14/01/2018 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites

Good morning, we've got a jam-packed show for you today

that's bound to beat those January blues.

So finish off your breakfast, make yourself comfy on the couch,

and settle in for another serving of Saturday Kitchen Best Bites.

Welcome to the show.

Now, take it from me, you are not going to want

to go anywhere for the next hour and a half, as we've got dishes

from all over the world to brighten up your winter's morning.

Coming up...

King of the one liners, Tim Vine is in the studio

as he enjoys a potato and anchovy tart with basil oil.

Rachel Allen is here with a tasty American classic, baked Alaska.

She makes a chocolate sponge base

before piling on vanilla ice cream,

French meringue and hot chocolate sauce.

And then it's over to Paul Rankin, who is spicing up chicken livers.

He pan fries the liver in butter and ginger,

before making a sauce of sherry, sugar,

soy sauce, cream and coriander, served with a crispy noodle cake.

And it is Australia versus New Zealand as Lyndey Milan

takes on Hamish Brown

in the Saturday Kitchen Omelette Challenge.

James Tanner is here with a smoking hot fish dish.

He pan-fries smoked haddock before making a leek risotto

and serving with a poached egg and mustard foam.

And finally, Emma Willis is here

to face her food heaven or her food hell.

Will she get her food heaven,

herb crusted rack of lamb with dauphinoise potatoes

and spinach and basil timbale, or her food hell,

honey confit duck legs with Puy lentils?

You're going to have to stay tuned until the end of the show

to see what she got.

But before all that, a very young looking Daniel Galmiche is here

with a chicken and truffle treat.

What are we cooking? I mean, you mentioned the truffle.

It is going to go under the skin, chicken leg...

What is the dish called?

..organic. It is called roasted breast of chicken with truffle.

-Yeah.

-Sauteed new potatoes...

-Yeah.

..with spring onion and de glace with a bit of...

-Very, very classically French, this.

-Very classic.

I'm going to get off and do the potatoes first.

Do the potatoes for me, the lardons, and I'm going to do the chicken.

Now, running through the ingredients,

-we've got some chervil, we've got baby leeks...

-The baby leeks.

-Yeah.

New potatoes. Truffle. That is the small juice of the truffle.

I had the truffle in the freezer and kept it like this,

-because it keeps very well.

-OK.

And I collected that, which will be fantastic.

A bit of chicken stock that we've got in there.

And a bit of chicken stock.

-Pancetta.

-A bit of pancetta.

-Lovely, right, fire away.

-So what are we doing first?

-Well, I'm going to do the chicken first.

Now, there's been a lot of talk about chicken

-in the press recently.

-Yes, that is correct, yes.

One of the most famous sort of French chicken

-is the poulet de Bresse.

-The poulet de Bresse.

It is regarded as what? The king of...

The king, yeah, it's been voted for years and years

the king of chicken. Yes.

-And it is the big, white, sort of...

-It is the big, white one, yes.

-That's right.

-A big, white one.

-Beautiful flesh.

Really good quality chicken, yes, fantastic,

very popular in France, obviously.

-But over here, a lot of chefs...

-A nice British one.

-Yes. Organic farm. Organic one.

-So what are we doing here then?

So we do a truffle, now, I'm going to put it under the skin.

Right, tell us a little bit about this truffle, then.

-Frenchmen and truffle...

-That is a black Perigord truffle.

-Yes.

So Perigord, ie, Perigord in the South of France near Gascony.

-This is just half of one?

-Yeah, half one.

So imagine, it's very pungent, very strong,

but very delicate at the same time. Gorgeous.

And how much for one of those?

This one was 75g at £850 a kilo, which means 67 quid a truffle.

-£67 just for that bit?

-Just for that.

So, you know, but you don't need to buy those ones.

But you compare that with a white truffle, which is even rarer,

and much stronger in flavour...

I bought a white truffle last year, the price was

£2,700 per kilo.

So if you're looking for something like that,

that would probably be, what? Maybe £300 for one that size?

-For a white truffle?

-Yeah, yeah, it would be. Yeah.

The biggest one has actually just been sold.

Well, the biggest one recently has been sold for £165,000.

-That was a white one.

-That's incredible. Yeah, I know.

A big white truffle from Alba, wasn't it?

But Perigord is the most famous region.

It is one of the most famous regions,

but I come from the east of France, near Burgundy,

we do have truffles, as well.

And instead of using pigs, which they used to do traditionally

to go hunting, they use dogs now.

They use the dog because the pig was eating the truffle.

HE LAUGHS

Lucky pig.

So we are going to put some oil in a pan. There.

So you have just basically

taken the slices of truffle underneath the skin.

That's right, yeah.

-OK.

-That's the one, yeah.

So I'm going to just seal it.

Pan-fry it a little bit. But light colour.

I don't want the skin to burn.

I want to still see the truffle,

and at the same time, the skin will retract

a bit less than if the pan was boiling.

Yeah.

OK, skin first.

I have blanched, rather, just blanched the sliced potatoes there.

Yeah.

-I'm going to blanch the...

-We are going to blanch the leek.

Blanching the bacon as well,

blanching the pancetta is quite important as well.

The reason behind that too,

it's because sometimes it can be very salty.

So to remove some of the salt out

-and, obviously, be easier for me to roast them.

-Right.

-What's next?

-Now we are cooking that. It's not a complicated dish.

But it is really nice,

very easy to do, very fresh,

and it's of season because of the truffle.

But, I mean, you can buy truffles,

although they are in season now, you can buy truffles in the oil.

A small jar, yes.

The small ones, which are more like this sort of stuff.

-Like this one, yeah.

-Which is about £8 to £10.

So that's all the colour I need there.

A little bit of truffle oil, which is really nice,

you could actually put a little bit of truffle oil with it as well.

-Yes, we can.

-It's quite strong.

-But, you know, in France, as well, you keep them in rice.

-Yeah.

-You put a small kitchen towel, wrap the...

-This is fresh truffle, yeah?

Yeah, the fresh one.

Put in a jar with some rice

and the rice takes all the flavour of the truffle.

They use that for the truffle,

they put eggs on the top because the eggshells are porous.

You can make truffle scrambled eggs

by actually not putting any truffle in there at all.

-That's correct, yes.

-Get away with...

-Put that in the oven.

-There you go.

-Which one?

-The left-hand side, probably that one.

-OK, we've got another one in.

-How long would you cook that for?

About ten minutes, it's going to be,

leave it in there, ten, 12 minutes max.

We are going to blanch that one as well.

-Right, well, I'll...

-You've done that.

Probably put that one on that one there.

-That's your...

