28/11/2015 Saturday Kitchen

Let's warm up your weekend with a spectacular display of dishes from

I'm joined by two of the most stylish men in the culinary world.

First the man in charge of an ever growing global food empire.

The control centre being the Michelin starred restaurant Pollen

Next to him is another empire builder.

He commands half a dozen of the capitals most stylish

and most popular places to eat all with cool names like Polpo,

Polpetto, Spuntino, Mishkins and the Ape and Bird!

You can always recognise them as they have a half mile queue outside.

Making his debut with us on Saturday Kitchen, it's Russell Norman.

Now, Jason, you have been on the show before, what are you doing? We

are doing roasted pheasant. We are going to confit the legs, roast the

breast. With some chervil and pickled walnuts. Lovely and Russell,

what is on the menu from you? We have our signature dish, truffled

egg toast. Egg plant fries, also known as aubergine chips with a

fennel yoghurt and an Italian dish of ribbon steak served with chicory

and the anchovy dressing. That looks proper.

So some incredible food to look forward to from these guys and

if that wasn't enough we have our vintage selection

Today we have servings from Rick Stein, The Hairy Bikers,

Now, the show already looks like a GQ magazine cover shoot

but our special guest today must be in the running for man of the year!

He's certainly had a very interesting couple of months with

the return of TFI Friday, taking over Top Gear, running the London

marathon and even penning the next instalment of his autobiography!

Welcome back to Saturday Kitchen, Chris Evans!

Yay! How you doing, boss? All right? You would not be on the back of GQ,

you would be the centre fold! A good show last night? A great show. Guy,

he was on the show. I thought he was looking ropey.

A great guy. How many left to go? Four more to go

around three live ones. We are recording for the New Year's

Special. But it is brilliant. To be able to get to do it one more time.

It is brilliant. But it is carnage? You are been there.

Yeah. I think if I can do the show, if it

is like that, then I don't want to do it, if I think it is impossible,

then it is the right show. So, impossible! Like you.

Now, food heaven and hell? I love meat.

So there was liver on the food heaven? Yes, liver was there. But

you have gone for the mushrooms. But I think that mushrooms are as close

as you can get to meat without coming from an animal.

What about the dreaded food hell? We have gone for cheesecake. Just the

name. It is a conflict isn't it? I know you can make it taste all

right. I know that people make a living out of it, little village

shops selling cheesecakes but I am repping just saying it.

So it's either mushrooms or a whole cheesecake.

For food heaven I'm going to use the mushrooms and a lot of Chris's

other favourite things to make one of the most famous dishes

The mushrooms are finely chopped and sauteed with tarragon then used

to cover a whole fillet of beef along with spinach, chicken liver

pate and finally pancakes before rolling it all up in puff pastry.

It's baked and served with a madeira sauce and

I love that, I choose mushrooms and you get to beef Wellington! That's

Or Chris could be having food hell, a cheesecake and I've got

a whiskey and vanilla one in mind for this The filling is made from

a mixture of cream cheese, double cream, sugar, sultanas, bourbon,

It's baked then served with sauteed bananas and a chocolate sauce.

This is a proper dessert! It does sound nice.

But you'll have to wait until the end of the show to find

If YOU'D like the chance to ask either of our chefs a question

that's 033 0123 1410. A few of you will be able to put a question

And if I do get to speak to you I'll be asking if you want Chris to face

You can also send us your questions through social media by using

Right, let's get our first recipe this

We are going to get this into the chicken stock and poach this.

So, poaching it whole? Yes. So, poach that whole. You are going to

blanch the cabbage for me. Julien it really fine. Dice up the

Alsace bacon, the carrot and make a confit cabbage for me with a little

bit of the jus. Not a problem.

I'm going to make a spice mix. I will get on to the partridge soup.

If Chris is the busiest man in television, you must anybody the

restaurant world. What was the last count, 18? It is just a number. It

doesn't matter. Well it is a lot. It is interesting

how to you keep, literally, all of the plates spinning.

When you were here, you opened in New York. The latest one on the

horizon is a fantastic Japanese-style restaurant? Yes, we

are doing one in Clerkenwell. I have been told piano by my PR not to talk

about it too much. All right, what are you doing with the partridge

then?! No. We are working on a restaurant in Clerkenwell. It used

to be the old Turnbulls nightclub, anyone remember that? Come on, I am

not the oldest person in the room! I was more a Ministry of Sound guy!

Ministry of Sound? Yes, like this... So, the cabbage is in. You cook that

in the same pan as the partridge. That is nice. 12 minutes? Yes, and

then chill it back down. For a dinner party you can do it the day

before. You can also do it with chicken. Just cook it for longer.

Here is the spice mix, black and white peppercorns, cinnamon and a

little bit of sugar. And here, caster sugar, and then all

of the spices will be added? Yes. We are going to toast them off to

release the flavours. If running restaurants was not

enough, you write articles and bits and pieces. What is this about the

aftershave? I knew that this would come back to haunt me.

Go on, then? There is a famous food magazine, Four Magazine. All of the

top restaurants and chefs contribute to it. It is a beautiful magazine.

It is part charity. They asked me to be the head of the foundation. So I

did that but part of it was to create a fragrance, using the same

idea we create a dish. We did that, we went down to grass. We came up

with an amazing fragrance, it is Bude sear, it is selling really well

-- Boudisea. Have you got it on? Yes.

