Episode 135 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites

Good morning. Prepare yourself for some mouth-watering food,

this is Saturday Kitchen Best Bites.

Welcome to the show, we've got

some tasty morsels for you this morning,

served up by an army of top chefs, and as usual, we've got

some pretty pecky celebrities happy to give their verdict.

Coming up on today's show,

Lawrence Keogh serves up the perfect weekend brunch -

smoked haddock Monte Carlo.

He poaches smoked haddock and serves it with a poached egg,

spinach, tomatoes and a beautiful creamy sauce.

Will Holland is on dessert duty today,

he rustles up a stunning red wine souffle

and serves it with summer berries, creme fraiche and fresh mint.

Kenny Atkinson pan-fries John Dory.

He serves the beautifully-cooked fish

with pickled chestnut mushrooms,

caramelised apples, cobnuts and parsnip puree.

And former EastEnder and Footballers' Wives star

Zoe Lucker faced her Food Heaven or Food Hell.

Would she get her Food Heaven, Italian food with my classic twist

on spaghetti vongole with clams, white wine, chorizo, parsley,

topped with breadcrumbs, or would she get her Food Hell, cardamom

with my cardamom creme caramel with filo rolls and raspberries?

Find out what she gets to eat at the end of today's show.

But first, it's time for a lesson in breadmaking from the one

and only Richard Bertinet.

-Welcome back.

-Bonjour, ca va?

-Ca va bien.

-All right, what are we cooking, chef?

-We're baking bread, chef.

THEY LAUGH

Slap me down straightaway.

And before we make bread, we're going to make some dough.

So, we're going to do some dough and we're going...

Yeah, we're making dough, I'm going to get my hands dirty with this,

you're going to make me some nice, proper tapenade.

We've got some olives, some tuna to go with some anchovies, some capers.

-You put tuna in the tapenade?

-Yes, it's a recipe from Provence.

It's beautiful, really meaty and beautiful with some hot bread.

Sounds good, a little bit of pesto as well.

Some pesto, chickpea puree,

which is fragrant with fresh lemon juice and garlic.

OK, so crack on with this.

Right, so explain what the purpose of making really good bread

and the difficulty of it, cos I think most people who have got

these breadmakers, they throw it all in, it's not the same as this.

It's all in the dough. Get your dough right and your bread will follow.

So the technique I use is based on the old way of making

dough by hand in the old days, so it was done by hand.

I will explain to you the way as I go along,

but it's simply four ingredients and the magic of it,

just the dough comes alive, as you'll see.

But you always, really, if you're learning to bread,

always make it by machine. By hand, sorry.

Well, see, if you learn to do things by hand,

then you get the feel for it. You've got the magic of the dough.

When you understand the magic, you can use any machine you want, so...

So, you said four ingredients, we've got the flour there,

-any special flour?

-I've got some fine sea salt, and strong bread flour.

There's some good British ones out there

so, for the real bread in here, it's fantastic.

And the water, I've got my flour, my water goes straight into it.

-And you've got sea salt in there?

-Sea salt, of course, always sea salt.

And then we're going to mix all this together and this, in the old days,

we call this the frassage - it's mixing your ingredients together.

-The frassage.

-The frassage.

Excuse my ignorance, but why do you put the yeast in with

the flour, why don't you put the yeast in with the water?

That's when you were at college.

-Chef's trick, eh?

-It's not that long ago.

If you go to any bakery, your yeast goes straight into your flour,

-you don't need to...

-So, it doesn't die off or anything like that?

No, no, no, absolutely not.

-It's faffing, have you heard of faffing before?

-Faffing, yes.

Doing something for nothing.

You should wait until you see my recipe.

Yeah, you're going to see a lot of faffing in about 20 minutes.

So, I'm mixing all this together.

And that's the first part and the next part of mixing dough by hand was

called the decoupage when you slap the dough on the side of the

table or on your big wooden trough like they used to in the old days.

Now, where did you get your love of baking from?

Was it from your parents or where was it from?

I think when you grow up in France or in any country,

in the UK as well, when you go and buy your bread every morning,

the smell of the bakery, something goes in your blood

so I remember when I was a little kid,

I used to go around and buy the bread and looking at the dough,

start to open, see all the floury bakers, and then one day,

I finally said, "Baking." I was like, "What have I done?

"It's too late." When you're in, there's no escape.

-So, the texture of it should be that.

-Very sticky.

The stickier, the better. I like it sticky.

OK, well, that's my bit of pesto, you don't want it too thin,

this pesto, do you, you want it quite...

I mean you can choose the way you want it, really. That's perfect.

OK, so you've got the dough.

Do not add flour or oil on the table, just as it is there.

There you go, and so we've done the frassage, now,

we'll do the decoupage and passage en tete.

-Decoupage.

-You lost me.

And then the etirage.

THEY LAUGH

Decoupage.

And then you trap some air inside it, you see?

-Right, so no flour?

-No, no, no.

If you had flour, you'd change the recipe so...

So, the secret of it is keep the bread moist.

Keep the dough moist

and then you'll be fine.

So, usually, with this technique, I mix 10 kilos by hand, no problem at all.

And it's good for you, you dance with the dough.

Now, the thing with the dough, you've got to show the dough who's boss.

You're the boss.

-Show the dough who's boss.

-Exactly. Or the dough will stick everywhere.

The only problem with this technique is the noise.

-Yeah, I was going to say.

-You must have very understanding neighbours.

Well, if they knock on the door and say, "What are you doing?"

THEY LAUGH

-Moving on.

-It's all in your mind, it's all in your mind.

Anyway, on with the tapenade, we've got tuna in here, olives, I've got

some anchovy in there, you want a little bit of olive oil, of course.

-Yeah.

-And then I'm going to add the capers once it's blended.

Yeah, yeah.

Now, can all French bread be made all in the same way?

Any dough can be made that way, yes.

You've got a lot more water than the traditional method so you've got much

lighter crust and texture inside so you don't get bloated all the time.

Now, this is the fresh yeast which you can get if you ask, well,

bakeries and supermarkets may sell that.

Any good baker should use some fresh yeast.

In France, you can buy your dough and yeast from the baker.

But what about dried yeast?

Stay clear of it or use less of it?

In the UK, we're obsessed with quick and freezing.

All the classes we're doing, people ask me, "Can I freeze it?

"How quick is it?" And with this, it'll be too quick.

Use half of it or it'll be too fast.

-So, whatever a recipe says, half it with the dry stuff.

-Yeah, half it.

Right, and you do this for five or six minutes.

It's very hard for me to talk at the same time.

Do you know what I love about French bakeries?

When you go to a French bakery,

you can order your bread "pas trop cuit" or "trop cuit".

if you like your baguette well done...

You buy your proper bread, you see the crust,

you buy by the crust, you buy by the look of it.

Yeah, exactly.

-We don't have that here, do we? It's a shame.

-We do.

There's a lot of good bakers around. There's so many...

There's a big revival on bread.

Now, cos this dough will make all kinds of bread.

