Episode 48 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites

Good morning. There's more world class food coming up op today's

Welcome to the show. We have these delicious dishes from the Saturday

kitchen back catalogue for you to enjoy. A stuffed veal chop that I

cooked for Laurence Lel Len Bowen. This sea bass poached in red wine

with cabbage and oysters would look perfect on any dinner party menu.

The perfect way to end a meal is with a desert, from Michel Roux.

Martin Kemp faced his food heaven or hell. Baked crab with salad in

line for heaven or beef hot pot waiting for food hell.

Before all that, here is a recipe from one of the hairy bikers, Dave

Myers. Good to have you on the show. What

are we cooking. Something special. Big on the Isle of Man. There's

something written on your hand. mate gets these. Brilliant. They

don't dive for them, they don't trawl and dig the sea-bed up. They

trawl for them. But they have a a tickling chain. 20 feet they can go

from its biovalve. The baby ones go back in the sea. It is sustainable.

The Isle of Man are looking after them. They are delicious.

forgot to mention they have 60 odd eyes. 64 eyes. That one has 63

actually. Tell us what we have here. I have combined this with a pad

Thai., you need to make your home- made red Thai curry sauce. Which I

am doing. Lime zest instead of lime leaves. It tastes less like

furniture polish. Some lemongrass, white pepper. Cumin seeds,

corriander seeds. Chillis, garlic and shallotte. I am going to sweat

an onion and ginger. Not the old chopping of the onion

trick. There is a good friend of ours, he says there's nothing more

boring than watching someone chopping an onion on telly.

I would use ground nut oil for this, maybe with a dash of sesame, but

needs must. Are you using ginger. Yes. Do you go over to Thailand in

the morning and get these things. In Barrow-in-Furness, where I come

from, we have a Thai stall on our local market. One of the local

girls, Tuk, hello Tuk! I can get the baby aubegines, I get my

morning glory. Anybody that is interested, I am putting everything

in a pestle and mortar. Don't worry about that, James, use a blender,

we'll be here all day. You can get all those ingredients at Asian

supermarkets as well. They are great ingredients. Cheaper, too.

Thailand the grocers are incredible, I couldn't believe it, just a way

siteed grocer, you walk in, I was staying some people who were

Australia and they went down the the supermarket every day and and

came back with Kelloggs Cornflakes! There's enough for four servings,

but it will keep for three our four weeks in the fridge.

Top tip, if you were to leave these noodles, they would go solid and

into a mass, like when you make sushi rice, you put vinegar on it.

I do the same with noodles. It freshens them up. Put a bit of oil

in the noodles. It stops them sticking together.

There is your paste ready. Some of the scallops we are going to cook

on a tray. They make a wonderful What's next? In goes the paste.

Just cook it off for a moment with the onions. Now I'm getting the

smell! This is the advantage of using the home-made stuff. Let's

have a bit more. It's true. Salt and pepper? Yes, please, James.

Into that, my noodles, which have been dressed with vinegar and oil.

The Isle of Man is a brilliant place. It has the best motor

cycling in the world. They have the TT at the minute. Fish sauce.

of Man. It is one of those places, a food Mecca. They have wonderful

seafood, incredible lamb, cheese, ice-cream, meats. The island is

largely organic. Fish sauce and soy sauce in there. Will you crush my

nuts. Steady. I'm on my way. Crushed nuts on its way. What James

is doing, I have king prawns in there, and the scallops are going

in. They take about a minute. Any more and it's like squash balls.

Pak choi for colour and vitamins. The thing about scallops, they're

really simple. They have a round shell and a flat top here. Always

use a dining knife, table knife. Round shell on the base of the

board, flat on the top and scrape the top of the shell. It loosens up

and you can take this off here, it's full of sand, because they

have been in the net. You can use that for an ashtray. You could make

a bikini. They're good. You put them over

your bits, to stop the sun burning them. If you you don't like

scallops., you can follow the Pad Thai recipe up to this point or

leave it as a vegetarian tasty treat. Do you cut the orange bits

off? I love them, they're fine. They look like a little chicken, a

cartoon chicken. They haven't got a lot of flavour, the coral? I would

use the coral for stock and bits and pieces. Small ones are not too

bad. They don't give you the coral in most restaurants. We want to

know where they go. It is the big coral heaven in the science. They

are sweeter than king scallops. What about the Prince and Princess

scallops. What happened to them! With a cascade of crushed nuts, and

lime juice on there and I have very clean hands, so don't complain.

This is a meal for one or two? would say it would serve six as a

starter, two as mains. Remind us what it is. That's making

the most of a delicacy, Isle of Man Queen scallops but done as a pad

Thai with prawns and crushed nuts. It is the heaviest dish I have ever

taken over. It is the lightest thing I have ever done!

Fill your boots. Delicious, wow. Dive in. You mentioned all the

scallops, but there are prawns here as well. Where did they come from?

