Letter N The A to Z of TV Cooking

You buy your ingredients and you're looking forward to some cooking.

Which top chef will you turn to for inspiration today?

We've got all your favourites -

the nation's top TV chefs, all in one place, on The A-Z of TV Cooking.

Today, we're looking at things linked to the letter N.

Here's just some of what we've got on the menu.

The taste of the takeaway, with the Hairy Bikers' Singapore noodles.

Now, you almost have to knit the other ingredients into the noodles.

The best way is with a fork or some chopsticks.

The Greedy Italians make a ragu Napolitana.

Oh, why I'm cooking so good?!

Why you don't wait that we taste it before you say that? Proper ragu.

'And Raymond Blanc's greengage nougatine.'

It is not the simplest dessert that I've ever done.

But it's worth the effort and you must try it at home.

First up, one of my favourite cooking Ns - Nigel Slater.

Although it's not him we're looking at, it's his delicious noodle soup, he's cooking up here.

Sometimes I look at recipes and I see a great long list of ingredients

At first, I'm tempted to turn the page.

But then, if I have a closer look,

I find that actually, it's just a long list of shopping,

but the method is really quick and simple.

This is one of those dishes.

It's a sweet and spicy soup, with all those lovely Southeast Asian flavours,

with chilli for heat and coconut milk for sweetness.

First, I'll need chilli, garlic and ginger -

then, one of my favourite ingredients, lemongrass.

And if I can find some in the shops - a few lime leaves.

I'm just going to break these up a little bit, want to crumble them.

They're not essential, but they will give a lovely, citrus fragrance to the dish.

I want to put some coriander in there.

I'm saving the delicate leaves to add at the last minute,

but the tougher stems can go in with the spices.

Add a little oil, then simply blitz.

This will keep in the fridge, so make in advance, if you like.

I'm going to use about half that spice mix.

The rest I'll keep in a little bowl in the fridge for another day.

If you make a smaller amount,

the blades won't engage with the food.

Now I'll need some liquid.

Water would do in a soup,

but I think it's always good using a really good stock.

I've got lots of spice in there.

I want to add something sweet.

I'm going to use coconut milk.

This has a rich, nutty sweetness.

Without it, this dish would just be a spicy soup.

And I want this to be a sugar and spice.

And that sugar, that sweetness, comes from the coconut milk.

I love putting smooth, slippery noodles in a sweet and spicy soup.

These are glass noodles.

No cooking required. Just soak in boiling water for a few minutes.

I want some other ingredients in there.

I'm going to put some tomatoes in.

I'm going to keep these pieces quite small.

And they take seconds to cook.

What else goes in the soup is up to you.

It could be chicken, fish or vegetables.

Today, I fancy some sweet, juicy prawns.

Frozen are fine. Use grey, uncooked ones.

As soon as they've stopped being grey,

and have taken on a bit of pink colour, they're cooked.

Now's the time for a quick taste,

and an opportunity to adjust the flavours to how you like them.

I'm adding a little extra sweet coconut milk,

a splash of fish sauce and a squeeze of lime.

It's what I really love about cooking.

It's not following a set of rules - one, do this, two, do that.

It's about tasting a dish as you go along and working out the changes that you want to make to it.

Add the coriander leaves before putting everything together.

And finally, a sprinkling of cooling mint.

It's the heat from the chillies, the heat from the ginger,

the sweetness from the coconut milk,

and then this amazing freshness from the lime, the lemon, the mint.

The classic Southeast Asian combination of spicy and sweet

just works so well in this soup.

The sweetness of the coconut marries with the heat of the chilli and ginger,

and makes a few prawns and noodles into a very special supper indeed.

'And more noodles coming up now, from the Hairy Bikers.'

'They're trying to create their own perfect takeaway.'

'So, take it away, fellas.' HE LAUGHS

We tried to choose a dish that epitomises the takeaway,

like the child of the takeaway.

The dish we've come to terms with is the Singapore noodle.

I think the Singapore noodles is a one-pot wok wonder.

You're not wrong. Won't say that again. No, you won't.

Singapore noodles - a takeaway staple that's nothing to do with Singapore.

It's a Cantonese creation combining the best of Chinese flavours

with a little bit of curry.

What could be a better celebration of the great British takeaway than that?

Our Singapore noodles, our take on it has this... Look at this.