-Bacon.

Bacon going in there as well.

I love, actually, bacon, potato and leek, and with the truffle,

I'm going to do a small Julienne, again, some more truffle.

-Lovely.

-And I am going to...

-I'll take this piece of chicken out.

Let it rest, there.

Drain off the fat,

cos you are going to use this for your sauce, aren't you?

That's right, yeah.

-The truffle. I know, it absolutely smells delicious.

-Isn't it gorgeous?

-I am going to put a little bit of chicken stock in here.

-Yeah.

So tell us a little bit about the Clermont Club,

-because it is a private members club.

-It is a private members club.

It's a beautiful building, it's in Berkeley Square. And...

..when I took it, I knew then it was a private club,

so therefore you can't get the ratings like I'm used to

and I like the challenge of the ratings.

Because you mentioned the ratings, Michelin star,

nearly every restaurant you've worked in,

-you've gained a Michelin star.

-That's correct, yeah.

It's going to be quite difficult,

cos the Michelin don't really rate private clubs, do they?

No, they don't.

But I don't say that it will not be open to the public one day.

Right, OK.

Which...

The Clermont Club was where Lord Lucan was

before he went missing, wasn't it?

It's a different challenge and I put my name to the restaurant,

and so it's other things that are going on.

We are refurbishing the kitchen, we are doing really...

-So just in case we decide to open...

-OK.

-..to the public.

So, anyway, what have you got in here, then?

De glace with a little bit of the chicken.

I put the juice of the truffle and a bit of butter.

This creates an instant sauce, doesn't it, really?

An instant sauce, yeah. Put a little bit of truffle.

A little bit of truffle. That's 20 quid just gone in there.

It is just 20 quid gone in there.

A little bit of this there.

-So where do you want the leeks?

-Leeks? Back on here as well.

-This one?

-Yeah.

-And...

-It's a great combination, this, isn't it?

I love it. It's really fantastic, yes.

A little bit of chive, I am going to put in the jus, there.

-Chervil.

-Chervil, excuse me, it's correct, yes.

-There we go, ready when you are.

-And as soon as that is ready...

Do you want the truffle in there as well?

I am going to... Again, some more truffle.

-Very rich dish, but...

-Another 20 quid.

-Another 20 quid, yes.

I am a Yorkshireman, so there is about three quid just on this knife,

so I'm going to pick all that lot up.

-I feel I should be licking the board, but go on, then.

-OK?

-There you go, right. Serve it up.

-So serve it up.

-A big spoon. Thank you.

-There you go.

-Lovely.

-Looks fantastic.

-Just this combination of potatoes...

-The flavour is tremendous. I love it.

-Yeah. It's great.

And it helps so much when you put on £60 worth of truffle.

Oh, a huge difference. Completely.

-You don't need to be extravagant, but it's just so wonderful.

-OK.

-Chicken.

-Chicken.

-Yes. The flavour should be tremendous too.

Look at that. Look at the truffle there.

-Over the top.

-Over the top.

It is a very simple dish.

There you have it, there is a hot pan there.

-Yeah, I know, I just burnt myself already.

-There you go.

Sauce over the top.

Looks and smells absolutely spectacular.

Very pungent, isn't it?

So, Daniel, remind us what that dish is again?

Roasted breast of organic chicken with a black Perigord truffle,

sauteed potatoes with bacon...

..spring onion and truffle.

About 80 quid.

And that is why that truffle is going in my pocket.

THEY LAUGH

-There you go, right.

-Come on over here, Daniel.

This is where you get to dive in.

I don't know about you, but truffle for breakfast,

never really had that before. Tell us what you think.

-Right.

-Could smell it first, huh?

-Smell it.

-You get the whole...

The flavour.

Most people think of truffles, they think of either truffle oil,

-which is very, very strong and pungent.

-I think it is too strong.

-Black truffles are not as strong.

-Not that strong.

-I'm going to avoid the bacon lardon, if I may.

-OK.

-That's...

-You can do without it.

-That is fatty pork, isn't it, really?

Tell us what you think.

-Yes, but it is roasted, it's not any more...

-Good?

-Mm.

Yeah, no, that's lovely.

You'd need to learn to get a bigger spoonful.

It's not coming back.

But other than that, other than chicken,

you could do it with some other things, probably fish? Maybe?

You could do it with a nice piece of fish,

even with truffle, it works well?

Well, I haven't tried, actually, unless you do a salad,

like you said, with a drop of truffle oil.

Maybe something that can go with it.

-That is fantastic.

-Mm. Really good.

It smells wonderful.

It's supposed to, it's about 60 quid's worth on there.

Daniel Galmiche there, with a great dish for those special occasions.

Coming up, James makes comedian Tim Vine a potato and anchovy tart,

but first we join Rick Stein on his travels around Thailand

as he comes across a seriously spicy soup.

I caught the train to go south heading for Phuket,

that all-too-familiar holiday destination for so many people.

This is my stop at the terminus at Surat Thani.

I was met here by Toto, my new interpreter.

-Hi.

-Toto.

-Good morning, Rick, good morning.

I mentioned Thailand's most famous dish, the hot soup, Tom Yum Goong.

And Toto took me to see how it was really made.

So, Toto's friends Pam and Song Ji

start by preparing the mushrooms

and making coconut milk by adding water to freshly grated coconut,

and squeezing it.

This soup is notoriously hot,

and I'm a little bit concerned about the number of chillies going in.

-It's about 25.

-25?!

-Yes.

That's going to be terribly hot.

For Thai people, this is simple.

Wow.

Next, they chop up some galangal,

so fresh and fragrant, lemongrass of course, and quite a few limes.

And this gets put into a stock made with water and coconut milk.

She's just putting some sugar in now. Now for some salt.

Chopped up spring onions, coriander leaves and all those chillies.

By the way, "tom" means to boil and "goong" means prawns.

Next, lime juice and then the prawns.

The thing that really is impressing me

is how much of everything is in there. And you get these...

Back in the UK, you get these recipes and it says, like, you know,

one lime, 4oz, sorry, should be in grams,

whatever it is, 100g of mushrooms, and this is just bang, bang, bang,

and that is why, when you taste it,

it's got such a great, deep flavour.

What you saw going in a few moments ago was Nam Prik Pao,

A roasted chilli paste, and not for the faint-hearted.

It gives the dish three things, its heat, depth of flavour and colour.

Before serving, the ladies complete the soup

by adding more of the fresh ingredients

like tomatoes, coriander, spring onions,

kaffir lime leaves and, of course, lime juice.

A quick taste determines the need for a little more fish sauce.

