Episode 59 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites

Morning, don't go anywhere or you'll miss our feast

of fantastic food on today's Best Bites.

Welcome to the show.

There are so many appetising Saturday Kitchen recipes on the show for you this morning.

Yummy Brummie Glynn Purnell

slow cooks a seasonal loin of venison

and serves it with sweet and sour parsnips, juniper berries,

pear and curly kale.

It certainly makes for an amazing seasonal treat.

The Godfather of Lancastrian cooking, Nigel Haworth,

shares his twist on partridge.

He serves it with a crispy bread parcel,

accompanied by sprouts and squash.

Oh, yes, it's never too early for sprouts!

Rachel Allen tempts us with a saucy fish pie.

She poaches cod and smoked haddock and covers the fish

in a bechamel sauce and tops it with buttery mash.

Pure indulgence!

When presenter Richard Madeley was confronted by his Food Heaven or Food Hell, what did he get?

Was it Food Heaven - Salmon fishcakes with anchovy dressing

and buttery spinach?

Or Food Hell - breaded pheasant breast with beetroot puree

and marinated beetroot?

See what he gets at the end of the show.

But before we plunge into all those mouth-watering meals,

two-Michelin-starred chef Michael Caines pan-fries

probably the finest sirloin steak you're ever going to see.

I have to apologise in advance for what I am wearing in this next clip.

Take a look.

-What are we cooking, Michael?

-We've got the pan-fried

sirloin steak with roasted shallots

and we've got the celeriac puree and this wonderful fricassee mushroom

with some Madeira sauce.

-First of all...

-Right.

-We've got a lot to do.

-I know that!

We've got the celeriac.

We've got some onion and some celery

we're going to sweat down and then we're going to add

the celeriac to it, and of course,

we're going to use a little bit of water

and a little bit of milk to cook it in.

-This is for a puree, yeah?

-It is, it's going to be a lovely puree.

Obviously, cooking it in a white stock, a little bit of...

salt and pepper.

Most people when doing this would put it in water,

pass it off and then add the cream, but this gives it a lovely texture, doesn't it?

Absolutely, it does. I'm just going to start that off sweating in here.

We've got some already made, but it takes about 20 minutes,

half an hour to cook out the celeriac.

And it's a great vegetable, celeriac.

Commonly used for soups or perhaps within a mash,

but it's also nice roasted for Sunday roast just chopped up in big cubes.

People don't really use it as much as they should.

The French love it - celeriac remoulade -

which is mustard and mayo, which is delicious.

Great with ham - raw, but it's a wonderful dish.

-It's a beautiful dish, absolutely.

-It's got that fennely sort of smell,

like you say, a celery sort of smell.

I'm going to roast off some shallots here, James.

I've blanched off the shallots in a little bit of water,

a little bit of salt.

We're just going to roast that slowly in some butter

and deglaze that with Jerez vinegar.

-While that's sweating down...

-You did say you've got a lot to do.

-We have.

-We haven't got any pans left actually in the studio.

-This must be a record, surely!

-It is, trust me, yeah.

-Fantastic.

Just a little bit of milk and a little bit of water

and we've just got a little bit of chicken bouillon as well to go in with this.

We're just going to cook that out slowly and that's done.

-That takes what? 20, 25 minutes?

-Absolutely.

We just need some shallots and slices of mushrooms,

and we're going to make our Madeira sauce -

just a little bit of butter in first.

No colours really necessary here, just to sweat them down,

little pinch of salt in there as well and we'll add the mushrooms...

-Thank you.

-There you go.

-Great.

And in the steak itself... salt and pepper both sides.

-About 200 grams, 240 grams.

-This is a sirloin steak?

-Yes, that's right.

You could use fillet, I suppose?

You can use fillet and also you can use rib-eye.

You can use some of the cheaper cuts like the rump or the topside.

D'you think with rump steak and stuff like that,

you've got to make sure you get it from a reputable butcher

because you want it to be nice and tender, don't you?

Yes, we do.

This is a kind of quick cooking technique

so you are always looking for your joints of meat to be tender.

Foaming butter, in goes the steak.

We're going to cook that about medium rare. Got a wooden spoon here.

I mentioned at the top of that,

in September you were voted one of the ultimate accolades

you can achieve, I suppose - Chefs' Chef of the Year!

I know, crikey! It was fantastic.

That particular award - the AA - and of course,

it gets voted by your peers so it makes it extra special.

You know what we chefs are like,

we're not very complimentary of each other!

-I didn't vote for you!

-That's cos I couldn't afford to pay you!

-Your rates these days, extortionate!

-Ran out of money towards the end!

THEY LAUGH

So what we've got there is the...

..Madeira.

We sweated off the mushrooms with the shallots till they're slippery,

added a little bit of thyme, Madeira - going to reduce that -

and the best thing to do is just wait until the alcohol goes.

So don't worry, you can have this dish.

Going to burn off that alcohol, get the sweetness from the Madeira

and when we pan-fry off the mushrooms,

we use the same pan that we've cooked the steak in, we're going to have

the flavours from that pan going into the sauce a little bit later.

We've got the mushrooms there, just a little bit of chicken stock now.

-Michael, you're still based down in Devon...

-That's right.

Although your restaurants are all over the place at the moment...

-Well, the hotel chain as well.

-Absolutely.

Do you still take your inspiration from local ingredients

and British ingredients?

Yeah, the Great British Menu series - fantastic.

It really highlighted just what types of ingredients we've got in the UK.

We've got a great larder, perhaps one of the best in Europe.

We've got to keep farmers in farming as well. That's very important.

Regional foods are very important, seasonal as well,

and this time of year we are making the most of game,

making the most of the root vegetables

and you shouldn't be seeing any red peppers

and sort of asparagus on the menu this time of year.

There is no need, really,

there's just such a great array of produce to be had.

We're just going to cook the steak medium rare.

All looking good.

-So this puree, drain it off?

-Yep.

You don't want the cream, the milk and bits and pieces?

No, but you can add a little bit of the cooking juices back in

to get the right texture, which is fine if you need to.

So, looking good. Sauce is reducing here, which is great.

Blending it nice and fine.

-It's fine, Michael, it's fine.

-Fantastic.

It's getting there.

We're going to rest the steak once we've cooked it.

Now we're going to add, just turn this down a tad, a lot going on here.

Who said men can't multitask, eh? Just putting the mushrooms in.

Now, it is important, you've taken that steak out,

a lot of people make the mistake when they're cooking steak at home,

as soon as it is cooked, straight on the plate and eat it.

You need to let it rest. Absolutely. Quite an important stage.

I'm just going to saute down these mushrooms,

got a little bit of trompette here, some enoki mushrooms,

but girolles are good as well this time of year, coming to the end of the season.

If you've got some ceps, that'll be delicious as well.

There's a nice colouring on the shallots, which is great.