Let's have a smell of it. It is subtle. Like roasted

partridge. Do you get the raw ingredients? Yes, we based it on

vetiver. We talked by moo childhood but I am from Skegness, so that did

not really come into it. There is no essence of Skeg?! No. So

what is here now? So, the spices are toasting off. In here is water and

vinegar and the sugar like that. The spices are a mixture of

everything? Yes. Then just whack them in. In with a little bit of

saffron. You, I am assuming, you let the

partridge cool off after you seal it? Yes.

Put it back in the fridge. You just need to colour it.

I am going to cook the bacon. Can we talk about the 12 dares of

Christmas. The partridge and the pear tree. They are ground birds.

What is he doing in a pear tree? He is stuck. How did he get up there? I

threw him up. Someone got angry and threw him up there.

# Partridge in a pear tree... Right, we have the cabbage, the syrup and

the spices and the bacon is cooking. Where do you get your ideas from?

Just travelling. I to a lot of reading, research. I've been doing

this for the best part of 30 years. 30, no way! Impossible?! Of course,

it is not. There is no way you are that old! I like Chris, you can

invite him back. Invited, it is December and he just

turns up! This is the chervil root. It is between a parsnip and a

potato. We peel them, cook them in milk but make a puree and we have

the little puree. Like an artichoke? Exactly.

Remember if you'd like to put a question to either of our chefs

That's it. We are ready. To recap, once the partridge is in

like that. 12 minutes, take it out. Straight in the fridge.

The only bird you cannot do it with is a turkey, as there is no pan big

enough. So, black pepper and a pinch of

salt. Now here we have the pickled walnuts. Slice those. These work

well with the game birds. How is the spice syrup going? I'm

warming it up. Now, do you take the wish bone out

of there first? Absolutely. It helps with the carving. You can leaf it in

but when carving, it tends to guide the knife.

I have this aring argument with a lot of young chefs. What kind ekind

of argument? It is pretty big. It ends in tears, not mine! You can do

this with the pheasant? Yes, the same. You can see how moist it is.

There are a few people on social media, telling me how many pans we

are using. Nine at the last count.

Always. Is this how you cook at home, Jason?

Just how I cook at home. Is it? It is not that unusual to see

that set up in a restaurant? You have to remember, you are doing this

element at home without having to do it all to order. You can do the

partridge the day before, the cabbage in advance. Heat it up.

But nobody complains about how many amplifiers, the Rolling Stones use?

Stop moaning, everyone! And cooking it this way it is guaranteed to be

cooked all the way through? Yes. Can you heat up the sauce while I slice

my truffle. A bit of winter truffle. There we go.

The smells are drifting over. It smells great.

Amazing. Give us the name of the dish, then?

So, we have partridge, winter truffle, chervil root, toasted

walnuts, pickled walnuts, bacon and a little bit of sauce.

Fantastic! Because you do a lot of restaurants, do you need to get

match fit for a programme like this or are you straight back up to

speed? Straight back up to speed. Chefs do get defensive, they say, I

still cook, I'm in the kitchen all the time. I literally am. A lot of

my customers save up they cannot believe I am there. It is taste of

the chart. Our wine expert Jane Parkinson has

been in the home counties this week so let's see what she's chosen to go

with Jason's perfect partridge. It is turkey season so I've come to

this farm, home to 40,000 award-winning free range turkeys.

The four I hit the shops to find the wine I am going to take a look

around. With the real depth of flavour to

Jason's recipe, we need a wine that is bold and beautiful. This one from

the South of France would be a lovely classic option, but with the

spices I want a wine that is funky and spicy and I found just the thing

with this red blend from 2013. It is a beauty from Bulgaria. Partridge

usually likes a more delicate red but this recipe does not compromise

on flavour so we can play with a wine that is a bit more gutsy. This

is a blend of three very characterful greats, all of which

contribute to that lovely spicy aroma. The herbal freshness works

really well with the chervil puree, but it gets as spiciness and a

smooth texture which really complements the dish. This is a

delicious alternative red to go with your delicious alternative partridge

recipe. I hope you enjoy them together. It is quite spicy and it

works really well. What do you reckon? It is absolutely gorgeous.

What are you going to be making? Eggplant fries. Aubergine chips.

Fennel yoghurt. Ribbons of steak with chicory and anchovies dressing,

surfed turf and earth. And the signature dish, which is basically

cheese on toast, truffle egg toast. Egg yolk and truffle oil on a

doorstop. It is a proper sandwich as well. You can ask our chefs a

question if you get in touch on this number.

Let's get our weekly foodie dispatch from Rick Stein.

He's enjoying a tour of the street food of Hanoi in Vietnam but first

Clearly BBC expenses weren't under scrutiny back

This is the capital of Vietnam, it is more austere than Ho Chi Minh

City or Saigon. It is a lot colder in the winter. It is full of

buildings that reflect the Chinese influence that has been here

throughout the centuries, and the imperial architecture of the French,

who ruled here for a hundred years. The guest list includes my hero,

Graham Greene, who gives his name to this cocktail made up of June,

firmly and Cassie is. I can just imagine the late nights

here in the 60s and 70s when Russian officers were getting out of their

heads on vodka whilst the North Vietnamese looked on in

astonishment. At this cocktail lives on to this day. I Graham Greene.

