Letter J The A to Z of TV Cooking

If you're in the market for a feast of fantastic food, you're in the right place.

We've chosen the very best dishes from some of the nation's

favourite chefs and we're serving them up

alphabetically here on The A to Z of TV Cooking.

Today, we're looking at all things linked by the letter J.

Let's start off with something nice and simple to warm us up

for our journey ahead.

Here's Sophie Dahl and her J is for jacket potato.

So, I'm going to do twice baked potatoes and a roasted tomato soup.

It's the food that you want to eat

when all you're after is a taste of home.

The sort of thing that you used to get when you were ill, on a tray.

A nice bowl of tomato soup and some dry toast.

I'm going to roast the tomatoes, and you want a deep pan

because they're going to release this incredible, sweet, caramelised juice.

I want to be able to capture that.

To join them, two red onions.

No fine chopping, no endless peeling, it's very straightforward.

And again, with the garlic, no endless garlic fingers

because you're just going to cut the clove in half,

add some whole sprigs of thyme, spoon of sugar to help caramelise

the tomatoes and just get that really deep, intense flavour.

Some salt, pepper.

Good, generous glugs of olive oil.

MUSIC: "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Taken By Trees

And then that's going to go into the oven for 45 minutes at about 190.

So, baked potatoes...bake these for an hour and a half.

Very autumnal, baked potatoes, it's Bonfire Night,

it's Christmas...I can remember going to Camden Market as a teenager,

going up on the Tube and there was a baked potato stand.

And we'd sit on the corner in our DM boots and our love beads,

thinking that we were really cool, eating our baked potatoes.

To this, I'm going to add goat's cheese.

It's a preference thing, so you could use cheddar,

use whatever you want.

I love goat's cheese.

Add to that two spoons of creme fraiche.

I think this is the more indulgent baked potato.

I loved my Camden baked potatoes, but they were quite worthy.

So, I'm going to add an egg.

The reason I'm going to add an egg

is because it'll get that lovely, golden, souffle texture.

Glorious!

This is something which I think would be delicious with a

cottage pie or a lentil pie.

Delicious as a topping.

I'm going to add some finely chopped chives.

# Oh, oh, oh, sweet child o' mine...#

I remember, when I moved to New York, falling totally in love with it

and thinking, "God, this is home!"

And then, as I approached 30, kind of realising that England

and all those familiar things, from baked potatoes to buses to

phone boxes, you know, all those things were home.

I think the dead giveaway was when I started subscribing to Country Life,

when I lived in New York.

I'd sit in my apartment, looking out the window,

wanting to live in the cottages in Devon.

So, I put them in for 20 minutes at about 180 and they come out

when they're all crispy and golden, bubbling on the top.

Smells wonderful!

I mean, you could sit there very happily with a fork,

a bit of mozzarella...mmmm. The mozzarella would melt.

Amazing, the amount of juice, that sweet, caramelly juice.

So, before it goes into the blender,

you just want to squeeze any garlic out that's still in its skin.

Get rid of these spiny bits of thyme.

With that, it goes into the blender.

What's amazing about this is, it has no cream,

but it retains that thick, creamy texture.

I'm also going to add just a dash of Worcester sauce,

in the spirit of England, nostalgia and also just

a splash of balsamic vinegar...brings out the sweetness of those tomatoes.

They look lovely!

Because there's no-one around, this is where I get to go like that.

Mmmm!

That is Thursday afternoons, after games,

having come home on the train in the rain.

That's proper "curl up on the sofa in your pyjamas" food.

We're catching up with Rick Stein now,

who's in Cornwall on a mission to find the finest fresh fish.

He settles on John Dory for his recipe but first,

does a bit of exploring in the fishing town of Looe.

That's the biggest boat that comes into Looe

and as you can see, it's not enormous.

But that's the point about Looe - no bigger trawlers much bigger than

that can really get into the harbour cos the water's all out at low tide.

So, they're all day boats.

They just go out in the morning and come in early evening like this.

So, whenever you get fish from Looe, it's always dead fresh

and that, to me, is the best fish in the world.

And it's the fish that we seek out in our restaurant.

I think day boat landed fish should have a premium on it.

Everything's good here, from the humble rod-caught mackerel to

a fish that sums up Cornish seafood, the John Dory.

Well, this is what I would call a one portion fish.

It's just the right size and they look great

when they're dished up, grilled whole.

But this time I'm going to pan-fry it because actually

the fillets, I think, are the best fish in the world for pan frying.

I'll always think that if you don't like John Dory,

and some people don't, you won't like seafood.

The people that don't think they're ugly

but I think they're terribly attractive.

The thing about Looe Market is that I can guarantee this was

swimming in the water less than ten hours ago.

I'm going to do it with pomme boulangere.