Just going to add a little bit more of that liquid...

just so it goes to more of a puree.

That looks fantastic. A tad more cream in with the sauce.

I'll season it up.

Towards the end of the cooking of the shallots, we're just going to...

He's off like the clappers! Look at this!

..Deglaze with a little bit of Jerez vinegar, James. It's quite nice.

What's that going in there?

Jerez, which is sherry vinegar and that just...

Right at the end and just let it rest, which is great.

So the mushrooms have gone in there,

-this is the juices from the pan.

-Yes, to take all that flavour.

The spinach has gone in there, reducing that down.

Absolutely, and now just wilt the spinach...

And once this is cooked out - you can make the sauce before -

we're just going to strain that off so it's got the flavour of the thyme,

the mushrooms are cooked out completely...

Now we're just going to add the sauce back into the pan,

but to just reduce it quite quickly here.

And then we are ready to go, I think, almost.

Those onions that you put in there,

are they just blanched or are they boiled onions?

I took the shallots themselves first and I...

just brought them from cold water to the boil and cooked them out,

so they have cooked before you put them in the pan

and then you are just caramelising and roasting

the outside of the shallots

for a little bit of flavour and also caramelisation.

You can take it from raw to finished, but this is a little bit quicker.

Looking good now.

-Fantastic.

-There we go. Just bring that down, reduce it down a touch?

Absolutely, bring it down. We've got the steak here -

medium rare - fantastic, if you'd like to slice that.

-Yes, chef.

-I'll do my...

I'll start thinking about dressing this. I'll do a nice little tear.

You're going to do this little... tear?

I'm not going to repeat what you call it!

JAMES LAUGHS There we go.

That's quite artistic. I think it's quite nice.

Just going to taste the sauce cos it might need a little bit of seasoning.

It's quite sweet because you've got the Madeira - that's nice.

Just a tad more salt and pepper in there, which is good.

So what's next for Michael Caines? What are you up to next?

What's the next thing, what's next year?

Well, we've got Manchester opening next year.

Currently it is closed for refurbishment, which is fantastic.

-Right.

-And that will be...

-This is the hotel and restaurant?

Absolutely. ABode Manchester and we're going to have a fine dining restaurant downstairs,

and we're going to do a sort of tapas style food menu.

And then we've got Chester in 2009,

so there's lots going on, which is great.

A few shallots round the outside.

And of course, Gidleigh Park continues to develop at speed.

-Which is your little baby?

-Absolutely.

There we go, just the sauce on at the end, like so.

Just a lovely flavour, and of course, you know,

you could be using fillet steak, rib-eye, rump...

A nice organic chicken breast would be nice.

Absolutely, chicken would be fantastic. A little bit of guinea fowl.

What a treat to watch a two-star Michelin chef at work

and cook that in real time.

-Thank you.

-Michael, remind us what that dish is again.

Here we are, pan-fried sirloin steak, little bit of celeriac puree,

roast shallots and a sort of ragout fricassee

of wild mushrooms and spinach with a Madeira sauce.

Chefs' Chef of the Year.

You can tell he didn't do the washing up in his kitchen,

look at the state of it!

-THEY LAUGH

-Come on, over here. Have a seat.

-Brilliant.

-Dive into this.

Yummy! I'm starving!

I don't know how you feel about steak at...quarter past ten?

-It's great for me!

-You like that?

-Yes!

-Dive in.

-The smell is absolutely fantastic.

-It's lovely, isn't it?

And like you say, you can mix and match the meats.

-Great with pork, I suppose?

-Yeah, pork could be really, really good.

Chicken, as you said, is an obvious.

That Madeira sauce could go with quite a number of things,

but the wild mushrooms and the Madeira -

quite a tawny sort of flavour.

Seasonal at the moment with wild mushrooms coming through.

Really good and the celeriac - this time of year, it's fantastic.

-Really good.

-Celeriac's wonderful, isn't it?

-Great, don't use it enough, do we?

-Well, you don't!

-I don't!

Your husband might, but there you go!

That shirt now makes a fine duster!

Coming up, I'll be making a quick pineapple sponge pudding

with flambeed pineapple for singer Michael Ball,

after Rick Stein shows us the culinary delights of Cambodia

and cooks a tasty pork curry.

I suppose I'm a bit ashamed to say

that I first became interested in Cambodia

after reading the Killing Fields and one-man's account

of that terrible time when the Khmer Rouge took over the country,

murdered about two to three million Cambodians and broke everything up.

But one of the things that came out of it

was a sense of a very sophisticated people,

very nice-looking people

and with a great civilisation behind them.

The whole thing was destabilised by the war in South East Asia

and then people started coming back to Cambodia,

started going to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap

and here to the Gulf Coast, the Gulf of Thailand.

And what came out of it particularly was the food.

I know a bit about Malaysian and Thai food, but Cambodian food - no.

So before I came, I thought I'd better read up about it

and a friend said, "No, don't read up about it, just go there!"

And so, here I am and I'm very excited

and I'm looking forward to every dish that comes my way.

I've come to Kompong Khleang Village,

one of the largest settlements on the shores of the Tonle Sap.

A huge freshwater lake in the centre of Cambodia.

This time of year it's the dry season

and they're salting fish, smoking it and laying it out in the sun to dry,

but during the wet season there's so much water here that it comes up

to the floorboards and there's kids splashing around and swimming!

I get an impression here

that the people seem to be pretty contented with their lot.

I was invited to lunch by my interpreter

to his aunt's house.

-This is my aunt.

-How d'you do? Very nice to meet you.

She is one of the chief cookers because she is good at cooking.

She bought the smoked fish and is going to make it with the salad,

they call it Salad With Smoked Fish.

Uh-huh.

She's making a dish called Chean Chuon -

fish in a ginger sauce.

They call this fish "gourami", which looks pretty scary

with its sharp, spiky fins,

which she's removed along with the scales.

She'll add some spring onions later when the dish is cooked.

Next, on top of some chopped garlic she adds strips of ginger,

which she cooks until they soften

because that's going to be the predominant taste here.

And then a dessert spoon of palm sugar.

To finish the dish she adds some fish sauce

and another aunt prepares thinly sliced tomatoes to decorate the dish.

I'd be really tempted to make this dish at home

with a sea fish like bream.

Maybe it would even work well with trout.

One of the great symbols of my journey in South East Asia will be, I suspect, the coconut.

And coconut is also the foundation of this lovely dish

made predominantly with pork and pineapple.

First of all I chop some shallots and galangal,

which I've recently seen in supermarkets at home

as well as Asian delis.

Well, this is fresh turmeric

and I must say it's a bit of a revelation to me,

I mean, I'm just used to using the powdered stuff,

but it's so wonderfully fragrant

and it's the main constituent of the Cambodian curry paste called kroeung.

The trouble with turmeric, of course, is that you walk around for days

with yellow fingers and it looks like you're a chain smoker!