I am now beginning to understand why Tom Yum Goong

is so highly regarded as an icon of Thai cuisine.

Finally, to give the soup an extra touch of luxury,

the first pressing of the coconut milk is added.

I couldn't have hoped to taste this soup anywhere better

than with this family of farmers,

where growing most of the essential ingredients

plays a large part in their livelihoods.

Oh, it's good, it's really good.

-Absolutely.

-Very good?

-Very good. Very good.

After that fabulous lunch,

it was time to drive over the Pak Prah Straits

to the island of Phuket.

I noticed this place from the bridge as we drove across to the island.

I asked the driver to double-back so I could have a good look at it.

Toto told me that Thai people who live in Bangkok

and go on holiday here load up their cars just before leaving

with dried fish, because it's so good.

Maybe I could interest you in that?

That is actually a fillet of fish,

thinly sliced from really quite a big sort of grouper-type fish.

And it is salted and actually sugared and dried.

And they deep-fry that. In fact, they deep-fry everything.

Consider these.

Look at those. Tiny little fish. They deep-fry those.

And serve them up with a green mango salad with chilli, lemongrass...

fish sauce and lime juice. Lovely. Everybody would like that.

Lovely crispy fish, contrast of textures.

I mean, once you have tried a few of these things,

and you've got used to them, it's a bit like pickles, I suppose.

They are sort of quite sort of piquant,

and you actually look for them

with quite a lot of pleasure.

So, back in Padstow, I managed to get hold of some dried fish

from a local Asian deli

to make the dish I was talking about outside that stall.

It's a salad of shredded green mango

and dried anchovies with deep-fried garlic.

They only need to be flash-fried for about 20 seconds,

crush them and put them aside. And now for the green mango.

This may be a bit more tricky to find,

but I hope that buyers for supermarkets may be watching

and taking note that this makes an excellent

and delicious salad vegetable.

And we are missing a trick by not having it more widely available.

Now, for thin slices of roasted belly pork,

which I have already cooled down, it is wonderfully fatty

and sweet and makes a salad much more substantial.

Next, thinly-sliced shallots, crushed dried anchovies from before,

slices of deep-fried garlic and some chopped peanuts.

This is called lesser galangal,

or krachai as it's known in Thailand.

It is becoming easier to get it in Chinese supermarkets.

Thinly slice and add those, and now for some basil.

Try and get Thai holy basil if you can.

The difference between this and the basil

we have at home is that Thai basil has a clove-like fragrance, I think.

It's a simple combination of fish sauce,

which helps to accentuate the flavour of the dried anchovies,

and lots of lime juice

to cut through the fat from the belly pork,

and deep-fried garlic.

Now, we are nearly there.

A thinly-sliced red chilli,

and this will be the only kick of spice in the whole dish.

And a generous teaspoon of palm sugar.

I can't wait to taste this.

Who would have thought you could make something

so delicious out of those tiny little fish?

But these salads, these green mango salads, I mean,

I just think they are the thing

that really, really shine out in Southeast Asia,

and it is what people, I think,

when you think Southeast Asian food,

of course, you think of stir-fries and curries, but these salads...

I mean, we don't have anything like it in the West.

And it is just that wonderful astringency,

particularly the mango and the lime in there.

And the heat from the chilli.

It really is really thoughtful food to me.

There are some very bright people

came up with this idea in the first place.

I'm not sure dried fish

is going to take off at roadside caffs in this country.

However, I do love anchovies and I prefer to use these ones.

Now, these are the marinated anchovies in oil.

They are delicious, these anchovies.

And I'm going to show you a variation of a pizza,

-but there is no fruit on it.

-Right.

Well, there is, technically, because, basically,

we are going to put a tomato on it.

But I am going to make the base out of potato.

We are going to use these anchovies.

And some tomato, it's got a little bit of oregano.

You can use marjoram or anything like that.

A bit of rocket. A bit of basil.

And clarified butter is the most important bit for this.

-It's butter.

-Butter.

-I think we can clarify it's butter.

Clarified butter.

LAUGHTER

I'm a bit slow this morning, I do apologise.

But literally we've got the butter over here.

Which you basically bring to the boil.

And then allow it to go through... through your cloth like that.

And the sediment will actually sit on the base.

And that's all the salts and impurities in the butter

that you want out of it so you can get this pure mixture here.

This will take it to a higher temperature.

It's what we call clarified butter, or you can use ghee,

which is the Indian sort of way of clarifying butter.

We've got a cast iron pan there

and I'm going to use some of this butter.

On a mandolin, we're going to thinly slice our potatoes,

because I'm going to use these as a base. Be very careful...

That's a clever device, isn't it? I like that.

You must use the guard for this if you're doing this at home,

because it just has a habit of slipping and

you end up with the ends of your fingers in the pizza as well.

Just be really careful with this.

Very, very thin, it makes really, really thin...

And you need a waxy potato for this.

It looks like that's how they started off making crisps initially.

About the same way, about the same.

I don't know whether there's hundreds of people doing that but...

It would take a long time just to do one bag.

Yes, exactly!

The idea is, we get our potato and you just pop them in.

The reason why you use waxy potatoes, they actually start to stick together.

-Right.

-And that's the thing for this one.

You can convert me to the anchovy thing,

because I've always been slightly dubious of anchovies.

Well, I think, people get them in brine and they're out of a tin.

These are absolutely fantastic.

You can get them fresh or these ones, they're even better.

There.

If there's two careers to be into at the moment on the box, one of which

is cooking, the other one's the comedy circuit, because, I mean...

comedy and being a comedian has just exploded, hasn't it?

Well, I think, I think comedy has always been quite...

everyone likes a laugh, so it's always been quite popular.

In terms...

-Everyone likes to eat, so we'll both have some sort of job.

-Exactly!

But in terms of going on tour and the O2, and Wembley

and sell-out tours like that to massive numbers.

It doesn't apply me to me, yes...

LAUGHTER

I didn't think you were going to bring that up. No.

But I think you're right. It's...

It's had a bit of resurgence, maybe through some of the stand-up shows

that are on at the moment, maybe that's....

There's a recession on and people like to try

and laugh their way out of it.

Certainly. Was it a thing that you always wanted to do?

You started off working in an office, didn't you, originally?

I did, yeah. I was working in Croydon.

Stonehenge with windows, if you've not been there.

And I was mates with a security guard there

and we were both into comedy, and we went to a comedy club

one night and it sort of started from that, really.

-And that was it? That's what fired it all off?

-Yeah.

I discovered this world in London of comedy clubs and stuff

and I thought, oh, this looks like a laugh, and I just carried on.

It just turned out to be something that suited me.

