Episode 13 Rachel Allen: Home Cooking

Over this series, I've been lucky enough to visit the homes

of some of the most successful, creative and inspiring chefs

cooking in the UK today, to share their favourite family dishes.

They showed me some great tips for perfect home-cooked food.

Whichever flavour of spice you want to dominate through the dish,

you always add that first to the oil.

-Throw the Scotch Bonnet in whole.

-This is interesting.

So we can remove it to take the heat out when we want.

I love French olive oil. It hasn't got that fieriness

which Greek olive oil's got.

Its a great introduction for children as well.

Morston Hall in Norfolk has been owned and run by chef,

Galton Blackiston, since 1991 when he and his wife, Tracy, bought and restored the property.

It was awarded a Michelin star in 1998 and put Norfolk firmly on the foodie map.

Galton is deeply passionate about Norfolk produce and using local suppliers,

but is the food he serves at home as fancy as in the restaurant?

-I popped around to his house to investigate.

-How are you?

-I'm very well, thank you.

-Brilliant. Come into my office.

-Thank you.

-Now come and meet Tracy, my wife.

-Hi.

-Tracy, Hi.

-Good to see you.

-Lovely to see you too.

-Thank you, nice to see you.

-And Harry.

-Hi, Harry.

Now there is another one, Sam, but he's playing cricket at the moment.

-What are you going to be cooking?

-I'm going to do a really good toad in the hole.

It's something that I remember as a kid.

And it's all about the batter.

-Mm-mm.

-So you need really good eggs and, of course, good quality sausages.

And I just happen to have the best eggs...

because we have our own chickens, so if you follow me, we'll go out there and go and get some eggs.

Now then, I hope they've laid some eggs.

Oh, they're fantastic. Yeah!

-How many?

-I've got three.

-You've got three.

You've got a good mixture there.

Right. For a really, really good toad in the hole, we need to make a batter,

so I need about 250 grams, 8 ounces of plain flour.

OK. Do you make toad in the hole quite often at home?

It's one of my favourites so I suppose the rest of the family

are burdened with toad in the hole probably once a week.

-Oh, really, as often as that?

-Yeah, I really like it, so...

So what we have here is a million miles away from what we have down at Morston Hall.

-The food's completely different.

-I want simple stuff here.

So you've got flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg, sugar.

-Ah-ha.

-And can you crack in your three eggs there, Rachel?

-Yeah.

Some milk actually, Rachel, in that fridge.

-OK.

-Look, ah... This, the colour of this is great.

I'm going to put that in the fridge.

Now, these are really good sausages.

This is a pork and apple one, so that will appeal to the youngest, Sam.

-Yum.

-And you.

And these are just the normal pork sausages. Can you scrape these potatoes...

I think I can.

They're really good local potatoes.

-These are gorgeous.

-They just need scraping.

-OK.

-I'll get you a little knife.

And Harry, what would you be like with peeling some carrots?

I'll give you a peeler. There.

And these.

-And just...

-Harry, do you think you'd like to be a chef?

-Erm, I would like to if I don't get a job in sport.

-OK.

-I enjoy it.

-Yeah.

So, I'm just putting some dripping into this baking tray.

-Do you always use dripping?

-Yeah, dripping or a little bit of duck fat.

The only reason I do that is because we've always got it because of work.

And what I do with this, is just pop it into the top of the oven,

the hot oven, get it really, really hot, and almost by the time you guys

have done your vegetables, that'll be plenty hot enough for us to

put the sausages in, and then add the batter.

Oh, it's going to be lovely.

Harry, look at your beautiful... look at the perfect pile of carrots.

-It's in the genes.

-This is a Michelin-starred chef in the making.

-Just the perfect amount of green left on top.

-Oh, it's about the only time he ever listens to me.

Harry, do you like vegetables? Are you a good eater?

Erm, yeah, it depends what the vegetables are, bit fussy on the old tomatoes and...

mushroom and things like that.

And, Galton, do you think your boys are more adventurous with food because you're a chef?

Yes, they probably are. The nature of the beast is the fact that I quite often bring

stuff back from work and so they get to try all sorts of different things.