So all this - lemongrass, lime zest,

kaffir lime leaves, chilli, galangal and turmeric -

all go into my trusty food processor along with a drop of water,

some salt, and of course, the all-important shrimp paste.

In Cambodia they use a mortar and pestle,

but that would take a long time to pound down into a paste

and this - after all, we are in the West -

is the quick way of going about things.

Oh, well, plainly taking your time is the best thing

and cooking should never be rushed.

Well, I have to admit, I've made a bit of a mistake -

apart from burning out my grinder,

I've also cut the lemongrass too long and it's really woody.

The reason I did that was because in Cambodia

they use the whole thing but it's not as dry, I think.

But we all live and learn, even me!

Now I grate the fresh coconut which is so important in this dish.

It gives a lovely, subtle background flavour and thickens the sauce.

Fry off the pork which is cubed leg meat and very lean.

Interestingly, people don't like the idea of pork stew,

but when you come to pork curries,

anything with lots of spice in it, it's a whole different matter.

They use pork a lot in South East Asia.

I think that the point is

that because there is so much aromatic flavour going with it,

it works a treat, but also,

anything sharp works really well with pork,

so the fact that there's lots of pineapple in this

makes it very satisfying

and I'm using grated coconut to thicken the curry at the end.

The secret to all this cooking in this part of the world

IS the curry paste.

It transfers any cut of meat or fish into something exotic.

I must say, I'm very happy about this

cos I was a bit worried about that lemongrass, that it hadn't

sort of been pulverised enough in the mortar and pestle,

but I think it looks quite rugged,

it looks quite sort of, dare I say it, blokey, you know?

I don't like things too sort of neat and tidy.

So, after an hour the pork should be nice and tender.

That looks extremely nice and it's smelling wonderful.

Now I'm going to add the grated coconut.

You don't need a lot of it, but as I said earlier,

you can see how it binds the dish together and it tastes so good.

Well, these are tiny aubergines

but they're still quite usual in the UK,

but I have to say, I got these in St Austell of all places.

I mean, things are changing!

They're very good in stews and also, the little tiny ones,

you might have seen them, they're called pea aubergines -

partly cos they're so small

and also they're a lot firmer than normal aubergines.

I'm just going to put them in the curry

and they'll be done in about ten minutes.

These little aubergines are really nutty and they stay firm

in contrast to the pineapple, which softens

and gives so much sweetness to the dish.

I suppose you could use tins of it

but they're so easy to buy fresh and they make the kitchen smell so good.

And now coconut milk.

People often ask me, "What's the difference in Cambodian food?

"What makes it so special?" This dish, I think, says it all.

If you compare this with something like a curry from northern India,

this is just light and floury.

The other thing, of course, are the other ingredients -

coconut, those little aubergines and the pineapple,

and I'm going to finish off with some tamarind and fish sauce and palm sugar -

everything, actually, that grows in Cambodia.

Take a little bit more.

It's very concentrated, fish sauce, I don't need to put much more in,

probably about another teaspoon.

Now for some palm sugar.

Always get that combination of sweet and sour

in both Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian cooking.

Probably about a couple of teaspoons, maybe a bit more.

I'm just guessing it.

The tamarind has an acid flavour, which adds

so much fresh tartness to the dish.

I'm using the sieved pulp without the seeds.

It's such an important part of the cooking in the Far East.

One final taste, I'm just going to put some basil in after this, but...

It's heaven. And it's just so simple, this sort of food.

It's just a combination of the fish sauce, the tamarind and the sugar.

It's easy, that's what's so nice about South East Asian food,

it's so easily put together.

Anyway, let's get the basil in there now and we're done.

All that's left now is to allow these fresh leaves to wilt into the dish.

There's an old saying that you should always tear basil and never cut it.

I think it's because steel blackens the cut edges.

I'm using holy basil here.

With its incense-like smell,

many people consider it to have religious significance.

Finally, because it's a mildly-spiced and fruity curry,

I add a few little red jewels of finely chopped chilli and that's it.

That pork looked delicious.

Now, I am a fan of pineapple, just like Rick,

and it makes wonderful winter puddings.

I'm going to show you a quick one right now.

It's a steamed vanilla sponge pudding.

-It's done in the microwave, it takes one minute.

-I'm loving it already!

Then we pan-fry pineapple and ice cream,

but the pineapple is flambeed in brandy...

-Sorry, with some rum and raisins, all right?

-Yeah.

-So it's... Happy with that?

-Yeah, really happy.

What we'll do first is prepare our pineapple.

To do that, you can basically take the skin off...

I'm going to leave this as whole as possible,

so when you do this take care not to take too much of the pineapple off.

I'm going to thinly slice it and pan-fry it in the pan

because when we pan-fry stuff, particularly fruit,

it takes on a whole different sort of texture and flavour as well,

which is going to be great for this - steamed sponge pudding.

-Now, your first big break before...

-Sorry, do you core it?

-Yeah, afterwards. I forgot, you're the chef(!)

-Yeah, yeah, right!

-So slice it like that...

-Keep him intact, Michael.

-I will.

And then you use a cutter and you can just cut it out. Like that.

Now, before we knew you,

your first big break was in Manchester, wasn't it?

Yeah, I did Pirates of Penzance in Manchester Opera House.

I wasn't supposed to be doing musicals

but I saw an advert in The Stage for an open audition.

About 600 people turned up for this audition and I kept going back

and back and whittled down, and I ended up as the juvenile lead, as it's called.

Was it music or arts that got you into it in the first place?

It was the theatre, I always loved the theatre.

When I was a kid my parents took me all the time.

I remember my dad taking me to see Jesus Christ Superstar in London

when I was about 11.

We'd always go to see all the shows...

We lived near Stratford, so we went to see all the Shakespeare plays

at the RSC, so I was never scared of Shakespeare

and I just loved the theatre.

-I got that from them.

-But was it your voice...?

No, I never trained as a singer and that kind of came...

After I went to drama school and studied acting,

the first jobs I happened to get were singing and that's how...

-And that was it?

-Yeah.

Cos you went on to play some huge parts - Les Mis,

you were in Phantom...

Talking about Phantom, I mean, Michael Crawford obviously made the role famous.

When you do a job like that do you have to sort of...

Are you allowed to adapt the role to do it yourself, or...?

Yeah, what you have, it's like anyone's interpretation of a part.

There are many different ways to do Hamlet, to do King Lear.

Many different ways of doing Phantom.

In any role, it's what you bring to it as an actor

within the premise of what happens.

You have...

Talking of bringing your character to the role,

Hairspray seems to be one of the things that you...

You kind of love that.

Out of all the things you've ever done,

-is it the one that you love most?

-Yeah, absolutely.

I'm still doing it off and on. I do the tour.

We go up to Edinburgh for Christmas. I'm doing it there for four weeks.

I have never enjoyed myself more.