But it's hard work, though, this comedy circuit.

Well, you see, this is interesting

because I would say cooking is hard work, but because you can cook,

you don't think it's hard work, do you?

No, but what I'm saying about that is your background,

the training, working in the clubs and pubs...

Well, it was all fun and games.

Get on the Tube, go off somewhere and do five minutes to people

who were going to throw things at you.

-It was something to do on a Friday.

-JAMES LAUGHS

So, you know. Do you go off and cook in small clubs for people?

-No, you don't. Do you?

-No, no.

-No, got restaurants to do that.

-Yeah.

Sometimes you get things thrown at you, but there we go.

You just grab... Just top this off.

-You've got your anchovies, you see.

-I should say I'm on a special diet.

I only eat things with the word "special" in it.

-Special fried rice...

-Special fried rice, you've got it here.

-I'm going to put...

-Marks & Spencer strawberry cream sponge cake

-on special offer.

-LAUGHTER

A little bit more butter in there. And the idea is now, you cook it...

Nice, I like that. On this show, cook it? Right.

So the idea is... Funny enough, yeah, you do that.

..is you cook the base of it like this so you get it nice and crisp.

What you can do is grab a little bit of this.

This is oregano, or you can use marjoram.

A bit of marjoram on the top.

Over the top like that.

You start it off on a low heat and then build up the temperature.

Would this be a first course or a pudding? Or rather, I mean, a main.

-A starter.

-Starter.

-Starter, this one.

Black pepper. Touch of black pepper.

We take the entire lot and throw it in the oven,

a really hot oven, and this will cook in no time.

So you brown the potatoes round the edge,

this oven is as hot as it will go.

This is 500 degrees Fahrenheit, which wants to be about 250-260,

as hot as the oven will go.

I'm going to serve that with a little bit of basil oil.

But obviously, starting off with Pebble Mill and bits

and pieces, didn't you start with Channel 5 as well?

-I was going to say, I think you've just killed that cactus.

-Yeah.

-Didn't you start off doing Channel 5?

-Yeah. Well, I...I...

I was the first man on Channel 5, actually, funny you should say that.

-Right?

-It was the Spice Girls and then it was

me and Julia Bradbury going, "This is Channel 5.

"Can you hear us?"

You started off that. How did you end up doing...?

You were mates with, obviously, your co-writer, Lee Mack,

-and you were mates with him.

-Yeah, yeah.

I don't co-write Not Going Out, he writes that himself.

I can't take the credit for that.

But is that the reason why you got the job in the first place?

Perhaps it was.

We were in a thing called The Sketch Show together

and having acted together on that, he thought

I probably knew what he meant by the jokes he was writing.

And, er, maybe that helped, probably that we worked together before.

But it was like, I mentioned Men Behaving Badly,

they were good mates.

It's that banter that you've got, does that play in the script

-where you can change it as you're going along?

-No, sadly not.

You have to stand in exactly the right place

and say the right words and everything.

It's funny, because we only just know our lines all the time.

We get the script on the Monday, film it on the Friday

and there's a bar scene where we sit at a bar, a bit like this,

and we look in to each other's eyes while we're doing this

and we can see we're clinging onto our lines like that.

There are extras behind us who are told, "Don't make any noise at all."

All it takes is for someone to go like that,

and all your lines drop out of your head, start again.

-So, you're clinging onto your lines.

-Is that what you like?

A lot of comedians like the live circuit. Which do you prefer?

-The nice thing...

-I'm going to start this up.

MACHINE WHIZZES

HE MOUTHS

-I'm done.

-And that's why I did it.

LAUGHTER

I think a nice thing about being a stand-up is you are your own boss

and the sort of act that I have is one-liners,

so if I'm onstage and I forget what the next joke is,

I just skip to the one after it and no-one spots it.

One-armed butlers can take it, but they can't dish it out.

JAMES LAUGHS

I've got a friend who's got a butler whose left arm is missing.

-Serves him right.

-AUDIENCE GROANS

How do you get them all? Particularly the one-liners.

Literally, they must come thick and fast. You do these stand-up gigs...

I just, I sit in restaurants and stuff...

-Do you need the fire brigade?

-No, that's all right.

-Great.

And I write stuff.

I went to the supermarket the other day

and I saw this Armageddon cheese.

-Right.

-Best before end.

-Best before end!

-This looks wonderful.

-That's your...

-Look at that. What do you call it?

-Er...

-Brian?

-Yes, something like that, yes.

-Anchovy...

Anchovy pizza-y, sort of thing.

You put the rocket leaves on it.

-Rocket? That'll never take off.

-A bit of rocket.

-OK.

-Bit of this basil oil.

-Lovely.

And that's it. It's really that simple.

This could be the moment I'm converted to anchovies. Here we go.

-There you go.

-I don't need that. It's the fork that counts.

-Actually, I do need that.

-Ha! You do need it.

OK, let's just..

It'll be very hot, but try those anchovies, I think you'll like them.

The secret of it is, cook very, very quickly, make sure,

when you're buying them, you buy waxy potatoes,

cast iron pan like that and it should work.

Mm.

Oh, yeah, that's lovely. Ha!

I tell you what, you guys do know how to cook, I'll give you that.

I'm not sure what was more impressive there,

James's dish, Tim's jokes or that very bright jumper.

Anyway, we've seen some excellent dishes on the show so far and

there's still plenty more to come on today's Saturday Kitchen Best Bites.

Next up, it's dessert time

as Rachel Allen makes an American classic.

It's the brilliant Rachel Allen.

We've got one of the ultimate cakes, really, I suppose, this one.

-1970s retro food.

-Fabulous.

-What is it?

-Try and out-retro this.

-Baked Alaska.

-Baked Alaska.

Which, of course, consists of three main layers.

You've got the cake layer, that's for the cake,

-but I'm making a chocolate cake.

-Sounds good.

-Then vanilla ice cream on top of that.

-Yeah.

-And then meringue.

Right.

Baked in the oven and served with a rich, creamy, chocolate sauce...

-Sounds good to me.

-..in case everything isn't enough.

You're going to make a cake first and you want me to do the meringue.

-Yes.

-So, we'll get this on.

-Perfect.

I'm going to make that. You've got softened butter there.

I've got quite soft butter here.

I'm using, just for a classic sponge, equal quantities of butter,

sugar, self-raising flour and two eggs in there.

So I just need to beat up the butter first and then add in the sugar.

For the meringue, you've got egg whites and sugar

and some cream of tartar.

So if you wouldn't mind putting half the sugar in with the egg whites

-and the cream of tartar.

-Got that.