Blimey, that sorts out the men from the boys. It is very nice. I was a

bit worried about the cassis but it gives it a pleasant sweetness which

is just about right for 9am. This is an enormously famous restaurant. It

is fried fish, and is named after an ancient Chinese poets and

revolutionaries who is also a fisherman. The only dish they cook

is the fried fish, like a catfish, with turmeric and finished off at

the table. It is marinated in various other spaces which have

always been a closely guarded secret. Before coming to Hanoi we

were told they don't go in for social niceties but just get on with

the job. That is fine by me, the food was gorgeous. Like a lot of

Vietnamese cooking this dish is all about fresh herbs, in this case,

lots of dill and spring onions. Then you make it up yourself. It is rice,

noodles and vegetables which have cooked for seconds. You add some

shrimp paste and roasted peanuts for a nice bit of crunch. Next, of

course, fish sauce and a few bits of fiery chilli. To complete this

vegetable extravaganza, finely shredded spring onions, coriander

and mentor, and then, if you're like me, you wrestle with your chopsticks

and get the sauce all over your shirt.

If there is only one dish in Hanoi and this was it I would come back

repeatedly, it is that good. I love it. When you think about it, this

one dish has been cooped here for 100 years, and you can see how

successful it is -- has been cooked. The same family have been

cooking it and one of the theories is this dish came out of the Jungle,

it was cooked by the revolutionaries plotting to get rid of the French,

they came to Hanoi and they set up a street stall and gradually it grew

and it grew and in the end the name of the street was changed to be

after the restaurant. As it grew, revolutionaries eight here. It is

testimony to the cultural power of foods, the way that people gathered

to talk about things. In this case, they were talking about getting the

French out of Vietnam. The seek it -- secret with crossing the road is

you make eye contact and then set off. This is an old friend who used

to work for me, but now he has fallen in love with a street food of

Southeast Asia and has wreaked on -- written about his experiences. I

Southeast Asia and has wreaked on -- understand why he finds it so

fascinating. Smells of street food cooking would have me coming back

again and again. This is probably the most popular dish, strips of

belly pork marinated in garlic and sauce. They play an important part

along with these Vietnamese spring rolls. The whole thing is based on a

light fish -based broth. I have a feeling this is a day for several

lunches. I know I'm with an aficionado of street food. These are

great. They are little steamed pancakes with mushrooms and herbs.

Do we sit on these? They are for grown-ups? I'm afraid so. I am

surprisingly comfortable. What is that? It looks like garlic and

vinegar, slightly pickled. This is a table salad. You tear them on top,

break them up, then we put a bit of Chile on there as well. These are

lovely little lanes, we squeeze them on top. Then we need a little bit of

fish sauce. Where does this go? Take that and you can dip it in that. I

will just use the chopsticks. That is lovely. What is in there? Just a

kind of mushroom mixture, maybe some chicken. All the fresh herbs are

fantastic. It is such a pleasure. You've done a book about street

food, how does Vietnamese street food Company? It is the best. They

talk about food all the time, which is amazing, there are greetings

like, hello, have you eaten yet? There is one that I heard which is

talking about someone who is faithful to their wife, eating rice

from the same bowl, if they are not then they are eating rice from other

s. It goes through the poetry and the music and the culture, I love

exploring places and just eating, using your taste buds to kind of

find your way. Great stuff from Rick as always

and there was some very tasty There's been an explosion

of street food restaurants all over the country in the last few years,

quite a few thanks to Russell over My favourite street food is

something I have whenever I get the They are not based on potatoes. The

first thing we do is get the butter in the pan and melted down. We add a

lot more flour to the special mole sauce because that is the thickening

agent. This is ham that you can use, we will chop it up with some parsley

and we will use some Comanche -- Manchego cheese. You are here to

talk to us about the third instalment of your autobiography. Is

it up to date yet? This is the contemplation of reaching

half-century. It is called Call The Midlife, so it is 100 days not

thinking about anything, 100 days not drinking and 100 days preparing

for a marathon without telling anybody. Why the marathon? I go home

every day driving past this lake, and I heard it calling me, this

lake, I know that sounds strange. This time last year. That was the

gin and tonic. Maybe it was. I thought the lake was asking me to

run round it. I pulled in one-day on a Tuesday morning, and I said I am

going to get round that lake. 3.5 miles, I found out it was. First

time I got round it shuffling, being overtaken by people power walking. I

got round it three times with stopping, within a week I could get

round it doing something a little bit quicker than walking and slower

than jogging. I set myself a challenge that if I could get round

it twice before the end of 2014 I would go online and get the marathon

plan without telling anybody at all. Which I did. How did they not find

out? You must have got all the gear. The great thing about it is you

don't need much gear, just a pair of trainers. When you start running and

become a runner, which I am now, you... These guys have done it as

well. a little bit of sauce.

Fantastic! And when you go away, you want to

see a town or a village, the best way to see it is to run around the

place. And you don't need a bike, a car, a sales board. You can't walk

properly anymore! Marathons are such hard work, you should do another

one! I am doing London this year. I wanted to do New York. But, Jason is

helping out on this but I have to do this London to Brighton. But I have

to sort out my hips. And the first person to ever run a marathon died.

Hang on a minute, the butter you put in your dishes, that is not a

recommended amount? No but without me, you would not feel the need to

run! Thank you! You can join us for a marathon.

Now, you are all right. I have eaten one before! I won't run one!

Basically, we have our very thick sauce. You can put the cheese or

anything else in there. Then we separate into two things. So the

Manchego cheese in one with the ham, and then the salt cod into the other

one if you mix it together with a spatula.

Got one here! Mix it all together. Then you have the salt cod. Allow it

to cool, then we have this. Season it up.