-Dressing up as a woman, is that what it is?

-That might be part of it.

-Have you ever dressed as a woman?

-No, no. Not me, mate.

..You're a northern bloke! Every northern bloke has dressed as a woman!

I did Strictly, so I was quite close!

-No, seriously, have you never been to a party dressed up?

-No.

-I don't believe you.

-Michael, no.

I don't believe it, James.

-Would you like to?!

-I don't really go to the theatrical parties!

No! Rugby clubs.

Every rugby club, they always will have a vicars and tarts party

and all the blokes turn up as tarts.

-That's what they tell you, exactly!

-It's true.

I don't get invited to that. Have you ever dressed up as a woman?

-Oh, I can't possibly say.

-You so have! You so have!

Exactly, I rest my case.

You're still doing it now, are you?

Yeah, I came back from Dublin last week. We did two weeks there.

The tour is now in Bradford, but I'm not with it at the moment.

Then I'll do it in Edinburgh with Micky Dolenz,

-you know, from The Monkees?

-All right, yeah.

He's playing my husband

and then I'll do it again in Wimbledon in March

and then I finish the tour in April.

You've got to be one of the busiest people in your business

because you seem to do an album and a tour every year.

Every 18 months, yeah,

and I'm recording the new one at the moment,

which will come out in March.

-Which is your...16th, 16th album?

-I think it might be 18th, actually.

-18th album!

-Scary, isn't it?

-So what's this one about, then?

This is called Heroes and its me looking at all the vocal heroes

that I listen to and I admire

and doing a song of theirs that I think will suit me.

You'll have to excuse me for a minute...

Oh, I know, I love the flambe bit! Yes!

-Go on.

-I learnt to do that.

-Have you?

-Yeah.

It's quite easy, just put alcohol in a pan, anyway...

-But then not burn your eyebrows off!

-Exactly.

Put the sultanas in, a bit of water... So go on, carry on.

People like Sinatra and Elvis, the obvious ones,

but then people like Long John Baldry and Billy Joel...

Jim Reeves, d'you remember Jim Reeves?

# Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone. #

-No.

-"Tell your friend who's there beside you he'll have to go."

No, I don't remember that one.

# Tell your friend who's sat there with you he'll have to go... #

-D'you remember that one, Jas?

-No. If it's not Wham I can't remember it.

"If it's not Wham I can't remember it!"

So, you're doing that, your album...

We'll tour that album in May and June.

But also, it's your first producing job.

Yeah, we're in preview at the moment with a show called Love Story

based on Erich Segal's book and movie.

-You remember the movie with Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal?

-Yes.

-Big old weepie.

-Yes.

Well, Howard Goodall - one of our greatest composers -

and Stephen Clark have written this musical

that I went to see down in Chichester cos I live down near there.

And it was stunning. I went just as a punter.

Went with my other half and my mum and sat and watched this

and fell in love with it.

It was exquisite

and I talked to the producer who was producing it down there,

he's a friend of mine, said what is happening with this show

and they weren't decided, and I said, "We have to do something with it."

So I am co-producing it. We open on Monday. As I say, we're in preview.

What's it like...? Sorry, I'm just going to...

That's my steamed sponge pudding.

-It's basically four parts of flour, butter and sugar.

-Equal?

-And half egg.

-Equal parts?

Equal parts and then half egg.

That goes in the microwave. One minute.

In the microwave? With the top on?

With the top on, you just put it on loose as well.

Full power, fingers crossed.

Don't want to tempt this live on TV in front of 3.5 million people,

but anyway...

Anyway, you've got that.

Does it urge you to - when you are producing stuff like that -

if people are doing it wrong, don't you just want to...?

Yeah. If you're a control freak like me!

But they don't, they are doing a brilliant job,

it's a great cast, a young cast.

I have a huge sense of pride

watching other people do those things

and I've been doing this business for 26 years so you learn stuff.

You kind of know the pitfalls.

You kind of think you know what audiences want.

I think I've got quite good taste when it comes to musical theatre

and this is something so new and so...life affirming and exciting...

It's really an extraordinary beautiful thing

-and there's nothing else like it out there at the moment.

-Look forward to it.

And it's British, it's nice to have a new British musical

to be able to champion, you know?

-And if you weren't busy enough, DVD out at Christmas?

-Yeah!

-How do you do it all?!

-I like working. I do take time...

If you can have one day a week where you do nothing.

You rest on the seventh day and make sure you spend that

with the family and do the cooking and watch the X Factor,

and Strictly Come Dancing, and do all those normal things,

that gives you the energy and the impetus to do everything else,

especially if you love your work, you love your job,

it's not really work. That looks stunning.

So this is your pineapplely sort of...

This is the one with the caramely and all that sort of stuff.

The thing that impresses me about you guys

is that you really multitask well.

You can talk and this is really quick and it's just there.

Looks stunning.

Well, you can sing and dance while dressed up as a woman.

-I'm not going to be able to do that.

-But I'm not cooking...

was it a vanilla...?

This is a steamed sponge pudding.

There is actually no back to that microwave,

somebody's just swapped it over!

-THEY LAUGH

-It's like the Generation Game.

So you just...on there.

That's amazing.

Steamed sponge pudding with ice cream and you can put more

of this sort of golden syrupy stuff on the top, a little bit of honey.

But there you go. Nice quick and simple pudding.

Remember, there's cooked pineapple as well. Dive into that.

-It'll be hot.

-Yeah. I'm amazed that that's easy.

It's so easy, you just blend it...

All I've done is put a bit of vanilla pod in there,

but you can flavour that with lemon zest, orange zest, anything like that.

And literally just one minute in the microwave.

-I think even my wife could manage that.

-Mine couldn't!

-Happy with that?

-That is stunning.

-There you go.

That's such a quick and tasty dessert.

You've got to try it at home.

And you don't have to dress up as a woman to make it.

You can find all of today's recipes on our website.

Go to bbc.co.uk/recipes.

We're not live today. Instead we're looking back

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

And they don't come much more flamboyant than this.

When Glynn Purnell made an appearance in December,

he couldn't help but surprise me with an early Christmas present.

-Hi, James. How are you?

-Welcome to the show again.

-What are we cooking then, Glynn?

-Before we start cooking,

because obviously it's Christmas, I've got my Christmas jumper on.

So what I've done is brought you a gift here. Sorry.

-I didn't know about this.

-This is for you.

-Right.

Basically it's tradition that, if someone buys you a gift,

it's upsetting if you don't wear it or whatever,

Christmas morning, down the pub...

Stick it on, chef. And look at that.

-Look at that.

-Glynn...

-I thought when I chose it...

-Just what I always wanted.

I thought... Look, it's got snowflakes on, snowflakes on...

You can unzip it as well.

Use it as a cardigan, have it over your shoulder. You can wear it open.

-It's a bit big.

-Well, the thing is...