Beautiful loin of pork and I'm just going to trim that sinew off.

And we've got some prawns. It's a pork-and-prawn vibe.

And it's very, very lovely.

I'm going to prepare that and the marinade.

I'll trim this sinew off first. The pork is a like char siu pork -

the pork you get in Chinese food, that's got that red frill round it.

But there's no food colouring. All the flavour, none of the chemicals.

Let's talk noodles.

Use egg or rice noodles, as long as they are really thin, like vermicelli.

Soak them in hot, but not boiling water, for about three minutes.

Then they're ready to use.

I'm going to prep this lovely marinade, it's very simple.

We start with three tablespoons of soy - it's the light soy.

And two of sherry.

One way to use up the leftovers when the vicar's gone home.

Finish it off with two teaspoons of soft, light brown sugar,

and half a teaspoon of five spice powder and give it a good stir.

I'm going to put the pork loin into that marinade,

coat it and leave it for about half an hour.

What's going to happen is, the meat's going to open up slightly,

and draw all those lovely flavours into it.

So when we cut it, we should get that lovely...

You get that lovely char siu, the red bit round the edge.

Ooh, it's lovely.

While it's marinading, drain your noodles

and dress them with a glug of oil to stop them sticking together.

Well, that's half an hour.

It's changed colour and appears to have absorbed some marinade. Lovely.

Next, drain the pork. Place it in a foil-lined baking tray,

and lightly coat it with oil.

Then it's into the oven at 200 degrees Celsius, for 12 minutes.

Keep the leftover marinade for later. You don't want to lose any flavour.

And that gives us time... To do the mise en place.

The big thing about Chinese cookery is you prepare everything ready,

because your cooking, the final push happens very quick.

It's a wokking and a wolling, that's what it is.

Chop one red onion, a bunch of spring onions, and a red pepper.

All your veggies and everything should be the size to be picked up with a chopstick.

Slice 100g of shiitake mushrooms

and grate a chunk of ginger and two cloves of garlic.

That's a wonderful thing about the cosmopolitan nature of British food.

The reason for that is,

you want that ginger to pervade what is quite a quick cooking process.

It's actually better to have it like that, than in chunks, in our view.

I love Chinese food. I come from Barrow, a provincial Northern town.

But we've had Chinese takeaways there since I was a little boy.

One of my favourite restaurants has been there for 30 years.

Prior to that, the only access to Asian food I had was a Vesta.

It was like a box of sawdust rehydrated.

Then I'd go to the carryout, and see chop suey, chow mein, egg foo yung.

And I thought "This is brilliant!"

Because Chinese cuisine has been part of our culinary heritage for such a long time,

you actually lose sight of what the real cuisine is.

It's been so anglicised over so many years, because it's been here for such a long time.

You mean like Singapore noodles? It's true, though.

I think that's the wonderful thing about the cosmopolitan nature of British food.

It's got its own identity now.

It's tasty, and to be honest, I love it.

Once all the components are chopped,

it should be time to get the pork out of the oven.

We're off, mate. We're on.

Beautiful. Oh, look at that.

That's perfect. About half that in our dish?

I think so. And the other half for nibbling.

Oh-oh-ha! And this - don't waste that lovely fat.

What we'll do is, we'll stick that in the wok.

Now, I'm just going to put some heat into that wok.

Little bit more oil.

The heat in the wok... At this point we want it over a medium heat.

Not a mega-nuts high heat.

What we'll do is stir-fry off these lovely shiitake mushrooms,

the onion and red pepper.

Feels like a proper takeaway. Dave-Si Chinese Takeaway.

I can see it. It's a future. I wouldn't mind that.

Let's get stir-frying.

Once your ingredients are in the pan, keep them moving.

By tossing and stirring them in the wok, it stops them burning

and gets them all nicely browned.

While that's cooking, I can prep the pork.

I want little half-moons, so let's cut this in half.

It's just juicy on the inside, but it's cooked through.

We'll cut that like so.

Like so. Oh, Dave. See all that juice?

Yeah, I know. O-o-oh!

I'm going to nick a bit. Sorry, cannot resist. Oh!

Ah, it's fabulous.

Next. The ginger and the garlic.

Mix them in and continue to stir-fry for a minute or so.

Keep an eye on the garlic, though. You don't want it to burn.

Then add two teaspoons of Madras curry powder.