Then we have here... That is part of the delight! It needs more salt! So,

what have you learned by writing this? What are the golden rules? You

doing everything in lists? Well, what I thought. I have been lucky,

lucker than I deserve to be. Sort of doing OK, to get to the first half,

50, or whatever. But, my goodness me, if you can apply science, if you

have a plan. So I took a year to think about what I want to do, where

I am, how my body is, how my marriage is, how my friendships are,

what do you want to do about your health? Lots of people are obsessed

with staying alive but you are so busy trying to stay alive you forget

to live. So I went to a doctor about sleep,

diet and different issues, one guy said forget the illnesses that could

kill you. What about the muscles, the flexibility. It is about being

healthy enough to have a great time while you are here. So it was all

about refocussing what to do. I spoke to Dr John Sentamu about

faith. I spoke to a lady about alcohol, do we drink too much. She

said that most alcoholics are, a brilliant definition, that most

alcoholics that she came across, she is one, so she would know this, they

are megalomaniacs, with a complex of inferiority! You are one? Of course

I am! It does you a favour. Crisis makes you regroup, you form, storm,

reform and perform. That is an American thing.

I haven't got time for any of those, as I am making mayonnaise! Yes but

when you approach #50shgs James, which you will... I'm a long way off

it! Let's recap. This is a little bit of mustard and is a on in here.

And then we are making our own mayonnaise. Blitzed up with rapeseed

oil as well. I love all of this. This is great.

If you get into the habits of doing this, it is all so much better.

I think so, mainly as I can't eat mayonnaise, I'm allergic to it. So

use rapeseed oil, not extra Virgin olive oil, or veg oil, and you can

make salad cream. Like it? I love it.

That is the same way but with hard boiled egg yolks.

When did you find out your allergic to mayonnaise? When I ate it! Come

on! Because, I am allergic. I am allergic... It is all about getting

older! Now, I am allergic to antipersperant and alcohol! So, now

can we talk about Top Gear! But, back to the marathon. You do the

marathon, down load a training plan from the internet, beginners,

intermediate, elite if you do their schedule, you will get around. And

with the nutrition, the training, you get organised, put yourself into

a good place in life, then suddenly things start happening. They start

to come your way. You put yourself into a position where your arms are

open as wide as possible to take on opportunities, you know this. It is

not so much about planning but getting ready. What are our ideas?

Are they from the source or from up here? And you must be ready to take

them on. Me, personally? Yes. I am hearing from this guy in my

ear, chatting to me all the time. He is your Ether. So, ways in the

right place at the right time for TFI Friday and then Top Gear. Last

Friday, I did a radio show, and then TFI Friday at midnight.

So, Top Gear, what can we expect? A car show on May the 5th. You can

expect to be on it, if you are nice to me and this tastes good. We have

started to make firms. We are making the first in January in America.

When is it on our screens? Sunday, May the #59.

Are you nervous about it? No, I can't wait. You go on TFI Friday, it

is 7.45pm but we have no idea what is going on. We don't know how it

will work out. That is how we like it. Top Gear, most of it is done it

is films. By the time we hit the air in May, we will have 32 films in the

can. As they say. Are you listening to me? Yeah, I'm listening, 32 films

in the can. Can I get in that channel in your

ear. You are welcome! Of course, you are

doing this between! How do you do that! It is the non-mid-life crisis.

I have to talk and cook at the same time. And seeing you are on here,

there is a bit of parsley. Is that an extra fiver with the

parsley? Here are your knife and fork.

I can't remember which is which. I love Chris's garnish. The parsley

blob! You can do this, can't you?! Thank you very much!

So what will I be making for Chris at the end of the show?

It could be his food heaven, mushrooms which I'll use to make

probably the most famous of Great British dishes, a beef Wellington.

I'll make a duxelle with fresh tarragon

from the mushrooms then use it to cover a whole fillet of beef along

with chicken liver pate, spinach, pancakes then finally puff pastry.

It's all baked then served with a madeira sauce and

Happy with that? It's great. You should do this for a living!

Or it could be food hell, a baked vanilla and bourbon cheesecake.

The filling is made from cream cheese, double cream,

bourbon, eggs, vanilla, sultanas, sugar and a touch of lemon.

It's baked on a sponge base and served with sauteed bananas

As usual, it's down to the guests in the studio and a few of our

viewers to decide, and you can see the result at the end of the show.

Right, let's get another absolute favourite recipe from Mary Berry.

How did you do that while talking? You are a magician!

Today, she's cooking with the grandchildren,

With five grandchildren, always on the move, I am never short of hungry

visitors or helping hands in the kitchen.

This next dish is a perfect way to get them cooking.

I've got a bit of help. This is Hobie and Louie. We are all going to

do it together. Wish us luck! Start by cooking 250 grams of dried penne

pasta. Add a roughly chopped onion to the boiling salted water. You may

wonder why I put onion in with the pasta. I find it easier. They cook

the same time. Rather than frying it, sometimes it catches. Sometimes

it is not even tender. While the pasta cooks, move on to

the chicken. For six people, use three chicken breasts cut into

little strips. If you have a bag there, Louie, put a tablespoon of

paprika in the bag first. That make it is really brown and crispy.

That's it. Then a little bit of pepper and salt. That's it. And then

put the chicken in there. All of it... Well done.

And then if you hold the top of the bag and rub until you have coated it

all. Rub it like that with you your hands. That's it. Give it a good

rub. Heat one tablespoonful of oil and in

goes the coated chicken. Now it goes in a lump but... I'm

going to divide all of that up. Then each piece will get brown.

While Louie chops and deseeds two tomatoes, Hobie and 50 start on the

white sauce. 50 grams of butter and 50 grams of plain flour. Sprink it

will in. Left hand on the pan to steady it and stir it to start with.