-XXXL?!

No. I bought that because...

It's from that well-known supermarket beginning with A? Go on then.

I thought it was a bit rude last week what Matt Dawson said about you.

I just thought it'll either shrink in the wash

or you could grow into it, chef.

-Thank you very much.

-What do you think about that?

I feel like a young Val Doonican!

-In a rocking chair.

-Len, I know you're a man of great fashion.

-What do you reckon to that?

-It's massive, look at it!

You'll grow into it, chef. Or you can wear a couple of layers.

Look at the size of this! Right, what are we cooking?

We'll get on with it. We're going to do venison,

which is going to be rolled in a bit of black pepper and juniper berries.

We're going to slow cook it at 65 degrees. In clingfilm, in water.

Then we're going to caramelise it with a little bit of butter

and serve that with sweet and sour parsnips,

which you're going to crack on with,

which are going to be cooked in equal quantities of vinegar and sugar.

-Right, OK.

-If you peel them down for me.

-You want me to do that?

-Peel these, OK.

-And I'll put some juniper berries in here.

-There you go.

-We'll serve it with some curly kale,

but cook the kale in a bit of chicken stock and butter.

I'm not being funny

but it does really bring the colour out in your eyes.

You can't anyway because we're on national television!

-It's your first and last time, Glynn. But now...

-Cheers.

-Right.

-Fire away.

-OK.

-So, if you peel them and shred them on the mandolin for me.

-Right, OK.

I'm going to put the vinegar into the pan.

So we're going to make like a...

-Going to make a quick reduction!

-Maybe not as hot as that!

We'll put the sugar in, which should slow it down.

-Not flammable this thing, by any chance?

-What was that?

This is a gastr... In the old days we put it in tomato soup.

I'm saying old days but, you know...

Well, you know that very famous brand of tomato soup

which I can't mention because we're on BBC.

-But I reckon that gastrique is the heart of that soup.

-You reckon?

-Yeah. I reckon.

-Explain to us what a gastrique is then.

Equal quantities of, I'm using malt vinegar and sugar.

So we want it to be sweet, like a sweet and sour.

I'll cook the parsnips in it to bring out the sweetness

of the parsnips but also to cut it because of the richness of the game.

-Ever had a gastrique before, Len?

-No, I haven't, I don't think.

I don't think I want one!

Don't worry, Len, trust me.

And I heard you don't like root vegetables as well.

Hardcore, my grandad used to call them.

-James, could you just turn that pan up for me?

-OK.

-Which one is it?

-Is it this one?

-The French hate parsnips actually,

they probably think they're like bits of wood, don't they?

-They give them to the pigs.

-They do.

-Do you like your jumper or not?

-I think it's amazing.

-If I was in the shop it is just what I would buy.

-That's what I thought.

My grandad.

-Go on then.

-Right, OK.

So basically I'm rolling the venison in a bit of clingfilm.

So that is a loin of venison, it's all been trimmed,

the fat's been trimmed off it.

Obviously this time of year it's in season, gaming season,

so it's an alternative to beef.

-And it's actually better for you.

-It's very lean, isn't it?

-Yes.

There's no fat on this whatsoever.

That's why we'll poach it, part poach it. We call it sous vide cooking.

-About 65 degrees for...

-Tell us this way of cooking.

Because this is relatively new.

But people can have a go at it at home.

Normally we use things like a vac pack machine

and have water baths all running at different temperatures.

Normally I cook between 58 and about 65.

This one I've just upped the temperature a little to 65,

so the people at home, if they haven't got a thermometer,

best thing to do is to boil a kettle.

Pour it in, half fill the kettle with cold water, pour it in,

hold your finger there. Count to six, seven and then take it out.

And that's roundabout 65 degrees.

-Yeah. It's probably better to use a thermometer!

-I think so.

-Sous vide meaning under vacuum, that's what it is?

-Yes.

Vacuum packed in a bag. Basically it's slow cooking, part poaching.

-I'll wash my hands.

-OK.

It's good if you're in a busy kitchen

and not a lot of chefs, isn't it?

Because you can do it all beforehand and just finish it off.

And if you do leave it in the water a couple of minutes over,

it's not going to really overcook it.

So if it's a busy kitchen and you haven't got the staff to man

all the stoves, it's a convenient way. So if you had a dinner party

you could drop the venison in, do your bits and pieces

and not worry that the meat will shrink

and overcook in the oven and whatever.

And presumably great for slow cook, lesser cuts, tougher cuts.

It works well with meat, doesn't it? Not with fish.

-No, it's terrible with fish.

-Fish cooks really quickly.

I wouldn't say terrible,

but it loses that sort of fresh immediacy.

Fish is nice in a hot pan, caramelise it up.

-OK, so in go the parsnips.

-We need them to tick over.

Right. And they've gone into the gastrique there.

Can I lift this one out for you? There you go.

-You want to seal that one, don't you?

-We're going to seal that one.

-So literally you cook it with the clingfilm on?

-Yes.

And what we do is... We don't cook it with the clingfilm on.

Is it, Valerie? I know a song about you!

-What about giblets?

-There's that one. Lovely.

-We'll dry that off.

That goes in. Cool this pan down a bit. This goes in a hot pan.

The secret of this is, great for dinner parties

but what you do need to do when you're doing meat,

whether venison or beef, you need to seal it.

You want to seal the outside to make sure there's no...

all the bacterias and stuff that meat has.

So, basically the parsnips are on there. We're going to do the kale.

-Bit of oil.

-Yeah. Do you want me to cook the kale?

-If you want to.

I'm going to cook the kale in pure chicken stock

and a bit of butter rather than...

I like to cook vegetables in either fruit juices, stocks or sugars.

So you get the best of the vegetable.

I think water sort of dilutes it. People tend to overcook it a lot.

A great way of cooking cabbage this Christmas, no need to boil it.

-Watch the jumper, James!

-Trust me, I'm watching it!

I'd hate to see that go up! Season it up for me and...

We've got some butter in here. Just a little bit of butter. There we go.

Plenty of butter.

Season it up because literally you can cook this in,

we've cooked it before with water and butter

but it's that emulsification of liquid and butter.

Chicken stock, it glazes it up.

And if you're a vegetarian you can use vegetable stock

-but then you wouldn't be cooking venison.

-No, probably not.

Right then, OK. THEY LAUGH

Well, saying that, people say about vegetarians,

I mean, at the end of the day,

the venison doesn't eat meat so to me it's a vegetarian.

As simple as that. Our parsnips are coming down.

We've got a little bit of red wine sauce or a little bit of game stock.

-OK. Yeah.

-Right, we're just going to dry the meat off.

Realistically we'd have a bit more time to rest the meat,

so it relaxes and the juices stay in so it doesn't sort of bleed.

I know Len said he didn't like blood on a plate,

but mainly it's because it's not been rested, really.