Beat it up and then the rest of the sugar can go in

-once it's a bit stiff.

-OK, all right. No problem.

-Thank you.

OK, good, butter's nice and soft.

The baked Alaska is...

it's sometimes called, apparently it's otherwise known

as Norwegian omelette - omelette norvegienne.

You're going to tell me now these Norwegians invented it, aren't you?

-Yeah, Scandinavians have invented everything.

-No, they didn't!

They invented Ikea, that's about...

But actually, apparently, it was created in America in 1796.

They've all got proper furniture over there,

it's only us fools that have to build it ourselves.

That's the thing.

-It comes from America.

-Yes.

-From Delmonico's restaurant. I was there this year.

-Were you?

-Well, last year. That would have been a quick trip.

-Yeah!

But I was there and I actually saw...

They showed me how it was made, which is similar to this.

But they use banana ice cream over there.

-But you can mix and match ice creams.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Apparently it's Baked Alaska Day in America on February 1st,

so everyone can get ready for this.

So, butter and sugar, nice and soft.

-I'm going to add in the eggs.

-I'm throwing the sugar in here...

-Half the sugar.

-Half the sugar.

TOM CHUCKLES

Do as you're told, Chef, do as you're told.

So, we're whisking that up first and then you fold in

-the rest of the sugar later on.

-Yes. Thank you.

-Got that.

There.

I've got some dark chocolate melting here.

-Do you want me to do that?

-I'd love that, thank you.

A little spatula would be great.

Now, Tom's probably the busiest chef I know in the restaurant,

you're the busiest chef behind a computer,

-because you've got another book that's out now.

-Yeah, yeah.

Cake is out, and that's where this recipe

comes from which is, obviously, all about cakes.

And I had a lot of fun testing for it but, you know,

it's quite different testing for a baking book

to testing for any other kind of a book where,

if it's a disaster in the oven, that's it.

You've got to go right back to scratch.

But really, really great and lots of simple celebratory whatever,

extravagant, every time, everyday cakes.

But this one I just love,

it always looks quite dramatic with the meringue that's

baked in the oven at the end and it comes out like a snowy mountain top.

-A snowy mountain top?

-Yeah.

Right, I'm going to pop that ice cream back in the freezer

-just for a second.

-I'm sifting in the self-raising flour.

I've got an oven preheated to moderate.

180 or, what's that? 350 or 375.

Do you sift in your flour? I sometimes do, sometimes don't.

Sieving the flour? I don't know.

I don't sieve the flour,

but that's something that they did back in 1910.

-When houses were more damp.

-They had these flour weevils in, didn't they?

-Oh, yeah.

-That's why they used to sieve it.

That's why in old cookery books they'd say to sieve the flour.

It's not necessarily to make it better.

Well, I think sometimes it can be good for lightening,

if you're adding it into a very wet mixture.

Actually, I wouldn't always with something like this.

OK, so that's it. But I am being careful not to beat it in,

-just stirring the flour in.

-Right.

I've got a 20cm cake tin here, lined in the base.

Oops. Nearly all the flour's added in.

And then put this into the oven.

This bit, this could be done a day or two in advance,

the cake bit made.

And I'm going to bake it until a skewer comes out clean

from the centre.

-There.

-That'll rise nicely, that one.

-Yeah.

-Do you want me to put that in?

-Fabulous, thank you.

How long do you bake that for?

That'll take about, say, 20, 23, 24 minutes.

-There you go.

-That's the ice cream bit. Oh, brilliant, thank you.

Actually, I'll take that out now.

I'll do that, you can do the ice cream.

So, the ice cream, I've got a couple of tubs of ice cream,

but I'm using the vanilla.

As you said, the classic is banana ice cream.

Banana and apricots, they used, as well.

They did it with an apricot sauce.

-Oooh.

-Yes.

-Interesting.

But this is the thing I love about it,

it could be strawberry ice cream, it could be cherry ice cream,

whatever you love, toffee, chocolate, whatever combinations.

What I do is make sure now that this is a completely flat baking sheet.

Because I need to be able to slide it off quite easily once it's baked.

-OK.

-And then ice cream into a...

Thank you. Would you mind double layering?

-Shouldn't have pointed that out, should I?

-No, no, no.

-Every time you open your mouth, you're given another job.

-Exactly!

Put a double layer of clingfilm in so it doesn't tear, you know,

when you're trying to take the ice cream out.

-This is... I think it's a handy tip.

-Double layer.

The ice cream is... This is good, it's a little... Oops!

It's a little bit soft.

Thank you.

There. And I'm just going to press it into the bowl and then pop it

-back in the freezer, just for a little bit.

-Right.

Fabulous. Thank you.

And another one.

-It's ice cream, I thought you'd been to Starbucks or something.

-I know!

It looks like a big coffee, doesn't it? A really big coffee.

-So this is to get the shape of it, I take it?

-Yes, exactly, exactly.

It's just going to go into a bombe type shape, like so.

Yum!

CHEFS TALK AMONGST THEMSELVES

-How's it going? Is it nice and stiff?

-It's getting there.

Yum.

-OK, so press that down.

-In the freezer?

-In the freezer.

-Great.

-I've got to finish this meringue.

-Tip that out.

-Don't over-beat it, actually.

-I'm not over-beating it.

-It's there.

-Is it? Great.

Tip the ice cream out onto the cake.

This is easy. People think...

When you mention baked Alaska people think, oh, my goodness,

that's going to take days to make.

But the ice cream, the meringue... Fabulous, thank you.

I'd love a little spatula.

-There you go.

-Could I have the spatula that's...?

Thank you!

-Isn't that the same one?

-Let's just check to see if it's...

Oh, yeah, do that as well.

Fabulous.

OK, I'm going to bring this closer to me.

RACHEL CHUCKLES

-And then...

-Which palette knife would you like?

I'd like that one, I'll use that one for scraping it off.

Thank you.

Might need a bit more.

OK. You see? Doesn't that look like a snow-capped mountain?

-Mm...

-Skiing down.

TOM LAUGHS

-I don't do skiing, you see.

-Do you not? Why not?

-Well...

-Great food...

I don't understand the point of going uphill

and then back down it again.

You like driving a car round the same circle,

around and around and around.

How long does this go in the oven for?

Into a very hot oven for three minutes.

So, really hot oven, 220, 230.

-Or...what's that? 450-500.

-Yes.

It'll just be gorgeous. Let's peak it a bit.

-That looks like a mountain now.

-It sure does.

-Right.

You could put this into the freezer now for however,

a couple of hours, and it will just take an extra, say,

-four or five minutes in the oven.

-Right, that's gone in.

-Chocolate sauce.