Now, add 750 mls of hot milk in two lots.

That's right. Now, would you say that was getting smooth? Kind of.

Kind of, I think that is pretty good.

Add most of 100 grams of parmesan to the pan. That's it. We will keep

that for the top. Then, one teaspoon of Dijon mustard.

All of it? Just a level one. That's it. In it goes.

Give that a bit of a stir. Finally, season, then add the cooked

pasta and onion. Pour half of the mix into a

three-pint buttered oven proof dish. Then we add in the chicken in a

layer. Then the rest of the pasta over the top. And well done it is

not a bit burnt on the bottom. You stirred it all of the time. Sprinkle

the rest of the cheese and the chopped tomatoes on the top that is

warm. I'm putting it in the oven at 200 degrees fan. And it will be

bubbling and crispy on top in 20 minutes. How about going out and

having a bit of a play until it is done? I'm going out! When it is

ready, leave it to cool down a bit and then dig in.

Oh, I need to get that bit. This has always been one of my

favourites. I think it's going to be one of their favourites too.

My next recipe is a fantastic alternative to the Sunday roast and

always has them coming back for more.

It's a great family dish. It is aromatic, it is spicy but not too

hospital to feed six use one kilo of lamb neck fillet cut into small

pieces. Coat with two tablespoons of ground cumin and two tablespoons of

ground coriander. Then just turn the meat in the spices.

Heat two tablespoons of oil and start to brown the meat.

With this much it is best to do it in two batches.

Now, just look at that a gorgeous, golden brown colour. Now that takes

time but a single layer in the bottom of the pan and keep turning

it. That's it.

Then I'm going to put a little more oil in there. Only a little. Just

enough to stop it from catching the bottom.

Add two sliced onions and around a tablespoon of freshly grated ginger.

Give it a good stir. Looking in the bottom of the pan. You see that the

onions have cleaned all of that lovely brown crusty bit of flavour

it is now on the onions. Now to add the other ingredients.

Firstly the wine. 250 mls of white wine.

Exactly. Then two tablespoons of tomato puree

and one of mild rose harissa piece. Two tablespoons of runny honey. A

400-gram tin of chopped tomatoes. Season, and add the zest of a whole

lemon and the juice of half. There is the meet all beautifully brown.

