my chocolate and peppermint roulade,

'thanks to the hard work of Sir Michael Colman and Ian Margetts.

-It's quite light, actually.

-It is.

In fact, the thing that lightens it up is your peppermint oil.

It just lifts it up. It's lovely.

'And of course Manju's biryani with that lid,

'full of Indian spices, which I can't wait to try.

I do like this biryani, fantastic flavours.

'Finally, my coulibiac,

'salmon and egg in a pie. It's going to be delicious.'

Do you like the coulibiac?

I think it's beautiful.

I think the onion tart goes really well with the biryani, actually.

-LAUGHTER MERIEL:

-It's great!

-Different cultures...

-It does go well together.

This is what it's all about, a groaning table, great food

and great company.

Join me again next time on Pies And Puds.

Does anyone want some more roulade?