That's just thinly sliced potatoes, not floury ones, softened in a

chicken stock, flavoured with fresh thyme and some sliced onions.

When they're softened, layer them into a shallow pan with some butter,

add some of the stock but don't cover them completely

and put in plenty of seasoning.

The reason it was called "pomme boulangere"

is that before people had ovens in their own houses,

they used to take a dish like this down to their local bakers

and have it put in the bread oven after they'd finished baking

the bread, hence boulangere.

The reason I like pan-frying John Dory

so much is that it's a very lean fish

and it doesn't taste sort of oily when you fry it.

Things like salmon do.

I don't care for pan-fried salmon,

but I certainly care for pan-fried Dory.

I haven't put any flour on it because it's got such dense

flesh, that it seals itself and the fat doesn't go inside.

I remember when this fish was a bit of rarity but they're

becoming more common around our coast, maybe it's global warming.

Now, in the same pan, I'm going to fry up some mushrooms,

a mixture of morels and Portobellos and some parsley.

The potatoes should look rather like the top of a Lancashire hotpot.

Now, this lovely, firm, white fillet and the mushrooms.

This has become a staunch favourite in the restaurant.

It's no wonder, really, it just eats like a dream.

We're travelling further afield for our next J,

which stands for a style of cooking.

Jerk cooking, in fact, and it originated in Jamaica,

and that's where we're going to be meeting Levi Roots.

For centuries,

these Caribbean islands have been at the crossroads of global

trade and their cuisine combines flavours from all over the world.

But if all this looks a bit exotic, don't worry!

The good news is, you don't

have to travel around the world to get your ingredients.

Everything I'm going to cook in this series, you can get hold of in your

local shops and to make it really easy,

you could put together a little treasure chest with the core

ingredients we'll use again and again.

Let's call it "The Sunshine Kit".

If you've got these essentials in your kitchen,

Caribbean cooking will be a breeze!

I've put in ginger, which adds heat as well as flavour.

-How much?

-Five dollars.

-That's Jamaican dollars, by the way.

Allspice, or pimento. Scotch bonnet pepper, my favourite.

These are one of the world's hottest chilli peppers.

Do you have any nutmeg, dear lady?

Lord ha' mercy! Fantastic, fresh nutmeg.

Next, some sweet, scented thyme.

I've got to say, this is really fresh stuff, yeah.

And finally a bit of bay leaf.

Now, in there I should have everything

I need to bring a bit of sunshine to your kitchen!

Lots of these flavours go into the most popular fast-food in Jamaica,

the legendary jerk chicken.

You see these oil drum barbecues, called jerk pans,

everywhere across the Caribbean.

Jerk has been described as Jamaica's culinary gift to the world

and it has a rich history.

Jerk is a spicy seasoning rubbed into chicken, pork,

fish or pretty much anything!

The cooking method is said to have been used by Jamaica's

original inhabitants, the Arawak Indians,

who laid their meat on pimento wood strips in a fire pit.

Perhaps the world's first barbecue?

Do you know, jerk is not just about how you cook it,

it's the spices that you use and what you put in it.

So, today, I'm going

to make my sticky jerk wings with sugared oranges.

This is first-rate finger food,

a modern twist on traditional jerk flavours.

I've keep the spice but added a delicious sweetness with honey,

a fantastic accompaniment of these sugared orange slices,

which are caramelised on the barbecue.

First, I'm going to need four spring onions.

Get rid of the ugly bits.

Just chop them roughly.

Cos I am going to put them in a pestle and mortar.

Next, I'm going to plunder that fabulous Caribbean Sunshine Kit.

Two tablespoon-full of thyme leaves.

I'm not going to chop these, I'm just going to flake off the leaves.

One scotch bonnet pepper

and I'm going to choose a red one.

You know, scotch bonnet pepper is always optional.

Jerk is not about the heat,

it's about the flavours of the spices that you put together.

A knob of ginger...and chop that up finely cos I'm going to put

all of this lot into a pestle and mortar.

There are two kinds of seasoning for jerk,

the first one is what you call dry seasoning.

Then you have the wet rub, which is what I'm going to make.

I'm going to add 100ml of cider vinegar.

One teaspoon full of cinnamon.

Three tablespoon full of honey.

Next, I'm going to add pimento or allspice.

Two tablespoon full of olive oil.

Add a bit of salt and pepper.

Mash it up and then transfer it to a bowl.

The sweetness and the spices are a lip-smacking combination!

Wow!

I've got some really fresh chicken wings here

and I'm going to pop them in.

Just going to leave these for about four hours to marinade

but better still overnight.

But do you know what? I've got some already prepared.

I've made myself a little barbecue here,

just as I would as a little boy.

Nothing fancy, have a look.

Once you've put them on the barbecue,

turn them every couple of minutes or so.

This stunning spot happens to be a sugar plantation.