If there is any juice in the bottom that will go in as well. Give that a

good start. Isn't that good? Beautiful land. All those spices and

tomato. On with the lid. That goes on the oven at 140 Fahrenheit four

about 1.5 hours until it is tender. Here it is, straight out of the

oven, and it should be hot and bubbly. That is what I was hoping

for, a gorgeous colour, looking really tempting. All I've got to do

now is add the cannelloni beans. There it is, you've got beautifully

soft, tender meat. It just smells all spicy and aromatic. This dish is

great to serve with rice or couscous and I always finish mine with a good

dollop of sour cream. That is so good. The sour cream

really makes it because it is a little on the hot side and that

cools it down. It is just lovely. Still to come this morning

on Saturday Kitchen Live. After a trip to one of

the most important synagogues in the city he's back

in the kitchen of a top food writer Russell and Jason will

being going head to head And being such sartorially

el-EGG-ant chefs I fully EGGs-pect their omelettes to be EGGs-quisitely

turned out but you can see what And will Chris be facing

food heaven, a beef wellington with Or food hell, a baked vanilla

and bourbon cheesecake? You can see what he ends up with

at the end of the show. Now, if that restaurant you're

reading about in your weekend papers isn't run by Jason over there,

chances are, it's run by this man. Welcome to Saturday Kitchen,

Russell, What are we making? We are doing three dishes. We're

doing a snack, these recipes are all from the book. Three dishes. We are

going to need some chips. Just think chips from the chippy but with

eggplant. I don't mind the skin. We've got some spices here? These

are fennel seeds and coriander seeds. Dry toasted. We put them in a

dry pan, over heat until they start to smell and then crush them with

the pestle and mortar. We've got some seasoned flour here. This is

your trademark dish. This is. It needs to have a good three

centimetres. It has got to be a blue collar, white trash, white loaf. It

does not work with nice bread. That has holes in it, and holes are not

good for this dish. What is next? Next is the cheese. There are two

types of it. There is an Italian wine and the North European

irritation which is terrible. Don't get that one. It needs to be

Italian. Where do your ideas come from? Tonight you are opening your

10th restaurant. That is right. I am a Mac by, I travel a lot, and even

though I don't realise it I am picking up ideas all the time. I

take photographs, I've got menus, I have a ridiculous collection of

artefacts for no particular reason but usually at some point along the

way I will go back to that arsenal of ideas and sketches and find

something that works. You're not trained as a chef. I was a waiter, a

bartender, then I managed a few restaurants before opening my own

restaurant six years ago with my best friend Richard, and we have

opened 10 cents. Your ideas are spectacular, you've got to get that

from, don't you? It is not a case of going to places in order to pick up

wholesale menus, it is about getting inspired, the DNA of a place. It is

that I try to recreate in the restaurants. They are totally

experiences, about food, about music, about the friendly welcome

you get, about the lighting, about feeling transported. And they are

about cheese on toast. This is, I don't know, am I the first person to

come onto your show and cook cheese on toast? Probably! Comfort food is

probably about those flavours we remember from childhood. Eating is

about chemicals. Where does this idea come from? This was a trip I

took to New York, I went to a little cafe, it had for Panini presses and

a toaster. They made some fantastic stuff from what was not really a

kitchen, including this. I went back 56 times to work out how this was

done and through espionage 56 times to work out how this was

of eating I finally worked it out. When I opened my restaurant I asked

our chef if she could recreate it. I am doing the anchovies dressing for

the salad. Will you remind me in about two Mac minutes. What I am

also doing for the salads is very thinly sliced Shalott. He is quite

relaxed seeing as he has never done this before. You're going to jinx it

now. I was not thinking about it. I will get the chips on. The beef

should be a medium. Not to rear. No problem. Absolutely fine. All these

recipes are on the website. The cheese, you've got to do this in

three stages. You do. It is worth the effort. Stacking the cheese up

so high. One of the slight problems with this dish is that the cheese

topples sometimes. It is a quite dirty dish. Did you have a plan when

you open the first one? I still don't have a plan. It is a question

I get asked quite a lot and it is the same answer. We are sort of

playing at restaurants. You started off, were you a schoolteacher?

You've done your research. I taught drama in the 1990s at a girls school

in North London. The power of Twitter, one of your old pupils has

sent a message in. The garlic has gone in already. The aubergines are

cooking nicely. I love lambs lettuce. It is one of those long

season Green is that you get from around May to November. You can use

rocket. I love rocket but I find it ubiquitous. I tire of it

occasionally. The recipe online will say rocket but Lamb leaf is just as

good. It is an essential ingredient in this cooking, that bittersweet

this. Are you nervous? Since you said that I am not nervous, I have

fallen apart. This has stood him in good stead. It is a good theory.

Your restaurants are more theatrical. Restaurants are theatre.

But yours are more theatrical. I like to think that. Even if you go

to a restaurant, you go to a restaurant to enjoy food and it is

about so much more than that. The other elements are so much more

important than that. You go there and have a fantastic service

experience. If you have a rubbish service experience it is unlikely

you will go back. I think it is always about the chef. I think

service can make up for bad food but bad food can never make up for bad

service. Are you a restaurants like your house? There are elements of

it. Your restaurant feels very homely. That is the idea. When I get

compliments, the ones I really like are things like people saying it is

artless, it does not feel manufactured, it feels natural.

That's a very nice thing for people to say. When you put those eggplant

chips in can you have them pointing up so that they are looking at you?

Is that enough? Left hand side. I cannot see it. Oh, in a different

oven. Did you just run to that oven? That is all you're going to see!

That is how it begins, with a little run to the oven. Did that oven cold

to you? James, run to me. Don't forget to cool down. If you could

just take the skin of this. Look at that. You would like the carving up

aspect of running. A little pepper. Give us the name of

these dishes. Truffle eggs toast. Aubergine chips with fennel yoghurt.

The last one is beef ribbons with chicory, lambs lettuce and anchovies

dressing. I feel like I've run a marathon.

Sorry, still faffing. Less is more.

So, none of these dishes has more than three ingredients.

This looks casual. Organised casual! But you have thought about it.

Food needs to look fantastic, enticing. But at the same time I

don't like overfussy presentation. I think food should look like it has

fallen together. Right, let's head to Maidenhead to

see what our wine expert, Jane Parkinson has chosen to go

with Russell's fantastic feast. Russell's recipe take ticks all of

the comforting boxes. With that dreamy truffle flavour, I am partial

to a drop of BarberaD' Asti. But I am in Italy, heading south. With the

famous, Montepulciano d' Abruzzo. It is found in Tuscany.

Mmm, lots of black fruit, tick. A hint of cola, tick.

The plump black fruit of this wine is what give it is the wherewithal

to match the steak. With the tang of the shallots and the anchovies and

dressing, as well as the spice and the panko breadcrumbs, really lights

the spice of the wine. While the texture works brilliantly with the

meltingly soft fried aubergine. Russell, thank you for bringing such

wintry, surprisy flavours into the kitchen.

Cheers! Indeed. The price of this is unbelievable.

It is unbelievable. Jason said, how does anyone make money out of this

for a fiver? This is great. It's time now for a recipe

from the great Antonio Carluccio. He's in the Italian capital,

Rome today and he's exploring the food culture

of the city's Jewish population. In the city in the centre of the

Catholic Church, perhaps one of the last things you expect to find is

one of the world's largest synagogues. I am here to meet a very

special lady. Donatella is having her morning

prayers in the major synagogue of Rome.

Donatella can trace her Roman ancestry as far back as 1400. Some

of her ancestor's recipes are classics.

She is one of 15 survivors of the Nazi occupation.

Today, she is cooking a special lunch for her grandchildren. She

wanted to show me a little road here. There was a special road to

the ghettos, kept, purposely to show what it was like. Very small, very

narrow, without light, interesting. So we are here in a shop, the meat

sold here has been allowed and sanctioned by the Rabbi so that it

is pure. So he is preparing now our chicken breast. Donatella is going

to show me how to cook a special dish.

And this is the wish bone that gives it the name to the speciality.

Donna tella is not only quite a cook but has also written a Jewish cook

book. I am going to cook one of her

recipes, she will supervise me. This is a new, exciting challenge for me.

I am cooking in the house of Donatella, and I am cooking exactly

her recipe, called: Zamondi. I will show you how.

Now, I will put in a little oil and garlic and Donatella is supervising.

That is something. Then a little cube of celery, and

then the tomato. This is the beginning of the sauce.

You can find that passata in supermarkets everywhere. Now it

comes to what we bought this morning, a kosher chicken. This is

pre-salted. And now we take an egg, and in the

Jewish belief you must break the egg separately to check if there are

blood spots. So no red spot is there so we can put it with peace there. A

little bit of cinnamon, a little white ground pepper, and beat it.