It's so basic - pizza, you can make baguette with this, you can

make all sorts of things.

-Pizza, Fiona.

-All right.

Right, and finally, we've got

this chickpea one which is just the chickpeas, the garlic...

-So, that's done now.

-..more olive oil...

A bit of flour there and just give it a bit...

..some lemon.

-And that's that one done. Tapenade's finished.

-Here we go.

So, that's it.

Yeah, I mean you can do it a bit longer

but I'm going to take over the other one.

Baby's bottom, you see, nice and soft. Beautiful.

And this goes in there and then...

So, how long would you leave that for with a cloth over it?

At least a good hour, that's just been an hour and a half there so...

And where would you put that, somewhere warm?

It doesn't matter, really, does it?

Warm but not hot, OK? Not dry.

And then I've got some maize flour, beautiful maize flour,

very fine polenta. You do little corn chips with it, it's beautiful stuff.

And what I'm going to do is just turn it over,

with my little scraper there.

-I'll move this to one side.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Cos this is the special bit.

-That's a nice bit.

-So, the texture's very, very soft.

-It is soft, yeah.

And that's what scares people away, I think,

making soft dough. It's lovely.

But don't start faffing around with it and make it flat,

keep it large so I'm going to make a big triangle there.

Look at this one, beautiful there,

and then we're going to cut right through the middle.

And this comes from the fougasse,

you find the root of that bread,

it used to be called a souflame, as well.

In the old days, when you had a big wood-fired oven,

there was no little timer.

-It's a testing bread.

-It's a testing bread.

It comes from the same root word as focus and focaccia,

the Italian bread, bread baked on half of the oven, you see?

So, they'd basically pop this in the oven before they'd bake

the most amount of bread to test what the temperature is.

It was probably a little snack for the baker, you know,

a bit starving, a little bit of dough straight in there.

And I'm showing off a little bit there, a bit of flame on the side.

Now, this maize flour will give it the crust?

It gives it a nice crust and a nice finish

so you can do this in your oven in the garden,

your wood-fired oven, and this, we slide it in the oven.

Right.

Now, you've got it in a pizza stone in the oven

but an oven that's very, very hot, this is 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

-And there is the fougasse.

-Listen to this...

BREAD CRUNCHES

-That crunch.

-Wow.

-La crunch.

-Le crunch.

-Le crunch.

Ooh la la!

THEY LAUGH

Mais si!

-Oh, the smell is...

-So, remind us what that is again.

-La fougasse.

-That's what it is with a load of dips that I've made.

-Lovely. Right, dive into this.

-Oh, yes.

Beverley, Beverley, Beverley.

-Oh, come on now.

-Breakfast.

-Oh, yeah.

-Check that out.

Straight out of the oven, they don't get any fresher than that.

Absolutely incredible. So I can just dive in, yeah?

-I'll break it up cos it's quite hot.

-Oh, thank you.

-There you go.

So, the shape doesn't mean anything.

It's a leaf shape but you can do some long ones,

some thick ones with olives inside, you can do whatever you want, really.

But the secret is that very, very hot oven as well.

Very hot oven so you get a crust, so if you eat your bread fresh

-straight from the oven, you've got to have a bit of crust.

-Yeah.

The crust makes you salivate so you digest better.

Is that what the French bread is? That crust?

Is it the heat of the oven?

It's a hot oven and you got the steam as well.

But this one, you don't need steam, just fresh, we do them in the cooking

school all the time and it's what I call instant gratification bread.

You just make the dough, let it rest, bake it.

There you go, you've got to go to his cooking school now.

-Hm, for sure.

-What'd you reckon? As good as your pizza base?

-No.

THEY LAUGH

You see, he makes that look so easy

and that's the perfect dish for sharing on a picnic this weekend.

Coming up, I make a classic dish of sticky toffee pudding

fit for a gold medal-winning Olympian, Dame Kelly Holmes,

after Rick Stein introduces us to some more of his food heroes

and today, he's in the stunning area of Loch Fyne in Scotland.

This programme is called My Food Heroes

and up here in Loch Fyne, was there ever more one than Johnny Noble?

I came here to his house at the head of the loch last year to talk

to him about his oysters which he was so passionate about.

Sadly, since then, Johnny has died and in a way, this is

a tribute to him and his contribution to the food culture up here.

There was a lot of trial and error but that's how we got started.

Why did you start?

Well, I was eagerly seeking any activity, economic activity,

to help keep the slates on the roof.

-What? Of the roof of your house?

-Yeah.

Well, haven't you got enough land to earn enough...?

No, no, it didn't earn anything.

So, we were seeking new ways to create employment and, of course,

frankly, we're sitting on a quite extraordinary asset - the loch.

The real reason that Johnny's a food hero of mine

is that in the late '70s, early '80s, we discovered Loch Fyne oysters,

and mussels which are hard to buy,

and langoustine which you can only get in France.

But funnily enough, although Johnny loved his oysters,

the dish that he really like was boiled mutton and caper sauce.

Well, this is a five-year leg of castrated lamb.

Now, Johnny used to call this a gigot and that's really interesting because

in Scotland, a gigot of mutton is the way of talking about it, not a leg.

I'm going to poach this leg of mutton

for about three to three and a half hours.

First of all, I add a couple of large onions for extra flavour,

rosemary, I think goes very well with lamb and mutton,

lots of carrots, peppercorns and a good sprinkling of salt.

And lastly, I barely cover it with water.

Though mutton's a bit of a thing in the past, too much flavour,

I guess, it's very encouraging to see it reappearing in farm shops now.

Anybody that's got more than a passing interest in British food

should read Dorothy Hartley's book Food In England

and there's one thing in it about mutton that I find, well,

quite funny really but also quite nostalgic

and it comes from a time when you had your roast and it had to last

so it said Sunday, you have your mutton hot,

Monday, cold, Tuesday, hashed,

Wednesday, minced, Thursday, curried,

Friday, broth, Saturday, shepherd's pie.

Presumably, back to Sunday, and another joint.

Three and a half hours later and look at that broth.

It's almost thick there's so much goodness in it.

Well, that's cos there's so much flavour in the leg of mutton.

So, out it goes, ready for carving and now to make the caper sauce

and, of course, I'm using the broth which I pass through a sieve.

It's a basic veloute, butter and flour sauce.

Into a pan goes some butter, melt it gently,

add some flour and stir together.

Don't cook it out too much. I don't want much colour here.

And then that lovely broth, stir it in -

it's still hot so it'll mix together and thicken very easily.

And now, the capers.

That's the sauce really. It's so straightforward.

But it works a treat with this mutton.

Interestingly, mutton's a very fatty meat, as you can see,

but it just looks so delicious here.

Right back in the 17th century, they of course were aware of that

and always served it with things that capers, vinegar,

onions, anything a bit sharp.

To finish the dish, some of the cooking vegetables

next to the mutton and finally, that lovely caper sauce.

I found out the other day that Loch Fyne means "pure, holy water"

and I always remember Johnny calling it

"a magic soup where anything could thrive."