I forgot how long that went in there for. About 15 minutes?

15 to 18 minutes.

-If it goes over a couple of minutes it's not a big deal.

-OK.

As long as it stays under 20 minutes, about 65 degrees, you should be fine.

There's your kale. It's as easy as that to cook.

-Just nicely seasoned, done.

-Parsnips?

So now they're becoming a sort of translucent...

Cook them for a little bit longer,

they normally take about five to ten minutes.

Just keep simmering, you can smell the...

I'll do that. Do you want to slice the old venison?

I think this might change your mind, Len, about root veg,

because this does taste fantastic. There you go.

And the secret of cooking it like this, it keeps it nice and pink.

And also it doesn't shrink.

-You don't look convinced, Len.

-Well, I'm willing to try anything.

But not a large portion.

Oh, right, OK!

THEY LAUGH

-What would you like?

-We'll start dressing now.

-Slice some pear for me, James?

-I can do that, yes.

Just serve a little bit of pear.

This could do with resting, really, a little bit longer.

How long would you rest that for?

Normally the same amount of time you've cooked it for.

So if you cook a roast joint and take it out of the oven,

it needs 20 minutes, half an hour. A small piece like this,

you're talking a good ten minutes just left on the side, really.

Doesn't it go cold, though?

It does, but what you normally do, once you've dressed it,

put it back in the oven for another few minutes

to come back up to temperature, then it won't bleed.

You can cover it in a bit of foil or something, a warm place.

There you go. There you go.

-There's your pear.

-Venison on there. Sorry, James.

I'll just give you a few bits of that so you can set it down there.

Thank you. And then...

Parsnips on there.

I like the way you haven't cooked anything with water. It's quite...

I tend to... People always pay attention to the main event,

like obviously you're the main event today, Rick, alongside Len.

I'm just filling the gaps here.

I think the jumper is slowly taking over, mate.

-As the main event.

-Yes!

-Don't get me offended.

You know I box, so don't get me offended, James.

You won your last two fights, didn't you?

Yeah, the last fight was like a game of chess almost.

-But with gloves on.

-A game of chess?

It was like we had to find the movement

and the kid I boxed was a really good boxer as well, so credit to him.

-I only just nicked it, so...

-Do you knock each other out, though?

-No.

Well, we do try, but...

THEY LAUGH

-Save that for the kitchen!

-Anyway, we've got...

-The kale on there.

-Yeah.

-We've got the pear on.

There you go. Little piles.

Serve this with a nice big bowl of potatoes or some slow-cooked lentils.

-The sauce is ready.

-Sauce is ready.

So while you sauce that, remind us what this is again.

This is slow-cooked venison with juniper berries,

sweet and sour parsnips, kale and pear.

And a jumper for Christmas. Just what I always wanted.

There you go. Right. Over here. Looks fantastic.

Dive into that, Len. Tell us what you think of that.

-It does look nice, I must say.

-Dive into that. No blood oozing out.

Dive into that.

-It's the first time I've had any of these ingredients.

-Really?

-Oh, yeah.

I've never... Venison is like a stag, isn't it?

-Is it?

-It's not really, no.

-What is it then?

-It's a deer.

-Little deer.

-Bambi. I'm eating Bambi here!

-That's enough to get...

THEY LAUGH

-It's a bit bigger.

-The actual meat is gorgeous.

-Do you like that?

-I do.

-Now this.

-What about the parsnips, Len?

-This is it now.

Sorry, I won't rush you.

-Taste a bit of that. Taste that.

-Well, it's such... It is nice.

Other veg you could do that? You could do carrots.

Carrots, swede, any sort of root vegetable, really. Give it a go.

-Turnips would be great.

-It's all right, yeah.

-It's all right?

Yeah, but it's so thin, it's not like my nan used to cook,

bloody great things...

And before you ask, no,

that jumper will not be coming out again this Christmas.

Now it's time to join Sophie Dahl for some foodie escapism.

Escapism is that feeling of wanting to be anywhere but here.

All you want to do is just get on a plane and get away.

But you can't do that, so we have to escape through our imaginations.

And that's where food comes in.

It's the power of food to transport you to somewhere completely foreign,

exotic and totally removed from your own kitchen.

# Holiday

# Celebrate

# Holiday... #

Imagine it's the end of a terrible, terrible week.

And you're desperate to go away.

When I feel like that, I want to think about food that makes me

feel like I'm far away.

So I'm going to make a clam chowder, which reminds me of holidays

in Martha's Vineyard where my grandmother lives, by the sea.

Start with...

two sticks of celery. Finely chopped.

Onion.

I haven't worked out how to not cry when you chop onions

and I think all of the alleged techniques are a myth.

SHE SNIFFS

So, knob of butter in the pan with some olive oil.

Some bay.

And some thyme.

My most vivid memory of clam chowder was...

..during a rather dramatic hurricane. I was about 11 or 12, I think.

I had been in Martha's Vineyard for the summer

and we got a storm warning

that then turned into a hurricane warning, so we battened down

the hatches and the wind started raging and the sea was crashing up.

We got a big cauldron of a soup pot and made a clam chowder.

And sat in candlelight eating it,

and I'm sure it wasn't remotely romantic or adventurous

for the grown-ups but I loved it.

I think the brilliant trick of this soup is you don't have

to be in a hurricane to...

..enjoy it. It's really how to greet life's metaphorical hurricane.

And there's something incredibly nourishing...

..and grounding about it,

yet at the same time it's something from far away.

To the onion and celery mix I'm going to add...

some roughly-chopped potatoes.

I've got five here.

This is not a broth in any shape or form. This is...

..a really substantial... It's seafaring fare.

So, in with the potatoes.

A pint of chicken stock.

A good old down-home American ingredient - corn.

You could totally use tinned.

Just for that really crisp summary taste, this...is perfect.

Clams. This is the bit that brings the holiday home.

So, the thing about clams, you want them all to be closed

before they go in, and you want them all to be open when they come out,

and if you tap them and they don't open, you don't want to eat them.

That's the rule.

In they go. Pop them in this pan of boiling water.

It's already proper seaside.

That's the smell I associate with Martha's Vineyard,

that salty, briny sea smell that you'd know

when you were taking the ferry across, that summer was coming.

They're all opening up and that's exactly what you want them to do

so when they're all open that's when it's time to take them out.

I'm going to take the clam meat from the shells.

You see, it's tiny.

So, from this mountain of shells, small treasure, but worthy treasure.

Now I'm going to take all of this clam elixir.

We don't want to waste this.

Strain it into the soup, because it can get a bit gritty.

That's bubbling away nicely.

I'm going to put some croutons in my chowder,

but if you were having a good old-fashioned East Coast clam chowder

you'd get a packet of saltine crackers.

They're flaky and they sort of melt into the clam chowder.

They come in tiny little packets.

What we used to be given as kids to shut us up in the back of the car.