You can add more if you like it extra hot,

or one less if you prefer it milder.

Oh, yes! Now it's starting... It is, isn't it?

It's starting to smell like Singapore noodles we know and love.

In with the pork!

In with the prawns!

These are just frozen prawns. They're pre-cooked, frozen.

Nothing fancy.

Spring onion. Lovely.

Look at that. Look at the colours, though.,

Fabulous, aren't they? Yeah.

Just keep moving it around so it doesn't stick at the bottom, cos that heat's pretty intense.

Time for the noodles!

Just separate these out. I put some oil in so they would be like this.

Now you almost have to knit the other ingredients into the noodles.

The best way is either with a fork or some chopsticks.

You may have noticed, there's no salt or soy gone in there.

That's because we'll use the reserved marinade and meat juices to dress this with.

Should I? Yes, please. And this'll just give us a bit more moisture.

Should I keep going at it? That's it.

There you are, Kingy-san. How about that? Lovely.

Once all the noodles are coated and piping hot, we are done.

Oh, look at those!

Dish it up and garnish it with a few pieces of chopped chilli.

There you are. Singapore noodles. Singapore noodles, via Hong Kong,

via every other high-street takeaway in the country. Look at that!

Singapore noodles. Everything that's great about a takeaway -

quick, easy and a fantastic fusion of flavours.

Succulent prawns and pork with a kick of exciting flavour.

'Our next N is one of the traditional Indian staples,

that have now been completely embraced here.'

'Here's Anjum Anand, telling us how to make naan.'

'Along with chapatis, naan is the most basic accompaniment to Indian food.'

'The shop-bought version is convenient,

'but tends to be more cake-like than the traditional variety.'

'And nothing beats making it yourself.'

So...

My favourite.

The thing about this... It is just so easy to do. Great.

I know you love naan. I do.

I've got some simple flour, baking powder. Uh-huh.

Sugar or salt?

Salt. Half a teaspoon. OK.

Sugar. Now, naan is sweeter than it is salty,

so maybe a teaspoon and a half. Yeah?

OK, mix that all together.

So that is all your dry ingredients.

Now, I'm making a well.

And just milk and a little bit of oil, to keep it soft.

I'm pouring it in the middle.

I want you to put your hand straight in,

and really slowly keep mixing and just move your wrist.

Keep drawing the flour down from the sides. Oh, I see.

You just gradually get a larger circle. Exactly.

What you're looking for is a soft dough, but not sticky. Right.

This is a very forgiving dough. Say you put in too much liquid, add more flour.

Too dry, add a bit of liquid.

So at some stage, tip that onto the counter and have a good knead.

Have you kneaded bread before? I've eaten it, I haven't kneaded it.

It's a matter of pushing it away and bringing it back.

Make it a nice rhythmic action, like you're giving a massage.

We want the naan nice and soft, so it requires kneading - about 10 minutes or so.

Let me have a feel. That's good.

This is the only hard work involved.

And I think it's a really good stress buster.

This sort of thing - is it freezable?

Dough freezes really well, actually.

You could make up the naan, then freeze it and warm it in the oven.

Really? I like the way that looks. That looks quite good to me.

Nice ball. So, now it just needs to rest.

I'll just put some oil in the bowl so it doesn't stick. Right.

We've given the dough a fair pounding. So now it needs an hour to rest in a warm spot.

This allows it to rise a little and gives me the chance to melt some butter to spread on top.

Has it increased in volume? It has, yeah. OK, cool.

Paul, here's your naan. Here's your rolling pin. Uh-huh.

What is your topping of choice? I do like coriander.

Coriander. Coriander it is.

How do you get that to stay all in place?

I'm going to do this. Good. I can do that.

And what I do also like to do with naan is to...

..prick it. Uh-huh?

Sometimes it stops it fluffing up like a pitta bread.

Right. And that's it. That's naan.

Well, almost. Now it has to be cooked.

Take your naan...

..and slap it down.

'Traditionally, this is done using a super-heated tandoor oven,

but that doesn't mean you can't do it at home.'

As you can see, I've been heating up a baking pan.

And I put the grill on to as hot as it can get.

And basically, just leave it. It will cook by itself.

It takes just, like, a minute. That quick? That quick.

You don't want the whole naan to be coloured. It should be white with lots of lovely brown. OK.

Looks very nice.

Looks lovely.

Done. All right, shall we have a taste test?