It's boiling hot as well. It has just come out of the pan! They were

cooked out of the shell but they are really sweet. It's brilliant

stuff. Beautiful. Pass it to the big Geordie at the end. You could

make a beef redtury with it. You can taste the lemongrass and it is

like food as medicine, all those flavours do your good as you are

eating. Is that Thai street food, making things quickly in a wok.

is like going to a carry out, just have everything done at home and

ready. It is quick to cook. Get a bigger plate next time!

Coming up, I have a great veal chop recipe to serve for designer

Laurence lieuelen Bowen but now Rick Stein.

This is the centre of Bastiy. A bastion and when the town was

threatened, this is where the towns people came for protection. I met a

party of schoolchildren on a history tour and of course I

couldn't resist asking them what their favourite dishes were. I just

wondered if you asked the same question of a group of English

children, very British children, very difficult thing to ask, not

try to go rub people's noses in it but all these kids know their

dishes so well and they are all the sort of dishes I would suspect they

would choose, not burgers and chips. Most of the children said they

really liked figatelle. Here in this village, the best are made

from corsican black pig. This farmer farms his own because he

says it is the start of the whole business of making charcuterie to

be proud of. This is is, the famous figatelle. It is made with the

heart, liver, kidneys and cheek and all the bits that don't tend up to

turn up on the butcher's slab. What makes them special is they add salt,

pepper, red wine and most importantly they smoke them over

chestnut wood and you end up with, I think, the best tasting product

on the island. He says for him the importance of

making this is feeding a passion, but it is also about improving the

product all the time and making something that wins prizes on the

island. Here charcuterie is as important as local politics. Pascal

is saying he is happy to be making these products because Corsica

charcuteri is what it is all about. He started as a footballer but

wasn't strong enough and remembered his aunt was a famous producer of

this meet and he copied and learnt what she was doing and as it

happens he is possibly the best making of charcuterie on the island.

That evening I went to the the -- a local festival. The Pride of place

went to this, chestnut flour heated up in water and stirred and stirred

until it takes on the consistency of fudge. I have been watching him,

he has to do this for half an hour and not only is he stirring it, but

he's twissling the polendio. It is poor people's food in the same way

as the similar sounding polentia is to the Italians. When it is stirred

enough, it is celebrated rather than the piping in of the haggis

But to me, it's something, well I wasn't in a tremendous rush to try

it, I was fascinated to see that once it had cooled down it was cut

by a piece of string, tied to this man's finger. Corsica moves in

Interesting. I don't know whether I like it so much on its own. It does

taste very chestnuty, but with a sausage, it goes very well, the

smoky taste and the chestnut taste, Well I won't be cooking that back

home in Padstow but I do feel really strongly about this, my

little interpretation of Corsica. Of all the islands in the med,

Corsica is about forests and mountains and in the winter it gets

really cold. So this really reflects it. We have game in the

form of wild boar, wild mushrooms, Figatelle, I have had to use chor

use chorizo. I am going to finish it off with chestnuts, thrown in at

the last minute. They would be the food symbol of the whole island of

Corsica. This is actually my dish, but I

wouldn't mind guessing there are similar dishes all over Corsica,

because it is using all those very distinctive flavours. But I came up

with the idea at that village really, because when they were

celebrating all those particular foods of the area, for me, as a

cook, I think it is quite important to use the local ingredients,

council up with a dish and it sets a picture of the dish in the

country in my mind. Having mar nait it had in red wine for 24 hours, I

drain it off and fry the wild boar to brown the meat. I am putting the

pork in two batches, otherwise it will boil in its own Joyce, rat --

juice, rather than Carmelise. I am using Chorizo. Now for a spoonful

of tomato puree and flour to thicken the stew.

This is a new look me, no measured amounts of flour, learnt from

mothers and grand 9043ers from -- grandmothers from all over the

Mediterranean, just bung it in. It's so important to really seer

meat when you are make ago stew. I was reading somebody saying that

Corsican stew everything. It is lovely and velvety now. The colour

is so good when you Carmelise the meat.

I put in some dried mushrooms for a woodland flavour and home-made beef

stock. I season this well. It is a rich dish, comforting, autumnal

food, perfect for when the the wind is whistling through the windows. I

cover it and simmer for an hour to an hour-and-a-half. I add ordinary

mushrooms and tlen put in the essence of Corsica, chestnuts.

These come from a tin and I am very pleased they did, too, because it

would take longer to peel the things than cook the entire dish.

Add parsley, cook for a further ten minutes and serve, with a good

chunky pasta like penne. And a deep local red wine would be a welcome

addition. I was so pleased that it was only

ten miles between one country and another. So it's goodbye France and

hello cappuccino and Garibaldi. A few thoughts on leaving Corsica.