Then it comes together with the meat. Here it is a minced breast of

chicken. We put it in with a little bit of breadcrumbs.

And there we are. That is enough. Now we mix it very, very well

together. So, you can make it a home if you

are Jewish or not. Just add a pinch of salt. And then

the mixture is ready. No herbs here. Just a wonderful

mixture of those ingredients that I showed you. So now is the time to do

a sort of ball. Perfect? Perfect. Now it comes into

the sauce. Very good.

Then adding a little water. And after about a quarter of an hour

and 20 minutes and you have the dish already.

Donatella is a woman whose love of life is reflected in the delicious

food she lavishes on her grandchildren.

It seems to me that is good meal is not only good for your body but for

your spirit too. Bravo.

Modesty! I asked, how is my cooking, my Jewish cooking and she said it is

very, very good. But she is a very good teacher. I agree with that.

Life. Life. That looked fantastic. I'm afraid we

have time for one foodie question today. That lucky caller is Pam from

Surrey. You you are through. What would you like to ask the guys? We

have loads of apples, and I am fed up of Bramley apple pie.

I would peel them down and make a jam. But it can be mixed with

mayonnaise and served with shellfish, lobster it is delicious.

What dish would you like to see at the end of the show? Heaven.

Straight away! We are answering tweets later on. Now it is time for

the Omelette Challenge. Jason is still in the top ten. Hanging on

there. Who would you like to beat, Russell? Me? Just getting tonne the

board. Madhur? OK.

So the usual rules apply. A three-egg omelette, let's put the

clocks on the screens. Three, two, one, go! And, he's in! Have you been

practicing? I tried once. I was so bad. I gave up! Tried once! It was

so bad I gave up. You have an omelette there.

Oh, truffle on the top. Are the clocks still going? Yes but

we will run out of music for you in a minute! Right.

Well, that is going to be cooked, because that took an hour.

Seasoned as well. This is a bit special with the truffle on the top.

Mmm. I think we will go for Russell first.

That is definitely an omelette. But you are nowhere near Madhur, you are

32.3 seconds. That puts you about there. There you go. Not too bad.

Who am I next to? Blomfield. Not too bad.

Jason? I didn't beat that. You didn't.

So will Chris get his food heaven, mushrooms along with

Or food hell, a big baked vanilla and bourbon cheesecake?

Our chefs will make their choices whilst we get a lesson

in great British baking from Si and Dave, those Hairy Bikers.

Today they're making a classic apple pie. Over to you fellas!

We call this the perfect apple pie. All good pies, start with a

brilliant crust! To start our pie, put 400 grams of plain flour in a

bowl together with the fine zest of a lemon.

Meanwhile, mix two tablespoons of cornflour with a teaspoon of

cinnamon and 150 grams of caster sugar. Now to the apples.

With the bowl. I have the finally grated zest of a lemon and the plain

flour. To this, add two Taliban spoons of caster sugar and a whole

pack of cold butter, that is cut into cubes.

It is lovely. It is a very short pastry. Short means Kruppely.

Crumbly means Bury, and Bury means this is a good apple pie.

The Bramley apple is thought to be the best culinary apple in the

world. It is cheap and it is massive, ain't it? It is. Brilliant.

The only thing to watch out for with the Bramley. Is that they hold a lot

of moisture. So that is why we have done the cornflour. If it leaks a

lot of juice, you have it. And it becomes an apple sweet gravy.

With the pastry, rub the flour, butter, and sugar with the zest mix

until resembles fine crumbs. Now, what I am going do is quarter

the Bramleys. And slice them thin. Simple.

Now, in here I have got two tablespoons of water and an egg. We

use this as a liquid. So I am putting this in. Be careful, I don't

want to overdo it. I can always add more. It does not take long to form

it into a pastry. Right, there is the pastry. Now I want to take two

thirds for the base and a third for the top.

There you go. Make a ball. Don't hand it will too

much. She's there but she's very, very delicate.

Wrap this in cling film and pop this in the fridge it really would be a

bit of a devil to roll out now. Now, there are a couple of top tips

for handling ams to stop them going brown. Put them in water with lemon

juice, that stops the discolourings of the apples. So because we are

doing it quick, and we are going to coat them in the lovely sugary

cinnamon coating, we should be OK. But don't leave them for half an

hour and expect them to be the same colour. They will not.

We are slicing the apples and they are raw and they are going straight

into the pie. Don't be tempted to stew the fruit first. Get it into

the pie and get it in raw. So all of those lovely flavours are

concealed in their beautiful blanket of pastry that Mr Meyers is doing so

well. I'm greasing up me dish! Next, flour

and roll out the chilled pastry tonne a floured surface, until it is

the thickness of a ?1 coin. And 5-7 cms larger than the pie dish. For

me, the pastry is as important as the pie.

You see, it is going to be wonderful and crumbly. So to get this on

there, put it on your pin. On like that, roll it up. Put it on there

like so, and line your tin. If it is an all-butter pastry, a sweet

pastry, do chill it. It makes the handling so much easier.

Mr King, over to you. I will roll out the lid.

We will make it so it looks slightly over filled but as the apples cook

they will fall away and lose some of their volume.

So we have to make sure that it is as good and as packed as it can be!

Place the 600 grams of apples into the pie casing. Pressing the edges

firmly together to seal. Look at that. My mother used to do this, I

remember, she would take that pie and there was this action. I'm going

to make leaves out of these offcuts whilst we showed you this. What we

do, like that, then we push, push, push, push. Whilst he is crimping I

am rolling out the rest of the pastry and rolling out individual

leaves. That is beautiful. Nice and gentle.