Sam in particular is a really good vegetable eater.

He really loves vegetables.

Galton, what's your secret for the perfect toad in the hole?

I don't know if there is a secret but the way I like to do it

is just to make sure my fat is hot, so that when the sausages go in, that they sizzle straight away.

And then also I think it is important that you do get your batter into the hot fat.

And make sure your oven is high.

And then don't really be tempted to look for the first 20 minutes so it gives it a chance to really rise.

And I would say that will take at least 40 minutes.

Put the asparagus into steam.

-Are you hungry, Sam?

-Ah, here we go.

-Here we are.

-Gravy. Very important.

-Oh! Gravy with it.

-Gravy and...

-Oh, yum! I'm so excited about this.

-Thank you!

-Mum, please may I start, Mummy?

-Yes, you can start.

-H-hey! Mmmm!

This is delicious.

The sausages are delicious, aren't they, Galton?

I like a sausage that isn't too messed about with.

-Mm. Eaten all your carrots and asparagus?

-Yeah.

-Mm!

-Is there any more asparagus?

Thank you so much. And thanks for inviting me. This has been really lovely.

-And it's all right that, isn't it?

-I'm going to make this toad in the hole when I go home.

Since first opening its doors in 2001,

-The Cinnamon Club has been redefining expectations of Indian cooking.

-Service!

The man taking curry to new culinary heights is chef Vivek Singh,

whose dishes fuse Indian flavours with high-end Western cuisine.

New order, one gold kebab, one rabbit, one bread selection for starters.

Vivek puts the success of The Cinnamon Club down to the fact

that he sources all his spices direct from Jaipur.

I wanted to know whether his home-cooked food enjoyed that same attention to detail. Hi, Vivek.

How are you? Lovely to see you.

Very, very good. This is Archana, my wife.

-Hello! Lovely to meet you.

-Maya. And Eshaan.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Hi, Eshaan and how are you?

-I'm fine, thank you.

-Shall we go in?

-OK.

-Come on.

-Thank you.

-Right.

-OK.

Are you ready to cook?

-Yes, what are we cooking?

-Great.

-Fish?

-Got a spice-roasted sea bream and we'll do a really easy pilau rice,

but we'll do it in the microwave, really so quick.

-OK.

-My wife doesn't eat any meat and she used to be a vegetarian until very recently.

-She's only just started eating fish which is fantastic.

-Yes.

-Makes life easier for everybody.

-I'm all for that.

So, we just score the fish very, very lightly, not too deep.

What I'm putting on the fish is red chilli powder, turmeric,

-some salt and a ginger-garlic paste.

-So ginger, garlic and...

Yeah, just-just peel a bit of garlic and peel a bit of ginger.

And so we add a little bit of the ginger and garlic paste.

So the spices go on the outside, none on the inside?

Now we're going to smear with a little bit of oil and lemon juice

and, leave it for 10 or 15 minutes.

-Should I rub it in?

-Yeah, please, please do...

-OK.

-Yeah, just rub it in, both sides of the fish.

-OK.

While you do that, I'm going to make the second marinade with yoghurt.

Just some plain, simple Greek yoghurt.

-Yeah.

-A little bit more red chilli powder, little bit more turmeric.

And erm...

-Oh, and nigella seeds?

-Yeah, nigella seeds.

I think they work brilliantly with fish.

And then, finally, last bit of the ginger and garlic paste that we just made,

so fresh ginger and garlic paste.

Squeeze of lemon. So, I'm going to freshly chop some coriander.

It doesn't have to be fine or anything.

Again, it's quite sort of off the cuff.

Is that how you cook all the time, off the cuff, just adding in?

Oh, yes, yes, I mean, it's all about...

-The feel for it.

-The feel for it, exactly.

-I am now going to add chickpea flour into this.

-Why?

-The yoghurt, as a marinade, is going to stick much better onto the fish.

-Oh, that's really interesting.

-It thickens it.

-Vivek, what sparked your interest in food?

Oh, I remember going to weddings when we were growing up

in Bengal, and the spread, it used to be amazing.