Strong flavours and stews, chestnuts and sausages. To Sardinia,

which gave its name to the silvery fish, because sardines were found

in abun dance around -- abundance around its shores. I was looking

forward to pasta, sheep cheese, lovely wines. How different is this

going to be, I thought. That was a bit startling. I think

it said tourists remember you are not in Italy. Not a wonderful

welcome. I suppose it is like in Scotland you see English go home or

in Monty Python's Life Of Brian, Romans go home. Do they still

kidnap tourists here? I don't know. I am going to see one of my

favourite Italian cheeses being made and the best is produced by

shepherds in the hills. It's Pecorino, it comes from Pecora

which means sheep. These shep herds help each other by going from farm

to farm. It is as if I am stepping back in time here. It is like that

a lot in Sardinia, not, however on the Costa Esmerelda. This is sheps

milk and putting in rein et before the next stage. It doesn't take

long for the milk to set and form Kurds. Form curds.

I was brought up on a farm but they gave up using these clippers in

about 1958. But I can remember one of the chaps on the farm called chr

Charlie who my oldest brother pinched him and he pinched him so

hard it actually pinched through his shorts. Because his hands hands

were so strong from working the clippers.

This is a basic how to make cheese lesson. I have been in enormous

factories wearing hair nets and coats and I know which cheese I

would prefer to eat. I just love this. It is stirred with a branch,

cuts up the curds perfectly. I know I have said this before, but

I am always utterly mesmerised by people doing things with their

hands with extreme expertise. I could watch him forever. It is so

relaxing. There is nothing new in cheese making. It is an age old way

of preserving milk which goes back 10,000 years when sheep and goats

were first domesticated and put in herds to graze. He says he loves

making cheese. He has been doing it all his life and loves being in

contact with his animals. In Britain, most cheese making, the

way is probably fed to pigs but here they make a second cheese,

ricotta, which means recooked and he is bringing the temperature up

and gather what is left in the whey to make ricotta. Delicious. I was

also noticing that he is so skup lus scrupulous in making the cheese.

Everything is kept perfectly clean. He totally understands what he is

doing of course. After half an hour, he thinks the ricotta is ready.

This is a culinary first for me. We have all had ricotta but few people

have had the chance to have ricotta which is 24 seconds old.

I don't know how to describe it. It is like the best rice pudding you

have ever tasted. It is creamy and delicate. It doesn't taste like

cheese, it tastes like a lovely, lovely pudding really. That is how

and I am really pleased to have been there. Now I want to cook with

the Pecorino back at home and I am going to make a carbonarra and this

cheese is perfect for it. The other thing is a good chunk of pancetta,

which is very like bacon. The subtle difference being it is cured

for longer, that it is salted and hung up in drying sheds, a bit like

parma ham. It has a more concentrated flavour and it's

essential in a load of Italian dishes. It gives that lovely meaty,

salty flavour in the background. Just chop it into chunks, little

cubes. Now one of the things I picked up

in Italy which gives me great great pleasure is how to open a packet of

There's loads of stories as to where carboarra comes from, in the

Second World War when the GIs were in Rome and they had loads of bacon

and eggs so the Italians acquired them in a legal or or illegal way

and came up with this. I put in three glofs of chopped garlic,

parsley and spaghetti, which goes straight into the pan.

Now a tip I picked up in Italy, they often use a bit of the cooking

water of the pasta just to make a bit of sauce. Another strong

contender for the origins of this dish goes way back in time to days

of charcoal burners who worked outside the walls of Rome. It is

said they used to cook bacon, eggs and cheese on their hot shovels,

hence charcoal, carbon, carbonarra. This is more typical of Italian

pasta dishes because it takes no time to make. I met an Italian chef

who said never use par zan in carboarra or cream, I used to use

both. I said what about Pecori no, yes, he said, but never cream.

Don't use cream, you are talking to the wrong chef. There are lots of

Italian cheeses, one you may not have heard of, Dolcelatte Torte, it

is layered in a terrine. I am going to open this vole chop up and stuff

the cheese inside. You could use lamb, -- veal. Veal is delicious.

Cheesy veal? The problem is, it is not like Stilton, because you have

msrscapone in there, it is creamy. It is cheesy veal. You are trial it

in a minute. I love veal. Morecambe is a home from home for you. I am

doing a lot of stuff for for Blackpool. Morecambe is glitzier,

the difference between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Morecambe in particular,

because you are doing the illuminations in Blackpool? Yes, I

was heading up a judging panel for a new illumination for this year. I

did my own tableau, which happens on the front. It is quite

distracting and it is still getting queues. And you are saying stuff

about cheesy veal. Every 15 minutes you get a picture of my wife coming

out. You have been doing it, you are doing doing it this year.

think Blackpool is an extraordinary institution. It is one of the few

places in this country where design is used just for its own sake. It

is about making people smile, it is about colour, glamour, it is not

about big, heavy institutions. Designers is personal preference.

We proved that with the most successful show, which was the show

that got you spotted in the first place, Changing Rooms. That is very

subjective. Didn't one of them get so bad they tried to take you to

court? No, but what was really funny was that when Changing Rooms

was being planned and they said to me and said they were working on an

interior show the exact English they used was it is going to be

interior design, it is going to be Ready Steady Cook but insteerior

design, so you can see where it came from. Moving on, what are you

doing at the moment? I've got a new series going very well, I own

Britain's best home and garden for Channel 5. A good plug there.

wasn't bad. Do you want me to plug anything else? No, carry on. I own

Britain's best garden, because the gardens are part of the National

Guarden steam, you can go and visit them. It's big, gorgeous, two or

three acre gardens on a Thursday night on telly. There is another

fantastic programme, I saw Ainslie the other day on it, something you

are doing, Who Do you Think You are? The extraordinary thing was

discovering that I was related to Ainslie. When you see us in our

underpants, suddenly it all comes into perspective! Welsh descendants.