-While that's in the oven, chocolate sauce.

I've just got equal quantities here of cream and chocolate.

CREAM HISSES

Equal quantities -

if you're using 200ml of cream, then I would use 200g of chocolate.

And I just break up the chocolate.

I'm using brandy, but Cointreau, Grand Marnier, whatever you love,

in there.

So once the cream comes to the boil, turn off the heat

and then just stir in the chocolate. So...

Lots of people have got this leftover, rum in particular,

after Christmas.

-I learned an interesting fact about rum.

-What's that?

Admiral Nelson, when he died, was kept in a cask of rum.

-Do you know that?

-Oh, really?

-I've heard that.

Wow. Why? Someone decided they wanted to preserve him?

-Yeah, to preserve his body.

-Goodness.

-But didn't the sailors drink all the rum as well?

-Oh, stop!

-That seems like a rumour.

-I don't know.

I might have added that bit, that part of history to it as well.

I like that.

Honestly, if you were my history teacher, I'd have listened more.

Thank you.

Gorgeous.

And then...

-How's it doing? I'll just check it in the oven.

-It's doing all right.

Great.

-You want this just adding to it?

-Yes, thank you. Just enough brandy.

Of course, you can leave it out, you can add some orange zest,

-vanilla extract.

-Chuck it all in.

-I'm just going to cook it until it's really gorgeous golden brown.

-Right.

So, nearly there.

-How's the chocolate sauce?

-It's nearly there. It's happening.

Five seconds.

They cook it traditionally in an oven, but you can, of course,

-use a blowtorch.

-Yes, you can, absolutely.

But it's amazing, because people just, you know,

when you say you're putting the ice cream in the oven,

the meringue is the perfect insulator for the ice cream.

It keeps it at the perfect, perfect temperature.

And with the contrast of temperatures, the hot meringue

and the freezing cold ice cream is really quite lovely.

-Right, this is ready.

-And so is this.

Ready.

Ooh! Ooh!

OK, and slide it...

..onto your plate.

There.

So this is why it needs to be a really, really flat

baking sheet, so it slides off.

There, very easily and quickly. And then...

Hey!

-There's your chocolate sauce.

-And there...

-Do you want me to cut it?

-Yeah. Actually, you cut it.

-That was the nerve-racking bit.

-Great.

The ice cream shouldn't be too hard in the centre.

It's just the sponge that's the hard bit.

Excuse me!

Look at that, freezing cold ice cream, hot meringue and maybe...

Chocolate sauce?

A nice drizzle of chocolate sauce.

Hot chocolate sauce over the top.

So tell us what that is again? As if people don't know.

There is baked Alaska with chocolate sauce.

Have a go at that.

-Ho-ho!

-Do you think that's enough for one?

-Yeah!

-Tom?

-I'll have that one.

There you go, Tom. Get that down you, lad.

-Chocolate sauce?

-It's coming.

-Oh, sorry.

This looks unbelievable.

-Dive in.

-Quite healthy portions.

-Proper portions.

-It's the T-shirt killer, this one.

-There you go, Chef.

-Happy with that?

-Mm.

-That's all we need.

-Look what Tom's doing!

Let's go back to Tunbridge Wells to see what Ollie's chosen to go

with Rachel's baked Alaska, which you've just ruined.

It's beautiful.

A wonderful '70s classic there from Rachel,

and you can't beat the combination of hot and cold.

Next up, Keith Floyd is taking a trip to Florida.

There is, in fact, a downside to being a gastronomic superstar.

I never know where I am, what's happening to me.

I arrive, I come, I go, I'm jet lagged, I'm tired

and all the rest of it.

I tell you one thing which is really quite exciting,

this is an airport, it's Tampa airport, and there aren't cuddly

dolls, there aren't policemen's helmets, there are real things.

Look, we're on the Gulf of Mexico, for heaven's sake.

There are the most beautiful clams, plump prawns,

super succulent oysters, and fat crab's legs.

It's really brilliant, isn't it? This is like France.

Imagine it in Heathrow or somewhere.

Policemen and truncheons and Union Jack shorts and stuff.

A load of nonsense. But this is something else.

The only trouble is,

I don't know if this is a sequence we're going to use...

I am very tired, by the way, I have been flying for 13 hours, for heaven's sake.

We don't know if we're going to say, "Hello, welcome to Florida,"

or, "Florida was really good, goodbye!"

Either way, hi.

HE SINGS TUNELESSLY

# Like a rubber ball, I come bouncing back to you

# Bouncing back to you... #

Can't sing.

The first person in Britain to open a network golden oldies radio

station, like Z93 here, is going to make a fortune.

This is all part of the American dream,

this is all part of Floyd's American Pie.

I've got a mobile home with a kitchen, refrigerator,

ice making machine, stove, I've got my motel in the back.

I can go where I want. I am free to go.

I can stop, I can buy oranges, I can buy limes, chicken...

I'm going to cook chicken and limes, flame it in rum.

I'll go to a market and get all that.

I can cook it right back here, no problems at all.

Free to go, free to cook.

# Bodies in the sand

# Tropical drinks melting in your hand

# We'll be falling in love

# To the rhythm of a steel drum band

# Down in Kokomo

# Aruba, Jamaica... #

Before air conditioning, Florida was an insect-infested swamp.

Red-necked, bullwhip-cracking alligator hunters earned a good living,

but no right thinking person would dream of going there on holiday.

Times have changed, and Florida, the Sunshine State, rich in fruit,

limes, oranges and vegetable and fish, and bars that serve cocktails

in plastic buckets, plays host to sun seekers from all over the world.

The locals call them snowbirds.

# Martinique, that Montserrat mystique... #

This is the quick spot for the architectural sketch.

I mean, it is very interesting,

but it's unlikely to be commended by HRH.

But, with its sandy beaches and the warm Gulf Stream,

it's a great place for a healthy holiday.

Fruit and vegetables bigger and better, they say,

than anywhere else, growing in sun-kissed contentment.

The fishing boats provide the beach party with shrimp

and grouper, and if you've got a few quid, the living is very easy.

If you can tolerate the polite hard sell

from bartenders and waitresses, that is.

Don't you agree?

GULPING

# Way down in Kokomo

# Aruba, Jamaica, oh, I want to take you... #

Anyway, listen, this is a cookery programme

and we're going to talk about food now.

We're going to talk about food in a relatively serious way.

Now that I'm rich and famous, of course,

I don't have to say phrases like,

"By the magic of television, all these things are here,"

I have people out back, as we say.

They travel in a separate bus and they leap in every time

I stop for petrol and prepare my ingredients.