This is a small selection of what comes out of the loch.

Look at these fabulous langoustines

and bloaters, which are whole smoked herrings.

The lobsters, of course, whelks and scallops.

Here they're farmed in lantern nets,

a technology introduced courtesy of the Chinese.

In the '80s, all the rage was seafood in puff pastry.

I remember dishes that were often called rendezvous de fruits de mer,

where you've got lobster, langoustine,

scallops in a puff pastry case and lots of cream sauce.

Well, I loved those dishes but they were a bit rich

and this is my sort of echo of it.

I've just taken some scallops, a vintage cider vinegar -

a really old school farmhouse cider vinegar -

cream and just a little bit of puff pastry

and I've made this sort of really nostalgic dish, to me, anyway.

First of all, take a sheet of puff pastry and roll it out

and cut four discs out of that.

Put it on a greased baking tray and then just dock it with a fork

because I'm actually trying to stop it rise up.

Next, I take another identical baking tray

and grease the back of it and sandwich the whole thing together.

Put it into a hot oven, about 190 degrees centigrade, for 15 minutes.

While that's cooking I do the scallops.

I cut them in half horizontally.

The reason for doing that is I'm going to pan fry them

and I want to maximise the surface area of the scallop,

because that's where you get that lovely caramelised sweet flavour

and the colour of pan frying.

I get a very hot frying pan

and I just rub some butter across the bottom very quickly,

because I don't want too much butter in there,

otherwise the scallops get greasy.

Into the pan go the scallops and quick as a flash, almost,

they're over, turned over.

Season them lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Give them a final shake and take them straight off the heat.

Put them somewhere warm, return the pan to the heat

and deglaze it with some cider vinegar.

Let that reduce to drive off the rawness of the vinegar

and then you add some clear chicken stock.

Then a nice piece of cold butter

and you gradually whisk that in, thickening the sauce as you do.

And now, some cream.

Classic white wine sauce, this,

but made with cider vinegar to give it extra sharpness.

And finally, some chopped dill.

And now for serving.

First of all you've got to take the puff pastry out of the oven.

It should be a nice golden brown.

Just that one of the disks on a plate,

pile scallops on top of the dish, and, as we say in the trade,

nap the scallops with a bit of sauce

but don't cover them completely with sauce

because you want to see that lovely caramelised exterior as well.

A little bit round the plate, but don't overdo it. It's very rich.

A little bit goes a long way, really.

That was the trouble with those dishes in the '80s,

there was just too much.

So, grand rendezvous de fruits de mer, lots of cream, lots of pastry.

This is just a little chef's nod to the past, if you like.

Thanks, Rick. Now, this week's masterclass, I thought

I'd show you how to prepare probably the nation's favourite ever pudding.

-It's got to be. And it's one of your favourites, too.

-It is.

It's classic sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce.

The first thing we're going to use with toffee pudding is the dates,

and we've got some stoned dates there.

We pop those in the pan with some water.

What we need to do is soften the dates.

The idea is not really to bring them to the boil, just warm it.

If you bring it to the boil

the water evaporates and it alters the recipe.

Then we add full fat butter. None of that miso stuff.

We add some sugar, proper sugar, not that palm sugar stuff. Proper sugar.

And then we just add a little bit of vanilla extract,

just a touch in there.

And then I'm just going to quickly mix this together.

This is dark brown sugar because

I want to make this cake nice and dark.

You could use the lighter sugar.

It just alters the colour of the cake at the end of it.

We're going to add some more colouring agent in there

to darken it down even more.

What we're going to do is soften up the dates like that, whisk this together.

There's no need to get any air in this because the air doesn't come from this.

It comes from the rising agent. So, two eggs in.

Like that. Mix it all together.

And that's all you need to mix it to, just there.

And then what we do, transfer our whisk. We've got our dates here.

Quite carefully, place your dates in the blender.

You just put the water and everything.

That's why it's important not to boil it too much.

All you're doing is just softening the dates in there.

This is where the recipe and the origins for this are mixed.

I read that the French have said

that they've nicked it and they started it.

But the Canadians reckon they've done it.

But the Scots reckon they've got the original recipe.

But the origins are really mixed.

There's a place in the Lake District called Sharrow Bay where I think

one of the best recipes comes from.

In we go with the baking powder. Straight in.

Now, if you mix all this lot together it actually starts

to rise up straightaway.

So what we do is put the whole lot straight in.

That's the pureed dates, the water.

It's one of the easiest cake recipes that you'll do.

Then you literally just, this is where it gets worst...

You're retired now so you don't have to worry about it.

Little and often's good!

Then you put some golden syrup and black treacle in

and then we throw in the flour.

And there's no need to sieve the flour.

We just take the whisk and whisk it all together.

It's kind of like what we call the all-in cake method.

Heart attack waiting to happen, isn't it?

It gets worse, Kelly, trust me.

Those people who are watching this on the treadmill,

turn it up, you've got to run a bit quicker.

-This is going to get a lot worse.

-Balance, that's what I say.

Balance - a little bit of something nice is all right.

This is where I've been going wrong, you see?

You take a floured and buttered dish, place that in there,

set the temperature of the oven to about 180 degrees centigrade,

about 160 degrees centigrade, a bit lower than 350 Fahrenheit.

Pop it in there.

It wants to cook for a good 20, 25 minutes.

And then we've got our sticky toffee pudding.

The great thing, too, about being an athlete

is you can eat as much of that stuff as you want.

Exactly.

Are you trying to... Say that and look at me at the same time!

-You were a record-holder when you were young.

-I was.

I mean, still at school?

Yeah, I won my first English Schools six months after

starting athletics and I still hold the school record, apparently.

I was at my school sports day the other day

-and I'm pleased to say that no-one got near it.

-Nobody got near it?

Because then you went from there and you wanted to join the Army,

but you were in the Army as a physical training instructor, weren't you?

-Actually, the truth is I joined the Army as a heavy goods vehicle driver.

-Right!

-Believe it or not.

-That's why your arms are like that.

That's why I'm so massive, you know?

My ambition from the age of 14 was to be a physical training instructor

so I retrained and became a physical training instructor when I was 21.

-Judo was your thing in the Army, wasn't it?

-Yeah.

I took up judo, became Army judo champion.

And you used to beat the guys in the Army at running, stuff like that?

They wouldn't let me run against the women,

so they put me in the men's teams

and that was actually my breakthrough back into

international athletics because of a race that I'd done in the Army which

qualified me to go to the national trials and in that national trials,

I ran a world-class time of 4.01 and that was it.

That was the start.

But didn't you watch it at home, you're all sat there watching TV

and watching the people you used to race against at the Olympics,

winning, and they were the people that you used to beat?

Yeah, it's funny cos when I was 14, I watched the Olympic Games

which inspired me to be Olympic champion,

which I think our games is going to do for many young people.

And then when I was in the Army,

I was actually watching it in my army barracks this time, my room,

and it was in the '92 Games and I saw a girl in the 3,000 metres,

Lucy York, and I thought, "I know her! And I used to beat her!"