I have to out myself as a Welshman with some English ancestors, but I

am dealing with that one. Although they are at least from Somerset. It

is an extraordinary experience, because suddenly there you are, I

am very interested in history now I am meeting my DNA, but 200 years

ago, in periods I know an enormous amount about. I have a swe swanky

family. A house in the country now, has that been in your blood?

remember reading an interview my wife gave and said it was vulgar to

be still living in town at 40, which explained the fact we moved

to the Cotswolds. We love it. have really into it now. Yes.

have your own veg garden. You are producing cider. Last year, very

clevery Jacqui conducted an apple Amnesty. It is a very ver dent

village and she said let's pool the apples and make cider. We found we

have a very specific type of apple, which is all about making cider. We

managed to make cider that tasted of wee, but not just fresh wee,

really, really old wee. You can't buy it any more. No, although it

has brought the silver up nicely. Anything metallic comes up great.

Over in this pan, I have my onions, garlic, tomatoes in there. A quick

ratatouille. Basil goes in, nice and quick. Stir it all together.

Over here, in my oven, I have cooking away nicely, plenty of

butter, which is the secret of these veal chops. What we can do is

You need butter to crisp up the crumbs. The only problem is, the

smell is attacking all of our love handles. We are expanding being in

the same atmosphere. Tonnes and tonnes of butter. Season this up.

Some salt. Pepper. Then we can lift this off and very quickly grab your

ratatouille. There is a little bit missing in the in the middle, it

should be ratatatatatoulle!. I have to get you some decent

cutlery. And some garnish. Cheesy That dish is well worth having a go

at this weekend. You can find the recipe on the website of course.

Here is another one to cast your eyes over and it is from John

Tanaka. We will get on to the om let's later. I am going to do

poached sea bass in red wine, oysters, ceps, Italian black

cabbage. But you can grow it in the UK. I grow it in my garden. My wife

grows it. I have red wine, port, different

spice,, cinnamon, star anise, corriander seeds and bayleaf.

is for the poaching liquor for the bass. The thing about this is you

want to infuse the spices into the liquid. You don't want to to reduce

too much, so on a very gentle heat for half an hour to release the

flavours in the spices. Bayleaf goes in there. People think it is

an unusual way to cook cook fish but it is a classic way of cooking

fish. Yes, it is. What is The classic French dish. It is a

Borderlais-style! Season the fish, and leave it for

ten minutes. Then put it into the liquid. The marinade you have in

there, you allow it to simmer for half an hour. Release the flavours.

The alcohol reduces a bit and then you put the fish inside. You want

me to open the oysters. The secret of opening oysters is, there is a

round part of the shell, keep the flat part pointing upwards and open

it on the side. Once you go in, just wiggle the knife and they

should lift up. You keep as much of the water in if

you are going to serve it like this. But really use a tea towel for that.

I have seen too many chefs make too many accidents without the tea

towel. The black cabbage, you can't eat the stalk, you want the leaves.

Blanch it in in salted water for a bit, a clove of garlic and I am

going to add the cabbage in there. Literally, the liquid should be

steaming, perfect temperatures. Cep mushrooms, in season at the moment,

it is the Royals Royce of mushrooms, a meaty flavour, fantastic with

fish, with all sorts of stuff. All you need to do to clean it is peel

the stalk, all the trimings, you can try out and make into a powder

to put in pasta sauces or put on a steak. Or go to nick to Nick Nairns

place. We went out on the boat. It's proper posh.

We did find some fan fastic mushrooms. I am going to put them

in flour and egg and then what else. They are not standard bread crumbs.

They are Japanese bread crumbs. When you coat stuff in Japanese

bread crumbs it tends to be lighter, because they are bigger chunks than

normal ground ground bread crumbs and it makes a nice crunchy coating.

Where would you get them from? Japanese supermarkets?. I am not

sure, do they sell them in supermarkets? One or two might do.

Mushrooms into the pan, olive oil, season them after you have the

colour, few season beforehand, it brings out the water in the

mumrooms and prevents it from colouring. These oysters, we are

going to deep fry them. About a minute. How do you find oysters at

10.00 in the morning. I'm ready. Straight in, quite hot oil, 180,

190. I am going to add double cream to this pan. Reduce it down with a

clove of crushed garlic. You are going to fry that off, my oysters

are cooking away nicely. Season the cabbage. And then wait for these to

colour up. The fish, how can we going to poach it in red wine, the

bass is different to the size of fish you could be buying. A lot of

people when they cook fish at home, they are scared of cooking

undercooked fish, so they overcook it and then they start poking

around. You get a cocktail stick, no pressure, insert it into the

fish, if you feel resistance, it is not cooked. As soon as the cocktail

stick peerss through smoothly, then it is cooked. You have been a busy

guy, what else are you doing at the moment, apart from the restaurant.