Get some olive oil in there.

I want the oil to be hot so when the croutons go in, they sizzle.

Crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside.

And I'm going to put a little lemon zest.

Add some thyme.

What's not to love? They're small bits of fried bread!

Just small bits of lemony, tiny fried bread, which is even better.

I think now might be the time for a taste.

Mm! Delicious.

Got that lovely, crunchy summer corn

and then the brine of the sea. It's a very good mix. Some double cream.

The cooked clams...

I'm going to add a little pepper, not salt

because we've got all of the salty goodness of the sea.

Some roughly-chopped parsley.

And I'm going to serve it up.

This is perhaps a bowl for your fisherman friend.

# I will live my life as a lobsterman's wife

# On an island in the blue bay... #

I'm going to add some croutons into the mix.

# He will smell like the sea... #

So, if you can't get away, this is the holiday in a bowl.

Mm. Scent of the sea.

We've got these delicious, still crisp vegetables.

It is transporting.

# On our island in the blue bay

# Far away, far away I want to go far away

# To a new life on a new shoreline

# Where the water is blue and the people are new

# To another shoreline in another life. #

So, from the shores of Martha's Vineyard last night,

this morning to the wild of Mexico.

I'm going to make a Mexican brunch.

Black bean quesadillas with guacamole and some spicy hot chocolate.

Possibly one of the ten most delicious things in the world.

I'm going to start with the hot chocolate.

And I'm going to use soy milk. Deeply Mexican.

I think I'm trying to convince myself that soy milk will counterbalance

the fact that I'm going to use an entire bar of chocolate in here.

This isn't any old chocolate,

it's dark chocolate infused with red chillies.

And to amp it up, I'm using one dried chilli.

I'm going to stir it all in with a cinnamon stick.

The Mexicans are really brave with chocolate in their cooking.

They use it in mole sauce with chicken,

and it becomes, rather than something sweet, something slightly dark.

And mysterious. I'm going to leave it to infuse in there.

And I'm going to get on with the guacamole.

My American granny just loves guacamole.

She will eat it by the bucketful and then she says very mournfully,

"I don't know why I'm so fat."

You're not fat, but you did just eat seven pieces of fried chicken

and an entire bowl of guacamole.

So that was one avocado, mash that up.

To that, one tomato.

Whilst Martha's Vineyard is somewhere I totally associate

with the comfort of childhood holidays,

Mexico makes me feel grown up.

I first went there with my aunt when I was about 18 or 19

and just had a brilliant time and drank far too many margaritas

and ate far too much guacamole.

It was such a funny kind of high drama holiday

in the best possible way. So...

Some chopped red onion. A handful of coriander.

I like guacamole to be chunky, I like it to have tons of coriander

and loads of lime.

Just the smell of this is transporting.

I'm actually going to add five drops of hot sauce.

That's the guacamole I want. Onto the quesadilla.

What I have here are canned black beans with some red peppers.

And these are cheap, they're from a jar. Little bit of hot sauce there.

Heating them through, they're already cooked.

So next, don't be alarmed, is not a bit of foam or polystyrene.

It is tofu. The brilliant thing about tofu is, it's like a canvas.

It will pick up the flavour of anything that you match it with.

Scrunch it up. It gets a bit like scrambled eggs.

I'm going to add an arsenal of spices.

Quarter of a teaspoon of cumin.

The same of turmeric, and a pinch of smoked paprika.

A mixture of spring onions, one clove of garlic, a chilli into the pot.

In with the tofu.

If you are scrambling tofu, it cooks very quickly.

Literally a few minutes.

Who would have thought it was tofu? Now the assembly. A tortilla.

Begin with the black beans with the pepper.

Spicy seasoned tofu.

And a big handful of cheddar. Now it gets a hat.

And they burn quickly, quickly, so keep an eye.

For the carnivore, shredded chicken. This is ready to turn over.

In with the chicken.

Sprinkle some finely-chopped red chilli on there.

You've got your spicy hot chocolate.

The main attraction of my quesadillas,

they are molten and delicious, big fat wad of guacamole.

The thing that will send you away on holiday to Mexico,

albeit just for breakfast.

There'll be more fantastic cooking from Sophie on next week's show.

We're not cooking live in the studio today.

Instead, we're showing you some of the tasty recipes

from the Saturday Kitchen archives. Still to come on today's Best Bites,

we revisit the first time that Brian Turner and James Tanner ever

had to try their hands at the Saturday Kitchen omelette challenge.

Nigel Howarth shows us his unique take on game.

He stuffs partridge, wraps it in bread

and then serves it with seasonal sprouts and squash.

And presenter Richard Madeley is confronted with food heaven

or food hell.

Will he get his heaven, salmon fishcakes with anchovy dressing

and buttered spinach, or hell,

breadcrumbed pheasant with marinated beetroot and beetroot puree?

Stick around and you can see what he gets at the end of today's show.

Whenever Nigel Haworth leaves Lancashire to visit us

in the Saturday Kitchen studio, you can guarantee

he's going to bring some top-class seasonal recipes with him.

This occasion was no different.

-How are you doing?

-I'm good.

-Good. What's on the menu for you?

We're going to do partridge. We've got some partridge breasts here.

We're going to wrap them in a bread blanket.

First of all, I've got one here which I did earlier.

I need to get that in the oven

because it's going to take about six to eight minutes.

So in a really hot pan, as you can probably see.

Yeah.

That is hot, isn't it?

-It's reasonably... It's very hot, that.

-That is quite hot, mate.

-Do you want to put it in that one?

-Actually... Whee!

-Er...

-There.

That's even hotter. Don't worry, it's fine.

-I'll put it in this one.

-And we'll pop that underneath there.

-Partridge is going in.

-Good start, then(!)

THEY ALL LAUGH

-How long do you want that in there for?

-Needs to be six minutes.

You're going to make the stuffing, which is onions, bacon,

mushrooms and a little of that Cumbrian ham that you've got there.

-Right.

-Pop those over there.

-OK.

-You usually do most of the work.

I'm going to take my...

..partridge skin off the breast.

There's a little bone left in.

-Just whip that away, because we don't like bones.

-Yeah.

And do you use the whole thing in the restaurant or just...

This dish, obviously not.

But you can obviously whole roast your partridge.

I'm just going to create a little pouch there.

So that's where the stuffing is going to go in. OK.

And while I'm waiting for you to get that,

I've got some butternut squash here.

Just give me a little bit of that.

So the butternut squash, are you going to roast off?

I'm going to cut in half and we're going to really simply roast it off.

So take the seeds out.

It's lovely and in season now, butternut squash.

And just get rid of those.

And that's ready for you to pop on that tray.

And we get some garlic on. So that's that.

OK. So, the stuffing, which I've got, while you're making yours.

You've got one already done, but I'll just explain what's in it.

We've got the bacon, we've got a little bit of this ham.