And she was at the Olympics and that was my other dream,

since I was 14, to be Olympic champion.

-So, it reignited the dream.

-But you've still got the same passion?

Even though the Olympics is 20 days away, it must be a bit

of a shame that you're not actually competing and it didn't come around?

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, people say that.

I mean, if you could pluck me up from 2004,

keep me the age as well, guarantee me two gold medals,

I'd be there like a shot but unfortunately, I'm too old.

Which of the two were you more confident about?

Athletics is confidence as well, it's physical as well as mental.

Which out of the two, which is your...?

Well, I did the 800 and the 1,500 and to be honest,

I never really knew what was my best because I used to get,

I had ten medals before I won my two gold medals,

which I think most people forget.

I didn't just kind of turn up from nowhere.

But actually half of them were 800 and half of them were 1,500.

And the reason why it was like that was because I had

so many injury problems through my career that actually,

depending on the type of training I was able to do would depend

on what race I'd get fit enough for, and it just happened to be that.

So, fortunately for 2004 I selected both and...

And then, of course, life after your athletics career,

you're still involved in it now, doing this mentoring.

Tell us about that. You've set up this little foundation?

That's right, On Camp With Kelly.

I started it before I won my two golds at the beginning of 2004.

The idea of the programme was that

if I could help stop the dropout rate of teenage girls, particularly,

in sport and keep a legacy alive for my own love,

which is middle-distance running.

And so I started the programme

because I thought if I don't achieve my dream, I still would have

achieved a lot, but also had a lot of knowledge of the downsides

and the good sides of the sport and hopefully I could help them.

So you've got Hannah and Laura in the Olympics this time?

Yeah, it's eight years on and of course I've had

a lot of international success

but I've got two in the 1,500, there's three in the 1,500,

two of them are out of my programme, Laura Whiteman and Hannah England.

So, really, really pleased for them. Great to be part of their journey.

I've known them since they were very young as well,

and that's just great to see that they're now going to be

competing for Great Britain in their first Olympics.

And Hannah and Laura, if you're watching this, you can't have any sticky toffee pudding!

No, not yet! And the thing is, you know,

when you go to Olympic Games, of course it's just fantastic.

All the athletes are going to love it, but 1,500 metres final

is the last day of the Olympic Games so you don't enjoy any of it.

Everyone else is partying, people are coming out

and eating everything and anything

and believe me, it happens on day one.

The swimmers are known for partying. Sorry, swimmers, but you are!

LAUGHTER

I'll get killed for that!

But the athletes in particular, the middle distance runners,

if you're lucky enough to get into the final, you don't get much luck.

-So all of this has to wait, I'm afraid.

-All of this has to wait.

-Well, there you go.

-Well, I can have it, you know.

People say, do I want complete? No, I want to eat!

Sticky toffee pudding.

Now, that's about 2,600 calories per portion, just for that bit

and then the sauce is made out of double cream, butter, sugar,

golden syrup and black treacle.

-So, about two days' worth of calories.

-About, a bit more.

And then, of course, you've got clotted cream and ice cream to go with it. So, dive in.

I'll tuck in. It reminds me of the Army, actually.

They used to do sticky toffee pudding.

I used to queue up at dinner time for this.

Tell us what you think of that.

-I was all was good at athletics, you see...

-Lovely.

-..when I was younger.

I had Daley Thompson's Track and Field! That was the best one I did.

-Gorgeous.

-We need some.

-You're not getting any of it. How's that?

It's absolutely gorgeous. I'll go in the gym later.

I loved that dessert. It really is the perfect dinner party dish.

If you'd like to try cooking any of the studio recipes,

including that one, all the recipes are just a click away at

bbc.co.uk/recipes.

We're looking back at some of the best cooking

from the Saturday Kitchen larder

and it's brunch time now and Lawrence Keogh has

just the recipe to get your taste buds tingling.

So, this is on the menu, is it?

I'm going to put it on in about three or four weeks,

-I'm changing the menu.

-And what's the name of it, then?

This is haddock Monte Carlo, a smoked haddock Monte Carlo.

It's a haddock dish poached in milk and funny enough,

I spoke to my neighbour, John Williams,

the head chef - hi, John, if he's watching -

of the Ritz Hotel, and we had a chat about the origins of this dish

and it is one of them dishes that was around,

part of the Savoy group in the day, you know?

The Savoy group was the Barclay in Knightsbridge where I did my training

and the Connaught and places like that.

It's one of them dishes that was always on the menu, the Monte Carlo.

So, trying to find the origins of it was quite tricky.

But your restaurant used to be a car showroom, didn't it?

We used to be a car showroom, yeah, back in the '20s,

the Wolseley car showroom.

Then it was a bank. I remember going there as a young lad,

training at the Ritz Club Casino, going to cash a cheque there.

It's just round the corner from there, really?

We're next door to the Ritz Hotel at Green Park.

So, on the menu then, what have we got here?

We are going to do a nice slab of smoked haddock.

You want to cut a good 200g portion. It's a nice natural smoked haddock.

There's none of that yellow dye, the traffic light stuff.

-It's a spray, something they put on it?

-Exactly.

-It hasn't seen a smokery whereas that one has, really.

-Yeah.

Now, there are schools of thought about this.

You put it in skin side facing you.

There's a reason why - we're going to lift it out.

Why is it called Monte Carlo?

We're trying to find out where the name came from but we know...

-Wash your hands at the back.

-Wash my hands, yes.

We know that Alec Guinness used to

order it a lot at the Connaught, you know?

And there are so many different variations.

They say you should poach it in milk, you should poach it in milk and cream

and make the sauce from the pan and serve it like that.

But this is my way.

Some people say to do a tomato fondue but we are going

to do tomatoes in diamonds, funnily enough, to represent...

-Why is that?

-The Diamond Jubilee!

I'm glad you asked.

Tomato concasse, you want, which is basically just taking...

-Take the eyes out.

-Take the eyes out.

-OK.

Haddock's poaching in the milk, it takes about five minutes,

dead on, straightaway. It doesn't take too long.

In the pan there, I've got some shallots

and a little bit of mushroom.

In goes your shallots and your mushrooms.

Make a fish stock. I like making a fish stock

and letting the stock go cold on the side of the table

for about two hours.

Slice some lemons in and then pass it.

Don't pass the fish stock straightaway,

otherwise it's just too watery for me. So, we have some fish stock.

The first thing is tomatoes, mushrooms, shallots,

thyme and bay leaf, white wine. Bang!

Bring it right down and reduce it.

Right, get that alcohol.

Yeah, so the Wolseley, we do 380, 400 for breakfast,

about 300 for lunch and about 200 afternoon tea. 400 for dinner.

That's seven days a week and it's not shy.

We've also got a private dining room,

which not many people know about but they will now.

It's part of a group of restaurants. It's not just that one.

We've got the Wolseley, the Delaunay our sister restaurant

which has a fantastic team in there.

A great bunch of guys, front of house and back of house.