You are doing a new programme. is called food pogo, starts on

Monday at 4 it 30. It is combining food and pogo together. Four chefs,

it is a competition, with pogo thrown into the mix. Instead of

numbers, it is ingredients on the cards, so anything can come up.

That starts on Monday. Yes. garlic you have put in there for

flavour. I am gck to take the cooking liquid, straight into the

hot pan and we are going to add a knob of butter to that. A touch of

red wine vinegar, will balance out the sweetness of the port. People

think you add butter there, it will footy on the top, but it starts to

The cabbage is good with liver and things like that. Very versatile.

Ceps, watch out, maggots love them and they tend to live inside the

stalk. My dad called it fibre as a Poached sea bass in red wine and

port, crispy oysters and ceps. that done in seven-and-a-half

Looks fantastic, but will Graham like it.

Tell us what you think. Open up that fish and you will see the

definition of colour, a beautiful white flesh in the middle.

smells fantastic. It's not just bass you can do that with. No any

meaty fish. Even the cabbage isn't too bad.

Why did you put it into the ice water. To stop it cooking, and to

keep the colour. That is wonderful. The fish in red

wine is a difficult one to handle, because if you get it right, it is

sublime, but if you get it wrong it can take away from the fish.

Simmering, it is literally steaming. The perfect temperature is 70

degrees. Superb. Very autumnal. If you don't have ceps, John

wouldn't mind you using other wild mushrooms instead. Now a selection

of seasonal ideas. Autumn is a hugely exciting time if

you are a wild fungi fan like me. As summer fades, the warm and damp

conditions transform fields and forests across Britain into one of

the prettiest, tastiest and sometimes deadliest of natural

larders. The fairy wonderful of incredible

fungi captivated me as a child and as a grown up cook the fruits of an

autumnal ramble are no less exciting, but there is one treat

that has so far ill leaded me. The British truffle, before I die I

hope to find one and take it home to cook.

Like all the best things in life, the British black truffle is

notoriously hard to find, but today I have been invited to a secret hot

spot in the Peak District by Dr Paul Thomas, one of the UK's top

truffle experts and I have a good feeling in my bones.

I am very excited about today. Nice to go mushroom hunting, I am

in the presence of the King of truffles. Not just truffles we are

after today, there's loads of other mushroom goodies to be unearthed in

this ancient woodland. For every edible wild mushroom there are at

least 30 you wouldn't want to touch, so be certain before you try

anything. It is very tempting to be greedy when picking wild fungi, but

you only pick a handful of what is available and always use a knife to

avoid damaging it. Bright purple mushroom, chattering

voices in the trees and whizzing wings mushroom. It may be a relief

to hear some of our best tasting mushrooms are harvested

commercially and can be bought fairly easily. Check this one out.

You can probably smell it before you get here.

This is called a stink horn. It is not good for eating. I got a whiff

of T Is it known as the deaf I will's penis. -- devil's penis.

Not for the basket. With a forest full of mushrooms we had been side

tracked from our main objective, finding my first wild British

truffle. This wooded area is rich in

limestone its moist soil is prime truffle territory. Unfortunately,

unlike the growing collection of wild fungi in our basket, truffles

grow underground. What would I be looking for, how will I know when I

have found a truffle? What we are looking for are, you see areas of

burnt off vegetation around the base of the tree, that is the

truffle kidge the veg at that -- killing the vegetation around the

tree. You will see scratching marks marks around the tree. Because

squirrels will be looking for them. We might be lucky enough to find

fraing fragments of truffles or whole truffles. There are signs

here. Would than the kind of thing you are looking for? Yes. That is a

small animal activity. It is going for something down there, whether

it is beech nut or truffle, it is hard to tell. If you have a dig

around, to see if there is any remnants of anything. Oh my God...

No, sorry. They grow with trees like oak. The truffle provides the

tree with water and nutrients. In any of these trees has a truffle

buddy, so far they are not letting on. With no luck we are heading to

pastures new. Keep this location a secret. On our

way, Paul stumbles across some unexpected treasure. Perfect.

of the greatest mushrooms known to mankind, the cep, or penny bun.

That is pleasure to be hold. In my top ten, the cep probably comes in

at number two. It is almost impossible to resist raw temptation.

That is deep, man. As we reach Paul's last truffle tip we are

running out of light and time but it feels promising. I set off this

morning determined to fulfil one of life's dreams, to uncover my first

wild British truffle. All good things come to those who wait.

After countless minor excavations and dusk approaching, reality is

sinking in. Looking for the elusive truffle has been a great, great joy.

A fantastic day but here I am smelling my 5,000th bit of rotting

wood matter. I am admitting defeat today. Free black British truffles

are hard to come by but you can buy them from posh grocers for around

�30 for 100 grams. Today I am a lucky man. Paul has brought along

an amazing starve of black truffles for us to sample. These eggs are

going to be penetrated with truffle. I don't know what you think, I like

my scrambled eggs with no milk in them at all. Sounds good to me.

double yolker. Can we go truffle bonkers.