It's very good, isn't it?

My ingredients are, because this is Florida, this is the Sunshine State.

I know nothing about it, never been here before,

so I bought a cookery book.

The cookery book said things like fried chicken and limes.

There are lots of limes here, chuck in a bit of pineapple,

baste in flour and fry it.

It didn't seem exactly brilliant

so, with every due respect to Florida, I've modified the recipe

I found in the Floridian cookbook and decided to

produce this particular dish - chicken with limes.

Clive, I'd like to explain what we've got,

starting with the chicken.

Little fillets of breast of chicken which have been marinating now

for a couple off hours in freshly squeezed lime juice,

garlic and salt, and quite a lot of salt, by the way.

Round to your right, I've got some curry powder,

and some garlic and some saffron.

Most importantly, I love the glass, don't you,

a football team or something, we've got freshly squeezed lime juice,

some white rum, because we're near Jamaica,

we're near the Ca-RIBB-ean as they call it,

or the Caribbean as I call it, pepper and salt and stuff like that.

Celery, tomatoes, which I've carefully peeled

and taken the pips out of and that is... Oops, sorry about that.

It is important so the thing doesn't get muddled about with the skins.

I've got some lovely butter, some really plumptious little raisins.

Very sweet and succulent, they are.

They haven't been sitting on the nine o'clock shop shelf

for three months, they've just been packed and sold, they're very good.

I've got some freshly cubed pineapple.

OK? I've got some ordinary flour and some cornmeal.

Cornflour and cornmeal is an important part of American cookery,

as far as I can understand.

All of this, I shall learn more, like you're learning as I go along,

because this is my first time in America.

Lovely pineapple, lovely limes.

And a mixture of wild, brown and white rice.

Clive, you're going to have problems coming in to see,

but I'll come back here.

First of all, my little fillets of chicken, nicely marinated in

lime, garlic and salt, are dredged in the two kinds of flour.

OK. And straight into the pan to fry.

Another one.

In we go as well. Mustn't burn the butter.

And we'll do a third one.

OK.

Right, swivel those around a second.

This is the kind of pan that you can make a paella for 400 people in.

Presumably, that's the sort of thing they do when they're on their little

hols in the old, whatever these things are,

Ace Arrows, Pace Arrows, Winnebagos, RVs, I don't know.

Right, get those little pieces of chicken frying nicely away there,

up to frying speed.

Then, because I've interpreted this dish,

the dish really was very basically do that, chuck in some celery,

a cup of water, cup of rice and some pineapple and stew it.

OK, it's their country and that's how they like to do things,

but I thought I ought to just refine it down a little bit.

So what I'm going to do is, as those fry away there...

..I'm going to flame it in some rum.

PAN SIZZLES

And hope I don't set the microwave on fire.

I mean, how may caravans have you lot got with microwaves in?

It's absolutely extraordinary, isn't it?

SMOKE ALARM WAILS

That's brilliant!

You see, they've got microwaves so they don't know about flambe cooking!

Ha-ha! Hence the alarm. No problem...

BANGING

GLASS SHATTERING

Anyway, back to the proper business.

I've got my chicken fillets in there frying away in butter

with a little bit of celery and my rum.

Then the next very important thing that goes in

is this lovely fresh lime juice.

So you put that in like that.

Then, into that we also add some of our little pineapple pieces

which is genuinely, genuinely fresh.

I mean, if you could bite it, you would know it.

It tastes of the Florida sunshine because it's the Sunshine...

Do you know? Although it's all sharp and smooth down here,

fishing boats and big cars and stuff,

it is a little bit like Provence.

It is the last, sort of, untamed area of America

in terms of modern day travel and tourism and stuff.

They have got these fabulous fruits and big fish,

and vegetables and stuff.

It does actually reflect in the cooking and it is nice.

Even the junk food here is good, because it's served with heart,

with a smile on its face.

Anyway, enough of my philosophy.

Pineapple and rum, celery and chicken pieces go into there. OK?

Then into that...

..we add a couple of quarters of peeled and de-pipped tomatoes.

Right, some salt and pepper, I think we should have just to go in there.

And they like their things quite spicy here,

so I'm going fairly heavy on the pepper.

A little bit of salt.

We'll let that bubble away for a while.

Another thing, I thought it would be really good fun

to add some beer, some American beer, you know.

We're not in Milwaukee, but I'd love otherwise, if we were,

to make that little joke.

What made Milwaukee famous made a loser out of me!

Anyway...

So we put a little beer in there instead of stock,

because the Americans are not big on stocks.

They don't have bubbling sauce pots and stock pots and things,

especially not in a mobile home.

Anyway, what happens now is,

that bubbles away now for about 20 minutes

until the pineapple's softened and cooked,

until the tomato is good, until the sauce there's reduced.

Then we have we have to go to a second phase.

So, faster than a wave can break,

I finish the sauce by whizzing the pineapple,

the juices from the pan, with a knob of butter in the food processor.

Simple, isn't it?

I'm not one of those chaps

who really likes to do decorative things.

I'm much more involved in, kind of, down home cooking,

as they call it here.

But while I was here, while I was filming this sequence,

Salvador Dali died.

He's very important to the St Petersburg area in South Florida,

and I feel, in a little way, you know,

Salvador, with these raisins going on the top, by the way,

Salvador would have, perhaps, might not have enjoyed the taste,

but he'd have approved the sentiment of trying to make a sunshine dish.

Of trying to make my kind of tribute to Florida, to artists,

and poets and rock and roll stars and all those of things.

But problem is now, I'm actually going to serve this to a man

I have never met.

He's an ex-Green Beret. He was in Vietnam.

I don't know if he'll really go for this, but I will.

Here you go, Doug. The plate's very hot, I'm afraid.

OK. Here's a knife and fork.

Listen, I've tried to make it from Florida ingredients.

It's chicken in a lime sauce with pineapple and rice and raisins.

But anyway, do you think survival in America

in the 1980s and '90s is a big problem?

I think surviving with some type of honour,

some type of dignity is a problem.

When you talk about survival,

you've got to talk about the quality of survival.

That's what I look for for everyone.

I live down on the river.

The people who live down there with me,

almost all of them are Vietnam vets.

We take care of each other, we have a lot of quality.

Primarily because of the way we relate to each other.

All right, you're a tough man, you've been in the Congo,

you've been to Vietnam and all that stuff.

I'm a tough guy, I'm going to take it from you, what did you think

of my interpretation of a Floridian dish, of trying to cook

some chicken with some limes and with some rice and stuff like that?

Everything was done, texture and everything, was fine,

just a little bit too much lime.

Little bit too much lime. They always do that to me.