Oh, yes, please. Oh, it's hot. Asbestos fingers, you said?

That's it.

Mm. Very nice.

And that was so quick to do. Yeah. Very impressed.

And I'm really impressed too.

Now, whilst cooking this recipe, Rachel Khoo keeps saying it's not that easy on the nose.

In fact, it's a bit whiffy.

But they look fantastic.

N is for nests, or, as they say in France, nids.

Tartiflette is a dish which was created in the 1980s,

by the Reblochon cheesemakers.

Reblochon is a smelly French cheese.

Yes, it's pretty smelly, but super yummy.

You need about half a kilo of waxy potatoes.

I'm going to julienne my potatoes,

make them into little matchsticks on my mandolin.

If you don't have a mandolin, you could slice it by hand.

You can see... It looks a bit like a twig.

I find that potatoes sliced on a mandolin make the best-shaped nests.

Finely chop an onion.

Whack them in the pan.

Garlic.

Smelly work, this.

Smelly onions, smelly cheese, smelly garlic.

But it makes for an extra tasty dish.

Let's put this on the hob.

I'm going to throw in a bay leaf too.

While that starts cooking, I'm going to cut up my lardons.

While that's sizzling away, I'll cut up my stinky Reblochon cheese.

Look at that! Kind of squashy in the middle.

Yum.

You'll need 250g of Reblochon, which comes from the Alps.

If you don't like Reblochon, you could use a Brie, Camembert.

OK, that's the cheese done.

I'm going to throw in 100ml of dry white wine.

You want to cook that until there's about a tablespoon of liquid left.

My wine's reduced down and I'm going to add my potatoes.

I'm going to pour this into the bowl.

And I've got to fish out the bay leaf.

This is what you should do BEFORE you add the potatoes.

Ah, yes! Found you.

OK, throw in the cheese.

Look at all that cheese.

You only live once. That's what they say.

Give it a stir. Grab your tin.

The tins are already buttered,

so just load up each section.

Overfill it, because it kind of shrinks a little bit.

Might not be the prettiest of dishes

but when it tastes this good, who cares?

In the oven they go.

And I'm going to clean up.

After about 15 minutes, they'll be cooked.

It smells certainly quite cheesy now.

Let's have a look. Ooh, it's bubbling away.

They look amazing. Oh, yummy.

Good stuff. All right, I'm going to scoop one out.

Scoop it all out.

It's like heaven on a plate.

So there's like the Reblochon cheese which has melted,

smokey bacon flavour, bit of crunch from the potato on the top,

but then it's all kind of soft and cooked in the middle.

Delicious.

What these little tartiflettes lack in looks, they make up for in taste.

A delicious springtime lunch.

'The N in this next dish comes from the recipe's place of origin,

'the beautiful city of Naples.'

'It's an absolute classic, cooked by those two Greedy Italians -

'ragu a la Napoletana.'

Ragu in Italy is like the Sunday roast in Britain.

What are you doing here? Neopolitan ragu.

The little sausages. Pork sausages,

which I will cut it in quite large chunk.

Then this is spare ribs, pork spare ribs,

which I cut them in half.

Be careful with your hands when you cut it.

Then, here I have this fantastic beef,

with a bit of fat inside as well.

A bit of grease is nice, big fat which is good.

And I'm going to cut it quite rough.

This particular one you can make with any kind of cheap cut of meat.

Cheapest meat you have, better taste,

because there is a nice bit of fat inside.

When it slowly, slowly cooks, it melts,

giving such a flavour of the meat.

And if there's too much fat on top, you can cook it out.

Then I'm going to seal the meat.

SIZZLING Let me explain what seal the meat is

Seal the meat - what you do,

you make sure that the meat is browned all outside,

and then we'll cook.

It actually seals outside,

but slowly, slowly, when it actually cooks, release all the goodness from inside.

May I stir the pasta, because it's overboiling?

Let me seal it. May I keep an eye on it?

Yeah, keep an eye on it.

You have to be careful the shirt.

Now what I want to do now, I want to put a bit of salt.

Salt. Just a little pepper.

Why do you put the salt now? Because I balance it better,

to put them inside the salt.

Then, bit of, uh, pepper.

Double P, yeah.

And now, while she's still cooking, I will put an onion.

Stir the pasta properly. Yeah.