Sugar has long been a core crop in Jamaica and I'm

serving my sticky jerk chicken wings with sugared orange slices.

Quarter your oranges and coat them generously in the sugar.

Yeah, I know, it's exciting.

I think you can see where I'm going with this.

Add the oranges, sugared side down.

Once they get brown you just turn them over.

These are so easy but so delicious!

Have a go on your barbecue.

And now, to round the day off, a little local spectacle...

burning the cane.

In preparation for the harvesters,

the cane field is set on fire to clear away all the leftover

brushwood, leaving just the cane stalks.

There is nothing like dinner by the fire.

What better way than to finish things off by getting stuck

right into a jam roly poly, with the Hairy Bikers?

Oh...

# Summertime and the living is easy...ooh! #

Are you mad?

Shall we get on with it?

This is a true family and school dinners classic.

Can't beat jam roly poly in the rain!

A jam roly poly pudding is not a new fangled thing.

Thackeray wrote about it, the jam roly pudding, you know?

Charles Dickens wrote about a jam roly poly pudding in Bleak House.

Mrs Beeton wrote about a jam roly poly pudding and Beatrix Potter did,

The Tale of Samuel Whiskers or The Roly-Poly Pudding.

And Nelson used it as a pillow.

That's not true, but everything I said was.

-We'd better get on.

-We might as well.

It's a celebration of suet.

Jam roly poly pudding starts off with self-raising flour.

And it goes into a bowl, a dry bowl preferably.

Suet...and it's true to say that there aren't really health giving

properties to suet, so we can't sell you on that one, can we?

Well, unless you're cold and thin and need to put a bit of fat on.

Don't just do it, make it with suet.

A tablespoon of caster sugar and a good pinch of sea salt.

Figuratively speaking, you need to mix the dry goods together.

"'Anna Maria, make me

"'a kitten dumpling roly poly pudding for my dinner.'

"'It requires dough, a pat of butter, a rolling pin,' said Anna Maria,

"considering Tom kitten with her head on one side."

Oh...

-"She borrowed a small saucer..."

-Can we get on!?

Got into that.

Now, make the dough...we're using semi-skimmed milk.

You can use water if you're feeling frugal.

God forbid you use whole milk, you know,

you might destroy the health giving properties of suet if you did that!

A bit of mixing and it all comes together into a big lump.

That's your cue, Si.

Thanks, mate...anyway, on a dry floured board, ideally,

give it a bit of knead and then roll it out to a rectangle type shape.

Now comes the reason why it's sometimes known as Dead Man's Leg.

The jam!

Now what we do, leaving an edge around it,

you drop the jam from even distribution from a height.

Rainwater infused jam is optional.

But you need a good splurge of any kind of jam

in the middle of the roly.

Steamed pudding is somewhat heavy but, you know,

on an English summer's day, there's nothing better than

sitting by the fire with a slice of steamed jam roly poly pudding.

Now, roll it up.

Unfortunately, cos of the rain, this is hard, cos it's sticking.

-Are we downhearted? No.

-No.

-Never!

What we want is the seam side to go down...picture!

-Yes!

-Can you see your roly poly pudding forming?

-Look, see?

And when you put that in the oven, it's going to go...ooooh!

Like a little kid with mumps.

So, we do a pleat like so, you see?

And the pleat is going to allow it expand.

Now, we twist the ends like a Christmas cracker

and tie that with a piece of string.

Sha-wa!

But if we were to steam this now, all the juicy goodness is going to

escape, so we need to put that in another foil overcoat.

The overcoat needs to have a pleat in it too.

To create the steam, boiling water goes into a roasting pan,

which will sit underneath the pud.

Place it with love.

All we need to do now is to place our little

torpedo of lard into a medium hot oven for about half an hour.

Satisfaction guaranteed, which gives us time to make custard.

This is a special custard.

Rich egg yolks and milk with added Madagascan vanilla seeds

for extra flavour.

Sun shines in Madagascar, doesn't it?

In the words of the immortal Morten Harket,

"The sun always shines on TV!"

Not on our shows.

Always belts it down!

Making proper custard is easier than you might think but once you

make it like this, you'll never go for the ready made stuff again!

Right, go on, Dave, get the poly out. I'll take over the whisking.

Right-oh!

# Dam-dam-dam-dam-dam, dam-dar-dam

Now, watch when you do this, there could be a spurt of steam.

Oh-ho, ho-ho-ho-ho!

That smells amazing!

Proper old English puds, you can't whack them!

If I had a plate, I'd think it was Christmas.

# Jingle all the way, ready to eat! #

Jam roly poly...proper!

Look at the burnt bit there.

Them are the best bits, they're brilliant!

But it's light, it's not fattening.

Well, what a delicious way to end today's show

and I hope you've all enjoyed it.

Thanks again to our wonderful chefs and I'll see you again next time.