And the Delaunay is in Holborn.

We are just about to open up the Zedel in Piccadilly,

on Sherwood Street.

That's going to be just a fantastic, large French brasserie.

It's going to be beautiful. There are two bars going in there.

There's a great team of chefs going in there as well as front of house.

It's going to be open literally all day and the bar has got...

There are two bars and one of the bars, we are

going to have a cabaret in there.

-It's going to be great fun for London.

-Are you performing, Lawrence?

No, but I've got James in there doing a couple of gigs,

you know, on the dance floor.

-I've seen him dance at his party.

-Right, moving on...

So, you've got the poached eggs...

I've basically done half the dish, to be honest.

Lawrence has done advertising.

-All you've done is put a bit of fish in the pan.

-That's it, isn't it?

You get to my level of chef and you don't get to cook, do you?

I spoke to Angela,

all I do is change the printer rolls.

-I've got 60 chefs in the kitchen, you know?

-In goes the egg.

I'll turn that pan up a bit more. Turn that gas up there, chef.

-That one. There you go.

-Make it hot.

Finely chopped chives. The tomatoes are concasse.

-Take the skins off and cut them into diamonds.

-I'm doing that now.

-There we go.

-Right, tomatoes. These have just being skinned.

You want them deseeded as well.

Take the skin off and cut them into flesh.

Dice them into diamond shapes. Nice little diamonds.

You are famous for all the British classics.

It must be the dream job for you, that, the Wolseley.

Yeah, well, I was unsure.

I've been there five or six months now

and I was a bit unsure about the company but I've made a fantastic

move and I'm very fortunate to have a wonderful team in the kitchen.

Not only the kitchen.

There is a fantastic team front of house as well.

We get on and there is the same

belief across the company that we are all trying to do the correct thing.

The hospitality is fantastic.

Obviously, it's very busy, very bustling. It is non-stop.

It really is.

-Right, the spinach...

-I mentioned the Jubilee.

You had a brainwave, didn't you?

The genius of Lawrence Keogh, the brainwave, on Sunday.

What did you set up?

I thought it would be a good idea to do an ice cream stand,

you know, the Jubilee at Piccadilly.

I thought the weather is going to be great. Let's do an ice cream stand.

We devised... We do ice cream coupes that... Or, Sundaes to you, mate.

Ice cream coupes at our restaurant.

We did a diamond coupe.

Strawberries, meringue, raspberries

and Fortnum & Mason's was there.

What's the difference between a coupe and a cup?

It's a bit more posher, mate. You come from up north.

-I'm reducing it down.

-The fish stock must come down as much as we can.

-It's... There you go.

-I just want to wilt the spinach.

Anyway, it was a great day. Sun was shining... not.

It was a complete wash-out

but I did get to meet Prince Charles which was absolutely wonderful.

Lovely. Because I do watch him on Saturday Kitchen.

He was lovely. He was absolutely lovely.

And Piccadilly was absolutely rammed with a big long table with

everyone sitting there, eating.

It was lots of fun apart from the wash-out of rain.

See, this is just wilted. The spinach has collapsed, James.

Let it soften and collapse, straight into a tea towel there. OK?

-Little diamonds are happening here.

-Press it like this, the spinach.

Get as much of that liquid out.

-The sauce is reducing nicely.

-Yeah.

-Keep the spinach warm to one side.

The haddock can come out now.

-That's nice.

-I will pass the sauce.

-The haddock doesn't take long.

Some people say you should reduce the milk

and serve the milk with cream and glaze it.

I'm going to come in that direction.

There is the sauce, passed. Yeah.

Season that sauce. You've got to come down.

-That's your technique?

-It's all live, isn't it?

We pulled it off in rehearsals.

I don't know why we are not pulling it off now.

The skin, just gently. See how that cooked? That's it.

You can tell when it's cooked, it falls away lovely.

That's a nice piece of smoked haddock.

-There is a poached egg.

-Where is my spinach? Haddock Monte Carlo.

A little bit spinach on the plate.

A good job we are good friends, isn't it?

Little bit more chives. You haven't dropped enough.

The haddock goes on the spinach, OK?

More spinach goes on top to create a nest for the egg.

-Eggs ready.

-Dry the egg. OK.

Little bit of salt-and-pepper on the egg. The sauce is ready.

You can season the sauce. Diamonds are ready.

This egg is quite soft, chef, isn't it?

Lawrence, you are standing there and James is like an octopus behind you.

-Got another one here.

-I'm going to go for it.

-Got another one.

You promise?

-It's there. It's there now. It's there.

-Make a decision, chef.

Look!

You'd never get a job at our place doing breakfast.

Talk amongst yourselves. A wobbly poached egg on top.

The sauce is nicely seasoned.

-Right.

-Right.

-Seasoned.

-How long have I got left?

Just get it on the plate.

The show has nearly finished. Let's go.

Spoon. Right, smoked haddock.

Who cut them chives?

Look at the state of them chives!

So, if you went any of these recipes, phone in...

Right, there is our smoked haddock Monte Carlo,

with diamonds of concasse, all for Liz.

-Oh, chef.

-Look at that.

Poached haddock Monte Carlo.

Yeah, it's not a bad dish that, I created there, is it, really?

LAUGHTER

-Have a seat over here. Dive into this.

-That looks beautiful.

It will taste fantastic. You mentioned kedgeree.

You have got part of the elements in there with the egg

and that kind of stuff.

Kedgeree, I'm not sure but some people might not know about it,

but it's rice, curry, spices and it goes so well with smoked haddock.

It's got to be naturally smoked haddock, which is what that is.

God, that's delicious really lovely.

-The sauce is the best bit.

-It's all the sauce!

-It's fantastic.

He certainly made me earn my brunch, that's for sure.

It's Floyd time now and today,

he is on the hunt for Cornish oysters so take it away, Keith.

Hello, gastronaughts!

You know, it was a valiant man who first adventured upon eating

oysters. I don't suppose you know who said that, do you?

No, you don't.

It was King James I and I know

because we were playing a curious and rather trivial game.

And talking of trivial pursuits, if you like, in this bubbling,

fishy, fun-filled programme, I'm going to tell you

the mysteries of the bouillabaisse,

how to improve your sex life

and explain the contents of my little black case. OK?

The oyster, the poor, crazy oyster.

These androgynous aphrodisiacs, once the staple diet of apprentices,

are now consumed by Gucci-shoed executives,

who also swallow big deals and wine, regardless of expense

and are quite ignorant of the labour of love here on the beautiful

Helford River which provides the currency of their credibility.

And a labour of love it is.

In this damp, dim shed, a beautiful girl,

her fine fingers clad in gloves,

chips away the barnacles to make the pale, silver grey and sometimes

creamy brown shell more appealing before they are hand graded

on this clacking Victorian roundabout

and slid into the purifying tanks to await a seaweed-wrapped

train journey to Paddington.

My love of oysters, like all true love, has caused me pain.

Good friends have shied from the zinc bar and would-be lovers

have said, "No, no, if you don't mind, I might be sick."