Now, I chop onions... You see the onions are chopped very rough,

cos it's going to cook for a couple of hours.

Cooking for a couple of hours, so the onions almost melt,

then you have them inside - make sure it's rough onions.

I am hungry. It takes a couple of hours to do that.

I'm going to have some wine inside.

Then, I need to now...

..to evaporate this little bit of wine which is inside.

So simple.

You need now some... puree. Tomato puree.

Then I will put some water inside.

Nice bit of water.

And now the alcohol... Yeah, it's gone.

It's almost gone, so I stir this one nice and...

But you have to make sure that you do stir it.

Don't just put a big lump inside. Make sure you dilute it properly.

Then you have them inside.

Then you get three tins of nice tomatoes.

It's all chopped up tomatoes, look.

All goes in. Chunks as well, and juice. Chunks as well.

This is going to cook for two hours.

Last, we're going to give it a little bit of what we call garden flavour.

So, get a nice handful of basil.

Break it. Push them inside.

And then you get... Lovely smell. Yeah, you can really smell.

Then you get the pot. Here I've done one about two hours, two and a half hours ago.

You ready, Antonio? Yeah, I'm ready. He can't wait. Look.

And it's all bubble along. It looks very good, I must say.

Then I'm going to put all the meat inside, everything melted.

The meat becomes so tender. The sausages, of course.

My goodness.

Oh! Now I can put the pasta, then.

Sure.

Oh, why I'm cooking so good?!

Why you don't wait that we taste it before you say that? Proper ragu.

And a bit of meat. Just a second.

It looks very good.

Even the bone has gone so soft.

Because it's two courses here. You have a starter, which is the pasta.

Then all different cuts of meat, which you can have later.

You can have a lovely salad.

Little bit of juice and sauces, you can dip the bread inside.

'Now, N is of course for nuts.'

'Before we cook something delicious, Yottam Otolenghi investigates the great British walnut.'

It's true that nuts normally grow in warmer climates,

but cobnuts or walnuts do grow perfectly well in this country.

They are nice when fresh. There's nothing like a fresh nut.

It doesn't have the dustiness of the imported varieties.

When I was growing up, my friend and I used to climb a neighbour's tree and get walnuts off it.

Our hands used to turn completely brown, it was quite awful,

but there's nothing like a fresh walnut when it comes off a tree and is in season.

However, Britain's quietly forgotten the taste for its native nuts.

'I want to help you rediscover their flavour,

'so I'm taking a road trip around southern England,

'to uncover an overlooked heritage, starting with British walnuts.'

'Alan Olley has been growing them for over 30 years,

'but how long have they been in Britain?'

Well, supposedly the Romans brought them.

There does appear to be evidence of this

from shells having been found in excavations et cetera,

and they probably came from Persia or that direction.

Then, nothing much is known about them until the 16th-17th century,

when most farmsteads had walnuts,

and of course the big houses had them as well,

but they were never grown commercially.

'If you thought the only way to eat a walnut was the dry, husky thing

'you get in a bag in a supermarket at Christmas, think again.'

Alan, tell me a bit about the flavour of the walnuts.

There are basically three stages of picking them.

You can pick them green and use them for pickling... Yes.

And the next stage? Next would be wet walnut, straight off the tree,

when they're ripe, but not dried.

The wet walnut is sweet and juicy and fruity. Yes. I remember eating those when I was growing up.

You pick it up off the tree and it's so delicious. Yup.

You've got to peel the skin off. It's like a party in the mouth.

Tell me about the next stage, when they're completely dry?

Completely dry, yes. Well, it's difficult to describe, really.

It's a... a nice, nutty flavour.

And it's quite complex compared to other nuts. Yes.

I find there's a lot going on. Yup. With those nuts.

It seems like most of the nuts that we consume in this country come from abroad.

Yes, California, mainly. California.

So there seems to be a commercial market.

Is there a future for growing nuts here for use? Oh, yes, I think so,

now that it's warming up a bit here, definitely there will be a future.

'So there used to be lots of wonderful walnut trees around, but they were never commercially grown.'

'But according to Alan, they could be, and guess what?'

'There's demand for them, especially in the form of a peculiarly British product.'

'Pickled walnuts were a totally new British delicacy to me

'when I moved over from Israel.'

'I'd never seen them before.'

'Created in the 1800s, they were so popular,

'even Victorian domestic goddess, Mrs Beeton, told her readers how to preserve their homegrown walnuts.'