Look at that marble, so pretty. both like it nice and runny.

No pep earthquake, just truffle and eggs, forget toast. You first, sir.

This looks excellent. That's actually really, really good.

That is an intense truffle. This would make a fabulous Sunday

morning treat. How could something so utterly simple, deliver such a

serious grown up, full on, whopper of a dish. That's the

truffle. That is the truffle. Big up the truffle.

Lots of delis and supermarkets seled wild mush mushrooms at this

time of year. Choose the best you can afford and they will make this

lass Anya unforgettable. -- lasangne. Fry the mumrooms until

the moisture has been sisled off. Throw in garlic and thyme.

Then put to one side. Add a healthy armful of spinach to

a pan with hot oil. It will crackle and spit but the resistance is

short-lived and soon gives up the fight.

Grate nutmeg and season. Thoroughly squeeze the spinach free of water.

Cook sheets of lasagne in boiling water. Oil a dish and cover the

base with a few sheets of pasta. Add a layer of mushrooms and

spinach, add roughly crumbled goats cheese and cover with more pasta.

Continue layering until all the ingredients are used up, finishing

with a layer of pasta. Dribble oil on top and cheese and cover with

single cream. Bake for 40 minutes, then tuck into

a lasagne bursting with the most wonderful woodland flavours.

We are not cooking live in the studio today. We are showing you

some of the highlights from the recipe archives. Still to come on

today's best bites, Tana Ramsey takes on the omelette challenge.

Bill Grainger has a delicious recipe for us. His version of a

classic Coq au Vin would make the ideal Sunday lunch. Martin Kemp

faces food heaven or food hell. Did he get the baked crab he was hoping

for or was it a piping hot beef hot pot. Find out at the end of the

show. Here is a cooking legend, Michel roux.

Cherry meringue. You need egg white, which I am

going to get immediately, you need to whisk them for a little while

and sugar and a bit of icing sugar. The first time I have seen icing

sugar in meringue. I don't give all my secrets at once. It gives what I

call the texture as well and the ivory colour to the meringue, to

use icing sugar. That is my recipe Full speed. Three egg whites.

the sugar. On my recipe, it is beaten by hand. He is ignoring you.

He is deaf again! I can't see you or hear you. Here

we are, we have done that, we get rid of the egg yolk. We have

cherries here, they are not in season in the UK yet. No. But in

two weeks, a week or tworks there will be plenty and they will be

there for four to six weeks. They will be cheaper. They are huge,

those cherries. These are �2 each. You were done. I get them half that

price. The syrup is on. The rhubarb, look at that rhubarb. What have you

added to the meringue. Just the sugar in there? Only sugar. I have

the syrup, I have the bay leaves and the thyme, because it flavours

everything. Do you want the cherries in there? Yes. Bay leaves

and thyme in there. People often put herbs and spices with fruit,

they go very well together. I want to have a look at the stiffness of

the meringue. Look at that. That is half of the sugar and it's there.

Now we put the other icing sugar in and we let it churn again. So far

it's good. Thank you very much. Then I am cutting the rhubarb. If

it is bigger than that, we just want to cook it for the flavour. We

put sugar in it with the syrup and we cook it for a few minutes. It is

for the children, for the grown up I do that desert, the meringue with

prunes as well, plums, when they are in season, which is lovely.

you want the vanilla in there? That is perfect, a few minutes in

the liquidiser. You want these in a bowl. That's better. These go in

the fridge? Yes, please. You know what is happening, James, he's

obviously got you and you are very good, but normally he's used to

working with 20 chefs around him. Not any more. He's a bit lost.

was not nice. You are doing it contrary to what

everybody will have been taught by adding the sugar carefully at the

end. You chuck everything N Absolutely right. Why the icing

sugar? Because can look at the texture, look at that, and look at

the holding of that., isn't it lovely. It's too soft. A little too

soft. It's not. You are going to get it in a minute. I think it's

perfect, dad. You are not too old to get a slap. Now you think it is

perfect. I want my meringue. It's like Jeremy Kyle now! A big

spoonful, Can you do the the sauce. Did you put the cherries? I did put

the cherries n they are too expensive to be forgotten!

Why is he going to spoil that with The whole cherries are in there.

week ago I was in in ant art ka. Tell us about the dog slaying.

have to look after the dog in the morning, at dinner, you leave with

the dogs, the husky. They look at you nicely if you feed them. If you

forget to feed them they don't look at you nice, but it is very healthy,

you do 50 or 60 kilometres a day. Why don't you take a snow mobile or

something like that. I like the animal, they are like my selves. It

When you want to cool down the sauce very quickly, you put it in a

tray for a few minutes and then the bowl on ice. A couple of minutes,

Look at that, the syrup. There is a bayleaf sticking out of one.

are jealous. Look at the syrup, look at what I am doing with the

syrup. This is for the guests sitting next to you, not for you.