Such lovely food. Loads of different dishes and people kind of egging you on to eat more.

I have such fond memories of those sort of weddings. My love for good food started from there.

Bengali weddings.

The fish is in the oven. It's going to cook for 20 minutes or so.

-OK.

-We'll get on with the rice.

-Do you always microwave your rice?

-Oh, yes.

When we started trying it out I realised it actually can be very simple.

Especially because you don't have to do anything.

That's some clarified butter or ghee I've got.

You notice I'm just sort of using cardamom, cloves, a little bit of mace, some cinnamon, bay leaf.

-Smells fantastic already.

-Yeah. And also a little bit of cumin.

And some salt.

Fair bit of salt, yeah.

-Right.

-And the onions.

Oh, the smell is amazing. Straight into the rice.

Straight into the rice.

Oh, wow! This must be incredible flavour.

-There we've got...

-And some whole mint.

-Yeah just some fresh mint.

-Oh.

-Into the whole thing.

So that's done then. That'll go to the microwave for about 15 minutes.

This is so simple. So while the fish is cooking for 20 minutes, it takes 5 minutes to prepare the rice...

That's in there for 15 minutes.

It's got to be simple, so we can spend time with the kids.

Oh, it looks great!

Oh, it's lovely out here.

Oh, that looks gorgeous.

Mmm! Great food, isn't it? Yummy.

So, Archana, what kind of food do you find yourself cooking for the children?

Mixture of different cuisines actually.

We do cook Indian food as well, so really simple curry with some lentil soup and rice.

That's a favourite with kids. And they are also very much into pasta.

Sometimes, I get lazy and pizza as well, ready-made.

So, I work full time so I don't have a lot of time so whatever is easy and very quick-fix things.

-So, Eshaan, would you like to be a chef?

-Yes.

-Definitely, a chef?

-Yes.

Oh, my goodness! This is so delicious, really, really delicious.

-Thanks for coming along.

-And thank you so much for inviting me in.

Coming up, we get exclusive inside access to the homes of some of Britain's top chefs.

-Oh, the smells are great!

-Mm, and that smells like Asia, right?

This is just great comfort food, isn't it.

Comfort food is the word.

The pear with the chicken is just amazing.

And the okra, well, I've been converted.

Adam Byatt has been cooking his way to the top since school.

Trained by some of London's finest chefs, Adam is already on to his third gastronomic venture,

and he's only 34.

One dory, one salmon, one beef pie to finish.

Trinity in Clapham, South London, serves its discerning locals with seasonal, modern European cuisine,

and last year won the AA's London Restaurant Of The Year.

-But as Dad to two young children, can Adam be as adventurous with his menu at home?

-This is Jack.

-Hello!

-How are you?

-I'm very well, thank you very much.

-Hi, Rosie.

-Come in.

-Thank you.

Hey, I have to run to keep up with you.

So, these are your vegetables growing, Jack?

So this is Jack's vegetable plot.

-These are peas.

-Yeah.

All different lettuces. Tomato.

-Yeah.

-And that's potatoes.

Beetroot. Chard.

-Chard, great.

-And...

-Borlotti beans.

-Borlotti beans. Oh, wow!

What we're going to cook today is a really simple dish of steamed fish with a sort of Asian dressing,

some lovely vegetables underneath to sort of steam at the same time.

It's one-pot cooking, just stick it all the steamer. Steam it for 8 minutes.

Stick it in the middle of the table, few shellfish, razor clams and we all tuck in.

It's just about bringing home whatever's left at the restaurant,

cooking it up, quick and simple as possible, getting little tiny portions for the kids to tuck into.

They feel more confident that way and feeling that we're getting a bit of ownership of the dish

and tasting what they like and keeping it quite simple.

Razor clams we've got to cook quick before they slide out of the shell.

Pepper, I like. Ginger.

If you smell it, I think it smells like it tastes. That is samphire.

You see that little bit there?

-Yeah.

-That is actually where it's really salty.

This is the biggest thing in the bowl, which is lovely fennel.

You normally see like here,

which are actually edible.