'I've come to see a family company that's got into a real pickle with walnuts.'

Pickled walnuts is a very British eccentricity, isn't it?

When does it start? It's mentioned in the Pickwick Papers.

And it was essentially a Victorian product.

The Victorians used to do home pickling.

They harvested the walnuts in June and July,

they put them in jars, and were used at Christmas.

They're generally used on Boxing Day with the cold turkey

and other salad products.

But we do have a market throughout the rest of the year,

and all the supermarkets will have them throughout the year.

I think it's fascinating. I know a lot about pickling cucumbers,

I know about pickling other vegetables, cauliflower, turnip, beetroot.

How do you pickle walnuts? We take them and trim them,

where we look for shells or any defects.

We steam them, we put them in tanks, to reduce the salt level.

And we pack them into jars and then vinegar is applied,

and then they're capped and pasteurised and labelled.

It's the most wonderful condiment, cos they are sharp and nutty,

so I can see it with something fatty, like a blue cheese, Stilton,

Stilton. I can see how the sharpness cuts into that fatness.

Would you just take one and pop it into your mouth?

You can, if they're small enough, but it's best to cut it into four.

HE GROANS Where do your walnuts come from?

Most of them come from France and some from Italy.

But there is some UK production now.

Obviously, if we can improve the UK production, that's good.

This is fascinating. I've just walked out of a factory that makes a product that is essentially British.

It's pickled walnuts. It can't get any more British than that.

But only a minority of the walnuts that are used in this factory are locally grown.

We are in the heart of Kent, an ideal climate for nuts in general,

and walnuts, and most of them actually come from France.

It's a real shame.

'Thanks, Yottam. And now for a sweet nut dish.'

'Pecan is our nut of choice

'and Levi Roots hopes to bowl us over with his brilliant brownies.'

I'm teaming up with a group of local sportsmen,

'to show Yorkshire folk how to bring sunshine cookery into their lives.'

'Yep! I am the newest signing at the Leeds Caribbean Cricket Club.'

'Umpire Glen English set up the club 60 years ago

'and remembers it creating a stir at the stumps and in the kitchen.'

Sunday matches were great, because we used to meet the local people.

The youngsters used to run round asking if we were members of the Caribbean team.

They used to say "Are you Mr Sobers?" THEY LAUGH

It's not all been about cricket, because the food here is something..

Well, this developed as we got older and people began...

There started to be restaurants around selling West Indian food.

The visitors, the first thing they want is rice and peas and chicken.

And they used to put their orders in straightaway.

'Well, I might not get mistaken for West Indian cricketing legend Gary Sobers, but I can cook.'

'And I'm going to blow the opposing team away with a sunshine version of the traditional cricket tea.'

I'm going to cook a fantastic Caribbean treat -

my ginger, pecan and rum chocolate brownies.

It's a tropical makeover for this king of cakes.

Pecan nuts and ginger add texture and bite,

balanced by the sweet heat of Jamaican rum - optional, of course.k

This is such a great cake to make. 15 minutes and it's in the oven.

No worries.

First, I've got plain, dark chocolate

and I'm going to mix that with 250g of butter.

I'm going to melt these two together over gently simmering water.

In this big bowl, I'm going to mix dark muscovado sugar and five eggs.

Cricket was such a big thing for me in the Caribbean when I was a boy.

We listened to it on the radio all the time

and all my role models were cricketers.

I'm mixing my eggs and sugar together,

beating lots of air into it.

And at the end, it should be thick and creamy.

'Put your mix to one side, while you chop up the chewy bits.'

'The pecan nuts will bring a toffee-like taste.'

'And stem ginger adds crunch and heat.'

So easy, isn't it? Just pour that in there.

'And you're ready to put it all together.'

'Pour your melted chocolate and butter into the eggs and sugar.'

'Then 150g of plain flour into the lot.'

It's important to fold it in.

Smell that lovely chocolate flavour coming through.

Next, my pecan and the ginger.

And now, for my final special ingredient, my rum.

'Pour every last dollop into a brownie tin.'

Get it all in there. Everything.

'And bang in the oven to bake at 180 degrees,

'for 25 minutes.'

MUSIC: "I can see clearly now"

# I can see clearly now the rain has gone

# I can see all obstacles in my way

Man! That smells absolutely fantastic.