How sad!

I felt good, even involved in this gentle industry,

and my mouth watered as I plucked fresh mussels

from the tanks to cook later.

But something was wrong.

On this fine autumnal day, with the drizzle falling

and the soft river lapping, I felt uneasy.

The man who owned the place was clearly distressed

by the frenetic activity of a film crew,

and it wasn't until we struck up a conversation about rugby

that this shy and gentle man began to trust and tell me about his life

and work on the river, and Len Hodges is passionate about that.

Len, I'm speechless.

This incredible view and these fantastic oysters,

and you live here - I mean, you must be the happiest man in the world.

Oh, yes, I do love my work, and I love the food I produce, too.

Tell me, everybody knows oysters in restaurants

and things, but we've seen them coming out of the river.

-How old is one of these?

-They vary between five and seven years.

Five and seven years.

Depends, really, on if you get two hot summers in a row

and get a very big growth, then you'll get them in five years,

but if you get cold summers, they take longer to grow.

I'm going to just carry on eating a few of these for a moment.

You don't mind if I don't talk to you, do you?

We don't really care much about you - this is...

What else has come here from the from the Helford River, then?

-It's all your territory, if you like.

-Yes...

-Cockles?

-Yes, the cockles.

-They're yours, too.

-That's right.

The winkles.

-The winkles.

-And the mussels.

-The mussels. I'm going to have a mussel.

-Thank you.

-Might as well enjoy ourselves.

-That's right.

They're very rich orange colour. Can you see that?

They're such a beautiful colour, these.

Last year on my birthday, at the very ripe old age of 40,

I sat out in a brilliant pub in Bridport in...

In Dorset.

Just tried to eat 40 oysters.

You know, one for each year of my life. I got to 37.

How many is the most you've ever eaten?

-I mean, would you eat lots and lots?

-Oh, yes.

-I've eaten 60, 70 at a sitting.

-Have you really?

But the ideal amount, I think, is nine, ten oysters.

One of the very important things,

of course, is opening these damn things.

I've had a feast. I'm having a great time. I don't want to stop,

but can you just, for them, you know, who are the people who

apparently count, they'll want to know how to join in our good time.

Just show them how you actually open the damn things.

Well, the important thing is to make sure that your thumb is there

like that. A lot of people open it like that and then it goes

into their hand and it's cut and we've lost a good oyster eater,

but if you... KEITH LAUGHS

If you get your finger like that, or thumb, rather, like that,

and you're in control, put it in...

Come down on that.

He's got these big fisherman's hands and you're not going to see it.

It is a cookery programme. It is quite important.

Can you put it in, please? Right, thank you.

And then you cut the muscle in the centre. Lift it off.

Go over it like that gently in case you're taking any shell in.

Cut the muscle underneath and turn it over and bring the fat side up.

And hand that over to me. And just do another one,

because the cameraman isn't terribly keen on oysters.

-I don't think he paid attention.

-And that's a beautiful oyster, that one.

-MOUTH FULL:

-It is. Plump little dream, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Mm.

But we are, today, enjoying...

This is all very luxurious for us, but, I mean, 100 years ago, or so,

I mean, it was a staple food of apprentices and working men

and stuff like that. It was what people ate to survive, wasn't it?

-It wasn't a luxury...

-No, no.

When you go back to the 18th century, oysters were produced everywhere.

And in those days, there were 400 million went into Billingsgate alone.

-400 million into Billingsgate?

-Yes.

That's very interesting, because the last time we quoted that figure,

my director said I was talking nonsense, and it's now just been

proved by an expert, Mr Prichard. Thank you very much. 400 million.

-Into Billingsgate?

-That's right.

How much would they have cost in those days?

Well, they were very, very cheap.

I've got a letter that was sent out years ago and they were...

I think it was 45p for 100, something like that.

-45p by today's rate for 100 oysters.

-Yes. No - old p, that is.

-Old p?

-Yes.

-Good God. And so what would they cost today?

Well, in London now they're anything from £5.50

-to £15 a dozen.

-Good Lord above.

Who's making all the money there? You're not making all that money.

Well, I think everyone's making a little, but we've got the little

and... Leave the rest to somewhere else, I think.

How would you describe the taste to them?

To me, it's like sort of having a taste of scent,

rather than an actual thing. There's no unpleasant texture.

It's delicious. But how would you describe it?

Well, I think it tastes of the sea.

It's fresh and leaves a lovely taste in your mouth

and gives you an appetite for your next course.

Does it give you an appetite for women?

Well, I don't know about that, but er...

I think the story for oysters does indicate that

they help your sex life.

I tell you what, eating these wonderful oysters,

drinking the wine, the whole bit is giving me such an appetite,

I actually want to go and cook something myself now.

Can I borrow your kitchen for a moment or two?

Yes, and may I say I've enjoyed your company very much?

-That's kind of you.

-I'll lead the way.

-OK.

Off we go to your kitchen, then.

Make a bit of a change from the rain.

We've done our bit out there. We can have a bit of fun for ourselves now.

So, you see, the importance of my little black box is

it's actually got the tools of my trade in,

and if the worst comes to the worst, if the BBC goes bust, I can still

get a job as a cook any day, and in fact, actually,

a cook is what I am, and although I've been enjoying myself with

the oysters outside, Len did give me some mussels, and I thought it'd be

quite good if I cooked you a few of Len's mussels, which have come from

the river, which is right outside this kitchen where I'm sitting now.

Erica's kitchen. It's really great. I'm standing, not sitting.

But one of the very important things about mussels,

and this is a mussel here, it's got this beard.

This is the big it attaches itself to the rocks with,

or wherever it lives. It's held on by this beard.

Obviously, it's inedible.

Vital thing, rip that right off, and by the way, it's quite a hard task.

You've got to rip that thing off.

Another thing that mussels often do to you

and confound all of your best-laid plans is often they're full of mud,

and if you've cooked them, as you'll see in a moment, and one of them's

full of mud, then you've blown it, so the essential test

with every mussel, put it sideways like that, and if it was

full of mud, it would have separated to reveal two halves of mud.

That one's good. So just to repeat that, do clean off everything.

If it's got barnacles, scrape it. Use a knife. Scrape it away.

Get them as clean as you can. That's enough lessons.

What we want to do now is get on with the actual cooking

process of these things, because they're beautiful.

And, actually, Erica, whose kitchen this is, cleaned a pile of them

for me earlier on - speeds things up, makes life a lot better.

Because mussels are fun, because you can cook them in white wine,

which is one of the prime ingredients of this particular

little dish, I'll just open that, just some dry white wine.

If you can't afford dry white wine, use some dry cider.

Doesn't matter too much.

If you're going to stop eating mussels

because you've got no wine or cider, then use a little drop of water.

But if you can, use some wine.

Other ingredients are one onion, for the amount of mussels we're

doing, a load of garlic here. Make sure they can see this garlic.

And then quite a bit of parsley.

We'll say about that much parsley.

And we want a bit of butter.