I think I'd better watch out. I think Jack's going to have his own cookery programme in a few months!

-Jack, do you want to pop the peas for me?

-OK.

-Yeah, you do the peas.

-Great.

-Rachel'll do that.

-I'll do the samphire.

-You do the samphire.

-Do you do a lot of cooking at home?

-I do very little cooking at home.

-Right.

I really have to ask how to turn the oven on.

But if I do it's because there's stuff left over or I've got a few days off in a row

and I want to cook a nice barbecue.

-That's great.

-Rachel, look.

Oh, it's so beautiful, isn't it?

Perfect peas in the pod.

OK, Jack, so what I want to do is marinade all this fish together,

just to get a little bit of soy and sesame and sweetness into it. Do you want to help me Jack?

Can you pour some soy sauce into the bowl?

A bit of sesame oil, this is quite strong.

Little bit of fish sauce. Have a smell look...Pooh!

Pfworr! That's a bit strong, that, fella, isn't it, eh?

-Going to squeeze a little bit of honey in there?

-Yeah!

-Good boy.

-Little bit of plum sauce in there.

-Look, look.

-Give that a little whisk.

-OK.

-Adam, were you this interested in food when you were younger?

-No, I really wasn't.

Food was important at home. Mum was a great cook and she cooked a lot of stuff, baking and bread.

So, yeah, I loved it and I...

-Yeah.

-I've always wanted to be with food and enjoyed it but not to that degree, no.

-Not to this degree!

-Do you want to put the fish in, Jack?

-Oh, that smells...amazing.

-Mm. I need to put...

-Would you like some...

-I'm going to put a bit of ginger in.

Finely grated? So what happens next, Adam?

Really simple. Getting it all in the steamer.

Now look at the colours.

-Yeah, and all we're going to do now is just put our lovely pieces of fish on top.

-Oh, I see.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, put them in mate.

-That's it.

-Like that?

Put them all in. We'll save all that marinade and we'll use that as a dipping sauce after.

-Lovely.

-I reckon that's probably enough, guys.

We need to get a few razor clams in there.

-Yes!

-Can you hand me another one? So put that on top.

-Bit of fennel underneath.

-And how long will all this take to cook?

-8 minutes.

-Fennel on the bottom.

-It takes a bit longer.

-The colours are just incredible.

-We get everything dropping onto it

-and that's it. We'll save that bowl of juice for dipping after and away we go.

-OK!

Lid on and we'll go steam it.

All cooked. There we go. Look!

There's one over there. One down there.

But this looks gorgeous. Mmm!

Try one.

So, Victoria, your children seem pretty adventurous with food.

-Yes.

-Jack, definitely!

Yeah, Jack particularly, he eats oysters, snails, he's very happy to eat anything.

Rosie, Rosie's quite good, she's eating almost anything at the moment.

What her brother eats, so hopefully, she'll be the same.

Yeah, it's fantastic they'll eat so much. This is delicious. Jack, are you enjoying this?

-Really nice.

-Mm-mm. Which bits are your favourite?

I haven't got a favourite.

-You don't have a favourite, you like it all?

-All of it.

-Yeah.

-Thank you so much. This has been really, really lovely.

-It's a pleasure. I've enjoyed it.

-And Jack, it's been good experience. Thank you.

Gennaro Contaldo is full of passion for his native Italian cuisine.

He started working in local restaurants when he was just eight years old

and has since taught Jamie Oliver almost everything he knows about Italian cooking.

But what does Gennaro cook at home for his partner Liz and their twin daughters, Chloe and Olivia?

I dropped by to see the maestro at work in the Italian kitchen he has built in his London garden.

-Gennaro, this is amazing!

-I know, and I'm sure you liked it.

It's like a film set.

Well, it's not film set, this is my kitchen when I do work, where my children enjoy to stay. And my God...

-Incredible!

-What do you think?

-Come on.

-It's amazing. It is amazing.

-Right, we're going to make some pizza now.

-Fantastic!

-Fantastic flour, double zero flour which is good.

-Double zero flour.

You need double zero flour.

Double zero got the strongness, you know...