'Dusted with icing sugar,

'the ginger, pecan and rum brownies are the trophies

'in my Caribbean high tea.'

# Bright, bright

# Sunshiney day #

'We've just got time for one more pudding, courtesy of Raymond Blanc.'

'Here he is, with his greengage nougatine.'

I've done a mistake. Can you give me another tray like that?

'To finish, one of Raymond's signature desserts.'

Desserts are fun. That's the only part in the whole meal,

where as a chef, as a cook, you can have fun.

You cannot do that with a starter or main, you've got to be very serious.

'An edible bowl, made from almond and caramel nougatine,

'filled with greengage compote,

'poached meringues and a sabayon cream.'

It is not the simplest dessert I've ever done,

but it's worth the effort and you must try it at home.

First step is to make your nougatine.

'Add roasted almond flakes to caramelised sugar,

'and spread on greaseproof paper to set.'

The next stage, to break it down, into that machine, into a powder.

Break it in pieces here.

Oh, that's going to be very noisy.

Hugely noisy.

So I want to break it down to a fine powder, south of France kind of sand

OK, just very, very fine.

'Sieve onto a silicone baking mat, which you can buy in cookery shops.'

You want about a good millimetre of thickness.

So, of course, if you have a minion in your kitchen,...

It's a joke! It's a joke. HE LAUGHS

It's a very bad joke. The French don't have any sense of humour.

You know that?

'Put the ground nougatine in the oven for four minutes at 160 degrees centigrade.'

Thank you, Adam. OK, chef.

Is it ready or not?

Yeah, I'd say... No. No? It's not ready.

What you're looking for is completely shiny... and you know the caramel has melted down.

And the best way is a tiny little bubble.

Don't be impatient. Wait. Wait.

'To shape the nougatine, Raymond uses a metal ring,

'a bowl and a ladle.'

So I want to cut a shape of nougatine,

then press it over this.

'When the nougatine is blond in colour, leave it to cool until it's hard enough to cut.'

If it's too hot, it's going to be sticky,

you're going to drag the caramel around.

If it's too dry, too cool, it's too brittle -

that means it's not supple, you cannot work it.

It makes a lovely little noise when it's ready,

a lovely little noise of crunchy...

Actually, I should wear my glasses.

Ah, that's better! I was missing my round, my circle. Doesn't matter.

Voila.

Here's my little handles.

Tres bien. So you warm them up.

'Heat the shapes in the oven for two minutes, until soft enough to mould'

So now, you've got a hot cassolette. You must move quite fast now.

'Start with the base.'

You can see it's cooling down already.

So if you're not fast enough, you end up with something quite funny.

Voila.

Voila.

You can actually see through. And that's the joy of this dessert.

Voila.

Now the lid.

You've got a stick of caramel here. You're going to stick the handles.

'Melt a piece of caramel to weld the pieces together.'

Voila.

That's all, but you can use nougatine as well.

This is so fragile, this is so beautiful.

That's fine, so all we need to do is put something in it. Lovely.

'For the filling, make a seasonal fruit compote.'

'Raymond's using greengages.'

They have lots of wonderful sugar, wonderful flavour.

10 gram of sugar.

I'll put a bit of ascorbic acid, vitamin C, to prevent oxidation.

Lemon juice. My spoons, which my lovely Adam has prepared for me.

Men don't like sentiments.

'In a pan, caramelise some sugar and add a knob of butter.'

That much, no more.

Slowly, now. Slowly.

About 12-15 minutes. Slowly.

Top on. Boom.

They go directly into the blender.

'Puree some of the compote to make a coulis to decorate the plate.'

Voila.

It has some little bits inside, but we are at home, OK, between friends.

Place...

Just put in...

They're barely warm. If too hot, they'd go through the nougatine.

These are little poached meringues. The same as the floating island.

Voila. This morning's sabayon.

Pistachio. Crunchy almonds.

Voila. Simple.

Break it!

Chew it! Voila.

That's the way to do it. I can see the gourmand here.

First, is it enjoyable? Very good.

What do you mean, "Very good"? Very, very good, or... very good.

Very good. Rate, one out of ten? Ten.

You're smart, you.

You're a smart guy.

That's all the cooking we've got time for today.

A big thank you to all our wonderful chefs.

And please join me again for more magical cookery moments,

here on The A-Z of TV Cooking.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.