This is a prime example of, it is a simple dish, it is cheap, this will

give us ten good portions. A bit of care and love and you've turned it

into something quite special. If you put this in the middle of the table,

people will be amazed. That is the thing, it is an apple pie so don't

make the effort. If you do, it becomes something else. Pierce the

top to let out the steam. Sprinkle with caster sugar. That needs to go

into a fan oven for 40-45 minutes until bakes to apple perfection.

You don't need a sharp knife with that pastry. Remember that is with

the hint of lemon zest. Can I eat more? Thank you. Marriage made in

heaven. The texture of the pastry is gorgeous. That little hint of lemon

zest gives it a fragrant top note. This, in our opinion, is the perfect

apple pie. Time to find out... Will Chris be facing Food Heaven or Food

Hell? So Chris, your food heaven

would be these mushrooms which I'll first use to make a duxelles with

fresh tarragon then cover a fillet of beef along with layers

of spinach and home-made pastry to It's served with a Madeira sauce

and more griddled ceps on the side. Or you could be having food hell,

an American style baked cheese cake made with cream cheese,

double cream, bourbon and vanilla. One caller wanted heaven. It was

kind of up to these guys. We've been getting on very well today.

Obviously not well enough because they've chosen the cheesecake.

Sorry. You absolute plums. What an absolute anti-climax. You're not

getting that. It is like bull's-eye. This is what you could have one.

We've got some water and some syrup. If you do that in that pan. When

that is coming to the boil, take the chocolate. I am devastated. I am

not. Next, we are going to make a base for the cheesecake. You will

like this, trust me. Whatever. But your beef Wellington is amazing. You

will fall asleep when you have both of them. We are going to use this

sponge base that we have bought in because it is so much quicker. This

recipe is inspired by the best cheesecake shop in America. It will

be gorgeous, I know that. It is a place called Eileen's. Some people

say it is that. Others say it is junior's. Eileen's is in Soho. It is

the nominal. You would not think it was anything much to write home

about. Hundreds of different types. It is fantastic. Plu-mac it is like

a corridor. We're going to take the sponge base. Nice and thin. This

one, you can give to granny your grandad. All right. Now we're going

to make the filling for the cheesecake. We are going to get this

full fat cream cheese. We're going to use sugar and the zest of lemon.

If you can mix that... We are going to throw in three X. This is fun. I

like this. I am a bit back in love with cheesecake now. We are going to

make this together. This is like a British style cheesecake, it is

going to be baked. Is that me? Sorry. Talking of marathons and

things like that, did you know that cheesecake was served at the first

Olympic Games? I did not know that. Tell you what I found out, all chefs

that used to work for the Royal household used to need to work

entirely naked until Henry VIII. What was the reason? I have no idea.

The rest is up to you. Do you want some questions? Anna says good

morning, I love Brussels sprouts but can you give me a new and special

recipe? I love them as well. They are fantastic. But we always boil

them. The best thing to do with them is roast them. I was at a restaurant

in Brooklyn and they would half or quarter them, salt, pepper, in the

frying pan. Pan-fried Brussels sprouts. They are great for risotto.

Risotto! Keep the leaves from the Brussels sprouts, they are great to

put in at the end. What is the best alternative dinner for Christmas

Day, for two people? Beef Wellington. You've got a spare one.

Duck, you have a nice maul. I would suggest going to a fantastic

restaurant, there are so many that are open on Christmas Day. I've got

a few of those. We've got the X in here and the sugar, bourbon,

cornflour, stabilising. -- we've got the bourbon. We have got this stock

syrup, and this amazing colour, there is enough cream in there. If

you make it with the stock syrup is those this lovely shiny colour. I've

made the Caravelle source. A little bit of cream. Can we say happy

birthday to your wife? Yes! She is set up in the green room. That was a

surprise for her and you have ruined it. I'd better go! It is not my day

today. It is absolutely not my day today. That was a surprise as well!

I have known him for 20 years and the one lesson is don't tell him

anything. I also know where you're going tomorrow. That is going to be

even better. This goes in the oven for one hour. Then you end up with

this. Can you take a slice out of the cheesecake?

We've got bananas here, we can lift them off.

Then our dressing. I am just devastated I have ruined your

birthday surprise. I was trying to take your mind. They look like

sausages, I am going to try and imagine they are sausages. That

looks like a Yorkshire pudding. That is gravy. Exactly. You got your

toffee bananas, chocolate sauce, the amazing recipe styled around

Eileen's cheesecake from New York. It has got the bourbon, got the

vanilla. It is great. It is great. I hate to admit it. We have got this

liqueur, ?14, widely available. I know. It is gorgeous. I hate to say

it, but it is gorgeous. In between this interview, you got the date

wrong for Top Gear. When is it? We record on the 5th of May and it goes

out on the 8th of May. What is in it? Cars. People. Tarmac. Any

particular people? Yes, some people. Trying to find a sweet wine to go

with this, the secret of that is whenever you put topping with

anything, if you try this, take a little bit of salt over the top. Do

you think salted Caravelle has outstayed its welcome?

Well that's all from us today on Saturday Kitchen Live.

Thanks to Jason Atherton, Russell Norman and Chris Evans.

Cheers to Jane Parkinson for the wine choices!

All the recipes from the show are on our website.

Simply go to: bbc.co.uk/Saturdaykitchen

There's more of our Best Bites tomorrow morning over on BBC 2

In the meantime have a great day and enjoy the rest of your weekend!