And you can't economise on these things.

You know, chuck in a quarter of a pound of butter into a pan

like that.

While that butter's melting,

I'm going to crush these cloves of garlic.

There's no need to peel them, by the way,

because you won't actually be eating the garlic -

you'll just be using the flavour of it, so you're wasting your time.

You could be better off having a glass of wine

instead of painfully getting garlic skin under your nails.

Actually, on the subject of wine, it's a myth

that you have to drink white wine with fish.

You can drink anything you like. Red wine's perfectly all right,

and I'm going to have a drop of that just for the moment -

under this intense pressure we've been working this morning...

to eat oysters and cockles and things.

Right, little slurp goes down very well. We've got to chop the onion.

You can always show off doing this. It's quite good.

You chop it finely like that, and then back like that,

and you never cut your fingers, which is quite important,

because the resulting mess is an inconvenience.

Chop, chop, chop.

Fast as you like or as slow as you like, but actually,

although I'm sort of showing off in half a way,

I'd rather you didn't show off at home and cut your fingers.

I'd rather you enjoyed the mussels, you know, take your time over it.

Actually, I think, with things like this, you know, it's a cheap meal

to prepare. It's a feast as well.

So now we want to get all of these elegantly prepared

ingredients popped in to the melted butter.

Chuck them in.

Just to remind you again - I'm sure you haven't paid proper attention -

it is parsley, garlic, onions and butter. Right. Maximum heat.

I don't cook on electricity all that often, as a matter of fact.

It's like on the last thing we did,

Dan made me cook on a camping base with no electricity.

Anyway. So in they all go.

All the lovely mussels. Might add a drop of white wine.

Talking of which, I actually haven't had a drink for a while.

Don't think it'd do me any harm to have a quick slurp.

Because it's hot in the kitchen. One needs a drink from time to time.

Now I'll put the lid on, let them stew away for a while.

You can, you know, just stop

because they've got to cook for a few moments.

Come back when I'm ready, OK?

MUSIC PLAYS

OK, you can come back now. All right? Bring your camera in.

I'm going to take the lid off and if it's all gone well,

you're going to see these little dreams opening up.

BUBBLING

Now, you see.

Look at those bubbling away.

Always...test the stuff.

God, already tasting terribly good.

I'll give those a little stir around with the thing here.

You see how they're beginning to... Beginning to open.

Incidentally, any that don't open through this...

After this cooking process is complete, don't eat them.

The ones that don't open are going to be dead.

Come right in there, Malcolm, please. Look, you've got

wonderful colours in there. You've got steam bubbling up.

You got the whole art of food happening here.

Come closer, closer, closer.

Now, ladies and gentlemen,

people we've met on this trip have all thought we're bit strange.

There you have a magnificent dish of moules marinieres.

HE SNIFFS

Gosh.

OK, so there we are. The cooking is done.

We've got Erica's mixing bowl.

I'd actually wanted some rather fine porcelain, but...

beggars which we are, I can assure you we can't be choosers.

Anyway, these mussels are cooked. Tip them into the bowl.

I'm not going to put all the juice in. That's why I'm using this spoon

with holes in, you see, because we don't want to burn our little

artists' fingers when we eat them with our fingers.

We're going to drink the sauce a little bit separately later on.

That was one for the Queen.

God, I am actually quite hungry.

Despite all the oysters we had earlier on. Hold on, a minute.

Hold on a minute. Hold it, hold it, hold it.

They are hot.

Hot.

But good. Very, very good.

Tell you what, you just hold there a minute.

Just keep gazing at these. Come in closer.

I want to get Erica a moment. Just keep on looking at them.

They're very beautiful. Erica, could you spare a moment, please?

-Erica?

-Yeah?

-Could you...? I'm sorry to interrupt.

You couldn't come through to your kitchen, could you?

Cos what I'd like you to do... We've left you a dreadful mess here.

Come round, look at Erica, because this is her kitchen.

We've ruined it all morning. We've trampled over the lawn.

We've abused her oyster farm. We've drunk her wine,

we've used her electricity and gas,

and all I've got to offer you is either -

and the choice is yours - one of my mussels, or a big kiss.

-Ooh.

-Which will you have?

-A big kiss.

-Ooh!

-Thanks ever so much.

We've really enjoyed being here, and that's everybody. It's been great.

-Thanks a million.

-You're welcome. Very welcome.

Try a mussel at the same time.

I wish you wouldn't interrupt.

It's my programme, for God's sake. Have a mussel anyway.

Have a little... They're quite hot.

And let me give you a little bit of juice if I can find a...

I know they're in here, because I've been looking around the kitchen

all morning. And...

Eat that one. Put a bit of juice in there as well.

And see how you like it.

If you don't like it, tell them. I can always lie about it later.

In fact, if you don't like it, we'll cut it out of the film.

-No, I adore them.

-Lovely.

-Mm. Beautiful.

Thanks a lot.

I certainly never get bored of seeing that man in action.

As ever on Best Bites, we're looking back at some of the great cooking

from the Saturday Kitchen archive. Still to come on today's Best Bites:

Chaos ensues as Gennaro Contaldo takes on Tom Kerridge

in the omelette challenge, but who would beat who,

or would any eggs be beaten at all? Find out a little later on.

Everyone's favourite Geordie, Kenny Atkinson,

brings John Dory to the table.

He pan-fries the fish and serves it with pickled chestnut mushrooms,

caramelised apples, cobnuts and parsnip puree. Delicious stuff.

And former EastEnder and Footballers' Wives star Zoe Lucker

faced her Food Heaven or Food Hell.

Would she get her Food Heaven - Italian food,

with my twist on a classic spaghetti vongole, with clams, white wine,

chorizo and parsley, topped off with some breadcrumbs?

Or would she get her dreaded Food Hell - cardamom, with my

cardamom creme caramel with filo rolls and fresh raspberries?

Find out what she gets to eat at the end of today's show.

Now, if you've been looking for the right souffle recipe to serve after

Sunday lunch, then look no further, because Will Holland has it licked.

And you can use up some of that leftover red wine, too.

-Hello, hello.

-Souffle. This is the souffle.

You've just made these two minutes ago.

We're going to put them straight in

and then we're going to do the whole process so it's not any sort of...

In the oven. 350 degrees centigrade. 170 Fahrenheit. Gas mark four.

-Eight minutes.

-Eight minutes.

-I'll put the timer on.

-Get the timer on.

-And don't open the oven door.

-That's it.

Don't keep going over there and checking if they're all right.

What I'm doing first of all, because I need to get this going,

is sugar and water. We're just going to make a syrup.

-So you're quite confident in these souffles?

-I think...

The thing is, there's a lot of...

You know, people at home are little bit scared about it, basically, and

there's no need to be scared,

and that's what I'm going to show you today.

-Why are you looking nervous?

-Famous last words!

Right, we're going to use the softened butter.

-That's what the syrup is, then?

-Well, the syrup's in here.

We're going to get that to...

-If we're getting technical, we're going to take it to 121.

-Yes.