He's done that a few times. coulis can be served separate or

around it, it is very light. The colour goes beautifully well,

because it is pinkish. Here we are. Looks good to me. Cherries meringue

with rhubarb coulis. Fabulous. Right, Chris, you've got to try

this one. It was fine until you got the rhubarb out. You would do that

with prunes as well. Yes, when they are in season and other fruit as

well. You have to poach them lightly first and pat them dry and

mix with the meringue. Enjoying it! It's very good. Put them in the

oven, two hours in the oven. Fantastic.

We are not live in the studio today, but we are looking back at some of

the great moments from the Saturday kitchen archives instead. You think

being married to one of the world's best chefs would mean you pick up

some cooking stips so I wonder if Tana ram say knows how to make the

perfect omelette. I expect not. We have a new man on pole position,

Paul Rankin, 15.12 seconds. Do you think you can go quicker?

couldn't get any slower. Fast as It's not happening.

OK Can I put cheese on now. James, Bill Grainger knows how to make

disdishes that are simple and delicious and here is his version

of a a Sunday lunch classic. I am going to do my version of a Coq au

Vin, traditional it takes a long time. This is a very, very fast

version. Using the same ingredients. The French version they use red or

white wine. I have never been a fan of the red wine version. I am not a

traditionalist. I have a chicken, the biggest chick chicken I have

ever seen. Zur in England now. We have a smaller island than you.

If you wanted to buy pieces already cut up, this is the time to do it.

But I think it's good to know how to chop up your own chicken. I came

about doing this recipe, I was going to do a classic Coq au Vin, I

got all the ingredients and the day got away from me, I didn't have

time. I used those same ingredients but put them together in a slightly

different way. Chop the legs and thighs off. This is a big chicken.

Trying to get the knife in, I am the son of a butcher, I should know

how to do this. If you wanted to buy pieces, you could buy legs and

Buy legs and thighs. It wouldn't work so well with just breast. You

want the dark meat. Traditionally you would cut this up, obviously

using a smaller chicken. I chop the end piece off and you get a big

chunk because that is going to cook quicker. I am going to serve this

with a classic mash. Classic mash would be three tonne of butter. You

would normally marinade this overnight and roast it for hours.

But this dish was developed to use an old chicken. An old rooster.

Exactly. But we don't need to do that now, we are getting great

fresh chickens and they are younger and they don't need as much cooking

to be tender. I have that on the tray. I am going to throw some

You could use a chopped up red onions, you can use bacon or

pancetta. You have never watched that programme that is on every

morning on BBC, that we send all those Brits to Australia. I have

done the reverse, I I am on the plane back. Sell Britain to the

Aussies. The coffee is getting better. I love it. I have to say, I

love being in Britain, I have spent the summer being in Britain and

travelling around and the great food. I got a bit of a tan. I

brought my flip-flops but haven't used them yet. You have another

name in Australia for flip-flops. We call them thongs. A bit of

chilli on there. Olive oil, and some rose Mary and thyme. These are

the recipes I like, classic dishes but I like mucking around with them

a bit. Roast that for 20 minutes. Then what you do is after 20

minutes you make the sauce. have mushrooms here. Any type?

mixture. It is easy to buy the mixed packets and this is a great

recipe to play around with with different times. This is the season

for them. There are no films on the horizon for you. Not movies.

you have got a new book out. Bill's Have you been to Wales before?

haven't, I am very, very excited about Wales.

The food, the food in the countryside is so good. There is a

big food festival there over the weekend. I am going down there.

Brilliant lamb. The best lamb. That is the thing in Britain, the meat

sin credible. I shouldn't say that, the meat, all the rare breeds

coming through, fantastic. The pan has got to be hot. When you cook

mushrooms sometimes, they drop down a little with a lot of liquid. Have

a pan nice and hot. Don't wash them, just wipe them. I am going to get

the chicken out of the oven. wine bubbles with all the juices of

You seat great sauce that happens, I have some parsley. The parsley at

the end -- I for got something, a bit of garlic. Look at the size of

that. You still have the liquid in there. Little bit of garlic in

those mushrooms. The advantage with this, the skin skin becomes nice

and crisp. If you want to eat the skin, you want it crisp. You don't

lose that. What's great about Coq au Vin is the sauce. I am putting

more crem more creme fraiche in Scatter the mushrooms. Then parsley.

All of those delicious things. This is a great autumn family meal, or

for entertaining. I love food like this, hearty food. That leg looks

good. I love a leg. It's dark meat. I love a girl who likes her food.

You can see all the onions. That wine has created the most delicious

sauce that you pop over there. A bit more parsley. That's Bill's

It looks fantastic a great alternative to it, very simple to

do at home. The food just keeps coming. I am a huge mashed potato

fan. Creme fraiche in it. The key to it is keeping those chicken on

the bone. You need the bone to keep it moist and it mels down with the

wine and you get the great sauce. Oh my goodness, so good.