The lift, so we get some salt.

Each kilogram of flour, 20 grams of salt.

Then you mix a little bit. Now you...

-The smell of a fire is so good, isn't it.

-Bless you, bless you!

-Ah!

Some water inside. And then we going to get our hands all dirty now...

Go on, get your hands inside.

So do you make pizza a lot at home?

-The girls love a pizza.

-Oh! Lovely.

With this fire wood oven, how can I not make pizza, but also I make quite a few roasts as well.

-Do you roast meat in it and fish?

-Oh, yes!

-Oh!

-Fish, meat, everything.

-Bread?

-The bread there.

-I made them yesterday.

-Oh, wow!

-OK, now can you give me some of the yeast inside?

-Yes.

We've got to put some of the yeast inside. Let's mix it.

What kind of food did you grow up with?

Because I was born by the sea, fish or meat, all kinds of meat, chicken,

rabbit, you know, hunting time and there was game.

Almost everything.

Vegetable, vegetable most of everywhere. Fantastic, it was.

OK, Rachel, you have to do this.

Cut it a bit. OK.

Little one not too big.

And you fold it in, you do this, OK?

You make into a little ball, OK?

That's good. There's another one.

Now, we going to leave resting for couple hours.

-If you could take this one out.

-OK.

-Take this one.

-Those one is about...

-Oh, lovely.

..Two hours. It's grown up lovely.

-Mmm, lovely.

-And they are ready to make a nice pizza. A Margherita.

Let me show you. Top here, press it.

-Ah-ha.

-Turn the other side, you press it and you do this.

Ooh, it looks lovely and relaxed doesn't it.

It is, it's relax. Do this, just a little notch on the side.

It's done, look, it's all here.

Now I put some little olive oil on it.

-Then nice bit of tomato.

-Mmm, gorgeous.

-Little salt, nice mozzarella.

-Mmm!

-Why don't you try? This has come from Italy, this mozzarella.

-Mmm.

Parmesans.

Also because it's white and red, add the green of the basil.

-The Italian flag.

-It's the Italian flag.

Can imagine it ever tomato without basil is impossible.

-It's a match made in heaven, isn't it, in heaven.

-Can you smell it?

Yes, I can and I am so excited about this, Gennaro, I can't tell you.

I just put them on top, look how easy. And then I go inside the oven.

In wood fire oven because it's quite hot, they take about 3 minutes.

-Look, it's already started cook.

-Mm.

You pick 'em up and you just moving. Lift them up just a little bit.

-OK.

-Ohhhh my goodness me!

-Look. At. That!

-Shall we try?

-Yeah, I'd love to.

My God, she's good.

You got it!

Fantastic, it's there.

-Working up an appetite.

-Yes! Rachel, oh, my goodness me.

-Oh, little bit puffy.

-No, it's actually it's nice one.

Lets do a pizza, my girls like it. It's a salad pizza. Wild rocket.

-This is called Castelfranco.

-OK.

Lemons from Amalfi.

Oh, my gosh! Smell this lemon.

-Oh, that's amazing.

-Squeeze him inside.

Ah, it goes on before it goes in the oven.

-Yeah!

-Oh, how amazing.

Here, I make another one.

-Oh, yum!

-Just in case.

-Just in case we don't have enough.

Pizza Margherita! Who's for pizza Margherita?

-Me!

-Oh, my God. Pizza Margherita!

-Me!

-Now, pizza with a salad.

-Yes!

Say yes! All the Amalfi lemons on it.

Do you know what?

I going to give you big pieces.

-Oh! Oh, oh, oh!

-It's a nice one.

Mmm!

Oh, the pizza with the leaves and all the lemon juice, mmm! Oh, wow!

-So Liz, if Gennaro's the pizza chef in this house, what do you cook?

-I make pizza too.

Do you make pizzas too? Gennaro lets you?

-He does, but not in that oven.

-Oh!

I make pizzas in the normal oven.

-Did you enjoy then?

-This has been absolutely fantastic.

-Cheers, Chloe.

-Cheers! Salute!

-Buon appetito!

-Salute!

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