You're going to use a local, dried ham, is that right?

Yeah, we've got some Cumbrian ham. Which is wonderful stuff.

And I've got a couple of slices of white bread here.

I'm going to take the crusts off.

And then put them through, just roll them together.

And then just put them through a pasta machine.

Now this is the interesting bit, because this is the...

What you need to do is just give it a bit of a bash

and make sure that it will go, crimp it together,

make sure that it will go through our pasta machine.

What's the idea about using this bread then?

Well, the bread is just another medium.

-Basically you've got a stuffing...

-Yeah.

And instead of putting it on the inside,

we're just going to roll it.

And use it as if you were using puff pastry or any other pastry

around the outside.

Now, with partridge, it can get quite dry, so you don't want to...

-..overcook it too much.

-Yeah. There we go.

So that's just two slices of bread just stuck together?

Yeah, you get two so you've got enough...

There we go.

There.

OK. Take that down.

It's a good job you're here today, isn't it?

Need to get it nice and thin, so another one.

And another one. Take it down to number six or seven. There we go.

-OK.

-Phil, have you never seen this before?

It's absolutely new territory for me, I have to say.

Down in the south we use pastry.

You have to use the bought bread, actually,

because the other stuff tends to break up.

Which actually it's done a little bit.

So I need a bit of the chopped chervil.

Right, I'll get rid of that.

-Thank you.

-OK.

Now, this chervil has got a little sort of anaseedy flavour, really,

which goes well with game, fish, that kind of stuff.

I expect you could use this for anything - chicken, fish?

Yes, it's great with fish. It really is.

So pop that into...

our partridge, like so.

-Right.

-And just fold that little fillet back over the top there.

Now, for people that haven't been up to Northcote, tell us about it...

Well, Northcote's a 14-bedroom hotel.

Did it start off as a house or something?

It was an old textile merchant's house, really, initially.

I'm going to put a little bit of kibbled onions there and we've got,

we've got the Northcote and we've got the four pubs

and we also do the food at Blackburn Rovers,

-which is interesting at the moment.

-Yes? Why's that?

-We're not doing very well.

-Oh, right.

I was going to say, I thought you were top.

-I don't know football. Do you know football?

-No.

-Falling out of the bottom, he is.

-Bottom? All right.

And we're just, we've rolled that over there, like so.

So they're kibbled onions you've got on there?

They're kibbled onions and then we crimp the...

Crimp the ends together, so you've got your little parcel.

So you've got your stuffing... Your stuffing on the inside.

-Go on, I'm listening.

-And then...

-What you must do with that.

-Yes?

Is put it in the fridge for at least half an hour, OK?

So we popped that to the back,

because we've got one that we've put in earlier.

Right, I've got the sauce on here, which has got the mushrooms,

the onion cooking down, a little bit of stock in here.

-We've got...

-Good.

-Brussels sprouts in there.

That's probably another minute and a bit.

We've got the butternut squash already here.

So, we've got pomegranate here.

Yes.

I didn't realise we had pomegranates in the Ribble Valley now.

-Yes, they're one of our new regional crops.

-Are they?

LAUGHTER

There you go. So, just lose the pomegranate seeds out of there.

OK and we are going to...

There you go.

-We're just going to...

-Pass, pass the sauce off.

-Yes.

Now as well as Northcote as well, you've got the pubs as well.

Yes, we've got the pubs

and The Highwayman won Pub of the Year yesterday for Cumbria.

-Right.

-Which is...which is brilliant for the staff up there,

because they've been working really hard.

I mean, basically, we do regional food in each of the pubs,

so we've got... we've actually got one in Yorkshire.

-I tell you what, you know.

-Went over the borders.

You've got a great team up there, haven't you? And we've seen...

-One of which we've seen on The Great British Menu.

-Yes, absolutely.

-Lisa has been my head chef for 10 years now.

-Yes.

So, she is... she's absolutely fantastic.

She'll be working away today while we're here.

There you go. So, butter and the sprouts.

A good way to serve them this Christmas, isn't it, this one?

-Chestnuts.

-There you go.

-You've got enough there.

-Like that.

-OK.

-A bit of black pepper you want in there?

-Bit of salt?

-A little bit of salt and black pepper.

-There you go.

-I've got the plate.

-And I'll go and get the parsnips for you.

Absolutely. And then the pomegranates...

go into the sauce...

Like so.

-Ah!

-Happy with that?

-There's a little bit of...

-Put that to one side.

We need to leave that to rest for a couple of minutes normally, James.

-You've got 30 seconds.

-Right. So we'll not leave it to rest...

DROWNED OUT BY LAUGHTER

Marvellous, right, OK.

So you take your butternut squash out... Which we've got here.

-So how long's that roasted for, that one?

-That's about 30 minutes.

OK, and just break the butternut squash with a fork or spoon

and we want a small amount going onto the plate.

-Or a large amount if you're in Yorkshire.

-There you go.

-Hmm?

-There we go.

-That one ready?

-OK.

Finish this sauce, that's your pomegranate's gone in the sauce,

with a little knob of butter, salt and pepper.

-Put a couple of chestnuts on there, with your brussels sprouts.

-Yes.

Now chestnuts you can buy already done like that, can't you, really?

Yes, it's not been a good season for chestnuts, I believe.

What do you think, Phil?

-We...

-Chestnuts are having a difficult time this year...

THEY TALK OVER EACH OTHER

If you look around chestnut trees in London,

it's an absolute nightmare. They've all lost their leaves completely.

-I mean, it is a big-time problem.

-OK.

But we're actually getting buyers in from Italy, actually.

Just going to cut that...

It's a bigger problem if we don't get this on the plate in a minute.

-Look at that. Slide it on there.

-There you go.

Then we pop that like so, you can see it's nice

and pink in the middle, and then...

Pop our pomegranate sauce...

-..just over and around.

-Looks pretty good.

So tell us what that is again?

That's partridge in a bread blanket with a pomegranate sauce.

Easy as that.

There we go, right. Well, you get to have a dive into this.

See what you think. Partridge in a blanket.

-Nigel, grab a seat over here.

-Wow. Looks amazing.

-Dive in.

-OK.

-Dive in, tell us what you think.

-Because it's got the bread on it,

it's just a sandwich, isn't it?

Sorry!

THEY LAUGH

-It's a partridge sandwich!

-Yes! Yes, he said with a smile on his face!

-It's a posh sandwich.

-34 quid now.

Wow, that's an expensive sandwich.

When you think of all the ingredients that go into a stuffing, you've got,

you've got the bread wrapped round it and then you've got your mushrooms...

-He's right, it is a sandwich.

-It's a sandwich.

I'll call it a partridge sandwich now.

In a blanket, it sounds like you've tucked it in.

Like it might not even be dead. That's what it sounds like.

-It is dead, I think.

-Well, it is dead. It tastes delicious.

It tastes really good.