Martin Kemp is one of the country's most famous musicians, so he was

odd's on to get his food heaven. Now time to find out whether Martin

will be facing food heaven or food hell. Heaven would be the fantastic

brown crab. A big old gesser. can steam these or boil them.

Packed full of meat and white and dark meat. You could be having a

big pile of beef there. A serious amount of beef, a beef hot pot. You

like the idea of the British hot pot. That is stewed with onions and

topped off with potatoes and red wine and cabbage. We just need

something warming in the studio, to warm the cockles. What do you think

they have decided? I wouldn't be surprised if it is the crab,

because crab is something that everybody fancies, but doesn't

really know what to do with. We had hell last week and we have heaven

this week. Lose that beef out of the way. It

is like bull's-eye. I feel it is a nostalgia show today.

I have learnt you are a got. I was a break dancer, I looked like N

dubs before N dubs. Crab is nostalgic as well. A good

link back into food. It is, I remember for me, it was Sunday

evenings was a trip down to Tubby Isaac's stall and picking up the

the mussels and crab. This is one of the best foods.

You can show us how to prep it. Take the big claws off. The thing

that puts me off is the work. not that bad, not when you employ

people. Put your thumbs underneath and you get the body out. You get

rid of the dead man's fingers. make you ill. It is not as bad as

the omelettes. Scrape that out, the brown crab is in there. I like

mixing the two together. Do it with a cloth, I ended up in A&E the last

time I did that. It nearly took my thumb off. To get the meat out, I

separate it into a lot of bowls, but just break it like that. This

is Shalott in here, and I am going to add mustard, this is the sauce

to go with it. Just colour the onions, a touch of mustard in there.

We are going to add some brandy. Flambe the brandy.

You can turn your attention back over to the crab.

I was in Australia recently and I had a big king crab, at a Chinese

restaurant. Wonderful Bigger and better in Australia. We get it over

here but it comes in frozen. can't get it fresh over here.

better in Australia. No it isn't! Separate these two here, you want

to hit it with a knife and it will separate the two.

I have done bread crumbs here. This is a cock grab as oppose today

a hen. How do you tell? No you don't have to! This bit has a lot

more spikes on the outside. Less density of meat in a hen and the

males carry more meat. Always plump for the male if you

can. This is a bit of pickle, rice wine

vinegar, sugar and salt. Pour it over the top.

That is it. You can use the shells as well,

they make great soup. And oil. always make a lovely soup out of

these: To cook this I chuck them into boiling water. They are really

simple to cook. Have we got the crab meat yet? Nearly there.

Cooking time for crab? I boil the water with some salt in it so, it

tastes like the sea, drop the crab in, take it off the heat. You don't

usually find a crab that's not been cooked already. You have to pre-

order that from your fishmonger. don't use the pasteurised stuff, it

doesn't taste like crab. I am not sure what it is. Reduce the sauce

down. You can roast those off and make great oil with that, we have

done it on the show before. Do you cook a lot? I do. Everything we

cook at home, is on the BBQ. There is a BBQ outside the back door

which we use all year. We use it all year, even in the rain.

Everything from chips, from chicken, anything we want to eat is done on

the BBQ. I do that as well. It doesn't matter how cold it is.

is not like we are going to have a BBQ tonight, it is like a you ten

sill. The -- utensil. That is another great Australian invention,

the BBQ. I can try. Reckon you invented the

BBQ, Yes, and cricket. The only good thing to come out of Australia

is Kylie Minogue. Of course and bill Grainger.

You invented the BBQ! We use it every day, I am out there or

someone is out there, it takes away all the fat. It is healthy.

You have the crab over here, the sauce, I have added the crab, the

meat to the sauce, the sauce has the mustard, a bit like a

thermidore sauce. There's no flour in there. No. Is You have the

crumbs, which is the parmesan and bread crumbs. That is quite a 70s

way of presentation. It is very retro. I wasn't eating stuff like

that, I was too busy on my Pac-Man. Talking of 70 s, I am going to a

fancy dress tonight and I am going tos a Storm Trooper. If you see me

on the M40, I am on a motorbike, and I am dressed as a Storm Trooper.

Is that all you have done after 8 minutes. A bit more lettuce.

Onions, these are the pickled onions, they have gone soft.

We are big salad fans at home and we are looking for a new way to

present a salad to make it interesting. That sounds good.

third vinegar to two-thirds oil. When I was a kid, I had this

Saturday job in a green grocers and it was my job to cook the beetroots

every morning. How did you cook them? In a big boiler. Did you peel

them first? No, but the smell really takes me back. It was my job,

I was red all week. That is what we have to do, we have to do a

nostalgia show, you have to come as a zbot next time.

-- got next time. I will come dressed as N dubs, and shave my

Nice, simple, really easy. A lovely crunchy salad with it.

That's fabulous. You have to dive into that.

James, that's great. You normally get those sauces that are heavy and

floury. You get the heavy floury We have run out of time today. I

hope you have enjoyed looking back at some of the great recipes from

the archive. Remember, all the dishes from the show on on the

website. There are loads of other great tips and techniques on there,