Do you know, this is the Provence of America,

because in Provence they used to say, well cooked,

well presented, well done, a little bit too much salt.

Here, too much lime.

MUSIC: Lost John by Sonny Terry

The best time to fish for grouper, so the guidebooks tell me,

is when an incoming tide coincides with a rising barometer.

Not a lot of people know that, but it's true.

I only wish we'd read that particular book

before we set off with my very latest chum, Captain Jack Powell

and his fabulous fish finder, and the latest in hi-tech fishing gear.

That might have been me imagining things.

When you've been out in the desert for as long as I have,

you start to imagine the odd thing.

They say the heat and the sun can get to you, you know.

But it hasn't affected me.

Which is just as well, with all these damned hedgehogs!

Jack, is there any piracy around here? Modern day pirates?

I have lost six friends to pirates.

They have found their boats in Mexico and South America

and without the crew on board, and they are killed.

We do have one good pirate,

I haven't heard anything about him lately, but instead of killing you,

when they would take your boat,

commercial fishing boats which they used to run drugs and all,

they would drop you off out on the King Ranch in Texas, which is the

largest ranch in the world, and it's a two day walk to any civilisation.

So, er...

-That's a good pirate?

-Yeah, they wouldn't kill you.

-No.

They'd just take your boat.

All right, you've got a nicer one here. What you got there?

This is a three-and-a-half pound grouper, Jack.

Looks closer to four, but...

Fighting like a little snapper.

Follow the line up.

-OK, we've got a grouper. We've got a little grouper.

-A little grouper.

-A little one.

-This is a little one.

-That's a little one.

-But it is a real one.

-Yes, it is.

We had to abandon trawling and Jack whacked on the live bait...

-Find out why they weren't hitting.

-And is that the answer?

-We were using the wrong bait?

-Well...

-Shall we do that again?

-Now we're going to drop that down again.

Let me show you how to drop that down.

-I'm going to stick him in the live...

-Hee-hee!

-We have, at least, lunch.

-Yes, we do. OK.

Great stuff as ever from Keith there.

Now, there's still plenty more to come on today's

Saturday Kitchen Best Bites as we take a look back

at some of the best moments from the Saturday Kitchen archives.

Coming up -

Lyndey Milan and Hamish Brown battle it out in the Saturday Kitchen

Omelette Challenge.

James Tanner is here with a sensational smoked haddock supper.

He pan fries smoked haddock before making a leek risotto

and serving with a poached egg and a mustard foam.

And Emma Willis faces her food heaven or food hell.

Will she get her food heaven, herb crusted rack of lamb with

dauphinoise potatoes and a spinach and basil timbale?

Or her food hell, honey confit duck legs with Puy lentils?

You can find out what she got at the end of the show.

Now, it's over to Paul Rankin, who's got a sure-fire way of

making everyone love liver.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Paul Rankin. Welcome to the show.

-Hey, guy, how are you?

-Very good. So, what are we cooking?

We're cooking spiced chicken livers with Chinese noodles, soya,

black pepper and cream.

It's kind of a little funky fusion dish in a way, you know.

We're going to start off with these egg noodles.

These are dried Chinese egg noodles.

You can use fresh, which work very well, but these work good too.

-Just want to pop those in there.

-Salted boiling water?

Two or three minutes, yeah?

You don't want to boil them too hard,

I find they work better if you kind of just take them off the heat.

Now, also, you can buy noodles in a supermarket already cooked.

These are actually rice noodles.

-They will work, but the egg noodles work better.

-OK.

So, use the egg ones.

So, chicken livers.

If you can just grate me some ginger, James, that would be great.

I'll just peel that and slice it up.

Chicken livers to me are one of the last great cheap luxuries.

Now, if you look at this, they come in two lobes,

one large lobe, one small one,

and then they have a little bit of fat and membrane in between.

You want to just take that off.

You want to just check each chicken liver also in case

they have any green spots on.

The green spots doesn't mean they're bad.

What the green spots are, are perhaps a little bit of bile,

because the liver sits close to the bile duct,

which sometimes can give you a spot on your liver and it's very bitter.

-You've just removed those out.

-Yeah, yeah.

-It's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

-OK.

Now, chicken livers are...

Where's this idea come from? You've got oriental ingredients.

You wouldn't normally associate them with chicken liver, I suppose.

No, I don't think so. It comes from the restaurant, you know.

I think chicken livers is a very approachable,

fun dish for people to eat in a restaurant.

I love to do chicken liver salads, etc.

But I like doing chicken liver risottos.

-Like you did the orzo earlier? That would suit chicken livers.

-Yeah.

But I also like them with pasta as well.

So, I was doing it with pasta and I had a bit of black pepper

and pancetta and stuff in there,

and I just started to think, I want to funk it up a bit.

I want to use some of those lovely Asian flavours.

Now, this is a little trick that you do just to soften

the flavour of the chicken livers.

So, I put them on to some ice...

..and then you soak them in milk, and it gives them a lovely...

Look at Phil. He's watching and saying, I'm going to do this later.

Phil, you can just whack that into a blender, man,

that would be a good shake for you.

Exactly! Lovely. Yeah, nice.

People do eat raw liver shakes, don't they?

Why have you put ice in here? What's the ice do?

Well, the ice just keeps everything really nice and fresh.

Livers is one thing that does spoil quite quickly.

-It taints quite quickly.

-So this goes in the fridge for how long?

You just want to be a little bit careful.

-Yeah, just drain those off.

-OK, I'll just move the ice first.

Ideally, the noodles, you should probably cook beforehand, cook well

beforehand because what happens is, that they

dry out as they're cooling down and absorb any excess moisture.

Right.

That way, they cook up much, much better when you're doing this

sort of crispy, er, noodle cake type of thing.

The noodle cake, we cook them in a little ring.

If you can just drain those on that towel, that would be great.

Little bit of vegetable oil in the pan.

So, this is the idea of the crispiness

and soft in the middle, that kind, sort of...

I spent five months in China when I was young.

One of the best things I ever ate when I was in China was this

crispy noodle cake and it was cooked by a street vendor on a bin lid.

Just a wee man with a bin lid, you know,

and he's cooking these crispy noodle cakes,

and it was unforgettable, it was just so delicious.

Right. So, literally, round about two minutes.

No need to oil them, nothing? Just drain them off, as they are.

There's oil in the pan.

Sometimes I season it with a little soya sauce and sesame oil,

-that's quite nice.

-Yeah.

-Make sure you've got enough oil in the pan.

OK, time to cook the chicken livers.

The chicken livers don't take very long at all, really.

They're best served pink.