-Which is soft-ball on a sugar thermometer.

-Soft-ball.

But to you, me and everyone at home, we're going to boil it

until it's "syrupy".

On a sugar thermometer, you'll have 121 degrees.

-Sugar and water boils more than boiling water.

-Right.

Boiling water stopped at 100.

You put sugar in it, it will continue to heat up to 160,

-170 degrees.

-OK.

And it's 121. So on a sugar thermometer it's soft-ball.

So that's one part of the base that's going there, the syrup,

-James. And then in here I've got cornflour...

-Yes.

-And red wine.

Often when you're making souffles,

you would make it out of a custard base.

This is the first time I've seen it with...

Well, cornflour you can do with creme pat, or creme patissiere.

Yeah, there's two ways, as you said.

The custard base,

and then there's this version, which is cornflour.

So all I've done is mixed cornflour and red wine.

And because I want it to be

a really, really intense red-wine flavour,

I've gone for a red wine with plenty of oomph. So, something big.

-Rioja, merlot.

-Like a good Saint-Emilion.

Chiraz, Saint-Emilion.

Something that's big and plenty of... Packs a good punch.

Right. When you're doing the souffle moulds for Will here,

what you do is you basically take the butter

and you make the lines up the side of the dish.

They're supposed to make the souffle rise.

-That's it.

-Up the side of the dish.

Onwards and upwards. So...

So rather than just rub butter over it...

I really, really think

it's mumbo jumbo, that kind of thing.

In fact, why don't you make one upwards, one downwards,

see which one is going to rise more?

We'll have a souffle...

It's a Michelin belief. You know, they want you

to believe that kind of thing in Michelin-star establishments.

-Oh, I see.

-Anyway, Will...

-Anyway, I've done it how you wanted you wanted it.

-That's it.

-Do it my way.

-You do it how you want.

When the sugar gets to that nice, syrupy consistency,

I'm just going to take that out the pan to stop it at that temperature.

I've got our egg whites here,

these again are the packet, pasteurised egg whites.

We're going to use pasteurised so that Jodie can enjoy the souffle.

How exciting. Thank you.

I don't want to give you partially cooked eggs.

So whip these up, no sugar yet. I'll add those a bit later.

What have we got going on there? What have you got in there now.

The cornflour and the red wine mix. Just need to bring it to the boil

and you can see how quick it comes, very, very quickly.

It's only been on there for, what, a minute and a half, two minutes.

You need to keep whisking this, particularly with the cornflour in.

Yeah, we don't want it to be lumpy. But soon as it's...

This is Rioja we've used in there.

-OK.

-Pour that in.

-As soon as it comes to the boil.

Out it comes. You can see how thick it is.

Get all of that out and then get the whisk in there

and just whisk the syrup and the red wine together.

That's it, that's the finished base, it's as simple as that.

Tell us about Ludlow. Amazing place, famous for wonderful antique shops.

-Great food.

-Of course.

-Foodie

-hot spot. It's a very, very famous place for food.

I'm just going to pop this in the fridge.

I'm going to throw in my sugar.

Get this done as quick as possible.

Cos when we make the souffle it needs to be cold.

But, yeah, Ludlow, it's a fantastic food destination.

There's great restaurants,

but it's also the kind of culture and town of food,

you know, the butcher's and the baker's

and we've got a fantastic food festival

that happens every year in September.

-Yeah, which you're doing, of course.

-Well, I'm not doing it.

It's been going a lot longer than I've been in town, but it's...

I think it's its 17th year, this year, which is just incredible.

So, for each souffle,

just going to give that a quick whisk.

-Have you got a whisk?

-Yeah, I've got a whisk.

It's really important that the base is cold when you make the souffle.

Would you like a Kenny Atkinson whisk or a normal whisk?

-You said that, not me!

-Yes.

Kenny won't be watching anyway. Right.

Cos it sets up, it's basically turned into a jelly.

-So, that's what we want. Couple of tablespoons per souffle.

-Yeah.

But Ludlow is famous for Shaun Hill,

Merchant House, that kind of thing.

Shaun Hill was the pioneer, he was the original.

I'm just there to fly the flag.

But it is great,

so many great produce, or so many great suppliers of produce,

literally within the area.

It's a rich area for all things lovely.

At the moment someone's actually rearing suckling pigs for me,

so I've got a farmer that's actually...

The pigs have already got my name on them

as they're running round the yard.

I don't think they know it, but...

-They're all called Will?

-Yeah, exactly, they've got a tag on there.

Now, you're whisking this with a whisk.

I always do souffles like this,

but a lot of people then use the spatula and fold it in.

-It's much quicker this way.

-Listen, this is...

I don't want to say it's a foolproof recipe, yet, but...

Yet? Doesn't look like at the moment it is?

But you can be pretty...

Pretty...

-brutal.

-Robust with it.

-So use the whisk.

-It's the cornflour that's...

-Yeah, the cornflour's nice and hard.

-Did you sugar those as well?

-Yes, they've been sugared.

So I'm just going to grab a spoon. But, yeah, instead of using...

Don't be afraid about getting your arm in there

and just really incorporating the meringue, essentially,

-and the base.

-You make these before service, don't you?

So, if you're doing a dinner party...

Yeah, these are brilliant for at home.

Because of the cornflour, it's quite a sturdy mix,

so you don't have to kind of make it and cook them straightaway.

You can make them a good couple of hours before.

And just pop them in the fridge.

Yeah, put them in the fridge,

so you've got your dessert ready to go, basically,

and as soon as it's pudding time,

pop them in the oven - eight minutes or so.

Now, you've got to be careful not to...

You press it round the edges with a palette knife, don't you?

Yeah, I'll show you. I'll just get this other one in there as well.

That's the one key bit with it, is not to...

Because any area of the ramekin

that's not got butter and sugar on it,

-that's where it would stick.

-So you can blame me.

Yeah, that's it.

You know, it was the poorly buttered moulds, wasn't it?

That'll be the one.

But use a palette knife and just...

smooth it off like that.

Now, I know you're a keen cook, Jodie.

-Ever tried making a souffle for a dinner party?

-Erm...

Ooh, it's very dangerous, isn't it? Souffle for a dinner party,

and especially with the old AGA.

But I've got someone at home who's a fantastic cook, called Rachel,

and she did cheese souffle the other day and it was brilliant.

-Was it?

-Yes.

So I do love them, but I'm... I'm a roast girl.

I can do a roast for a dinner party,

-but, yeah, souffle I'd get a bit nervous.

-You've got 30 seconds left.

If you can show us how to finish those off.

All I've done is wiped my thumb round the edge,

the temptation is not to lick your thumb at that stage

-and that stops the souffle mix from sticking to the edge.

-Right.

Now, you just pop them in the fridge as they are?

In the fridge as they are,

and they can go in the oven when you're ready.

And what you've done for me, James, is just make this small berry salad.

It's really nice, like you said,

-with all the fruits coming out of your garden.

-Yep.

But, yeah, we've just got a bit of creme fraiche,