Pick Me Ups The Best Dishes Ever

Today, we're kicking off with a selection of dishes

that have all got a bit of a kick to them.

We've got Nigella Lawson, Mary Berry, Nigel Slater,

Keith Floyd and yours truly.

And all of us are using words like spicy, tangy and fiery,

with dishes designed to put a spring in your step

when you need a bit of a boost.

We start today with James Martin and a recipe that he guarantees

will get you out of bed on the right side.

His fluffy waffles served with a zingy, strawberry compote

and a cheeky, little scoop of ice cream.

Take it away, James!

Now, one of the great pick-me-ups you can do at home are waffles

and it's actually really simple to make them.

You start off with a batter, and the batter is done with plain flour.

We need 250g for this.

It is important when you're doing waffles to measure it.

It's not one of those recipes, like all baking, really,

you can't really measure it by eye and throw it all in.

You have to measure it exact.

To the flour, I'm adding a teaspoon of baking powder,

a generous pinch of salt, an even more generous pinch of sugar

to help caramelise the mixture.

Then crack in three eggs.

It is one of the simple recipes that you can make and

I don't really know why it hasn't caught on that much in the UK.

In America, of course, you have them all over the place.

One of the best places I had them

is actually the oldest diner in America and this guy had a menu...

I mean, the menu was like an encyclopaedia, it was so massive.

And this is his recipe and I've kind of used it ever since, really.

Now, we add some milk.

At the same time, with this, we're going to melt some butter

and, again, we need to weigh it.

110g. So, get that on the stove.

Really, when you've mastered the art of making waffles,

you can mix and match this recipe if you put chopped bacon and chives

and turn them into a savoury dish.

Also, the great secret of this batter is you can actually

use it, not just for waffles,

if you haven't got a waffle iron you can take this exact mix,

which is kind of like an enriched pancake batter,

and put it in a frying pan

and create little, puffed-up pancakes which the Americans

love so much with blueberries and that kind of stuff.

Then what we do is pour the batter in there.

Let the mixture stand for a few minutes as this will relax

the glutens and make for a lighter, fluffier batter.

Next, I'm knocking up a quick, zingy compote to go with it.

Starting with butter, sugar, water... And zest of lemon.

And the lemon is really going to lift the flavour

of the strawberries.

We need to cook this for about five minutes.

I'm going to use this little waffle machine

which I picked up from the States.

We're going to take the batter and just drip it...

..into the waffle machine.

Close the lid.

Leave it for about four to five minutes

and then you'll end up with waffles.

I can't call it healthy, even though it's got fresh fruit in it,

because I'm going to pile one of my favourite things, maple syrup,

all over it, and this stuff is superb.

It's natural and it's amazing when you actually see it produced.

It's really just a tap that's in a maple tree

and they just open the tap and this maple syrup come out.

This is our waffles ready.

There you have it - waffles.

And when you learn how to make them, there's no going back, really.

-But they're so easy to make.

-Taste so good.

So, I'm to going to serve one-and-a-half.

And this sort of diner that I was at...

You wouldn't believe the pile...

Seriously, it was up here.

And that was just for one person.

I was taught, ever since I was a kid,

never to eat anything that's bigger than my face.

Whereas in America, they never eat anything that's as tall as you are!

But this is a dish that's guaranteed to pick you up,

and then not forgetting...

Because we've got to serve it how the Americans do it,

whether you have it for lunch or breakfast, it's always ice cream.

And then you've got some of this maple syrup over the top.

Ho! Woh-ho-ho!

It's not really how it was served to me over there in the States.

It would be much bigger than this and there'd be a lot more of it.

But the taste is still the same,

even if you just do the waffles, maple syrup and ice cream.

They're just delicious!

And it will certainly wake you up. They call it a sugar rush.

So, there's my suggestion for a dish to perk up your mornings.

Thank you, James.

Now, that's a tough opening act to follow,

but I think I have the man for the job.

Ahem!

Here is yours truly, with a really great rosti recipe

that I put together a few years ago.

Now, the rosti originally comes from Switzerland

where it's considered something of a national dish.

The main ingredient is usually potato,

but here I've used a perfect combination of peas and courgettes

and top things off with a tangy, tomato dressing.

Look at this. I've got some really delicious fresh peas here

along with my courgette, which just kind of reminds me of summer,

and that has inspired me for my next dish.

A fresh pea, courgette

and Parmesan rosti with a nice tangy, tomato dressing.

Podding is one of those strange things, isn't it?

It feels like it could be one of those jobs that goes on for ever

and ever, but, whoa! It really brings all the family together.

I sat around with my brother and sister, sometimes there were

aunts and uncles there, people just podding peas,

and it was a great way of having conversation.

I put my peas into boiling water which gives me just enough

time to shred the courgette and squeeze in a tea towel.

You want to make them nice and dry, so when you cook your rostis

they will be lovely and crispy and crunchy.

Peas and courgettes go into a large mixing bowl.

Ground rice, toasted pine nuts

and freshly grated Parmesan are added to the mix.

Then, use two eggs to bind the ingredients.

And I'm going to get my hands in there now and work that through.

Look at those peas. Don't they look wonderful?

And you can use frozen peas. There's nothing wrong with frozen peas.

Don't think I'm having a go at you,

saying, "hey, you can't use frozen peas!" because, let's face it,

fresh peas are only in season up until September

and that's pushing it, to be perfectly honest with you.

Fresh or frozen, this dish is all about the pea.

Let the rice flour absorb any liquid, then add the basil.

Then it's time for the real fun.

A little bit of a squash down with the palm of your hand

and using the palette knife just to shape them, bind them

and pull them together.

The peas kind of fall away and you think,

"Oh, it's all going to collapse!"

That won't happen.

Once it hits the pan, the egg begins to set and

the crispiness of the lovely, ground rice begins to work, cook out.

It's just absolutely fab.

Not too hot here.

There's a tendency, when you're making things like rostis,

to turn up the pan a little bit too much

and it will brown before it actually starts to cook.

So, just a nice controlled heat, all right?

Then we can talk about getting a little bit of colour afterwards.

There's a tendency that we tend to overload our pan a bit.

Don't do that.

When you take them out, just put them on some

absorbent kitchen paper, keep them warm in the oven.

But you'll eat them quite quickly anyway

and they're not too bad even warm, to be honest with you.

Really nice.

It doesn't take long for the rostis to turn

a golden brown with the green peas shining through.

Now, it's time to work on the tomato dressing.

To plum and sun-dried tomatoes, I'm adding olive oil, shallots

and a dash of peapod wine.

If you haven't got peapod wine, don't worry.

A bit of red wine vinegar.

A tablespoon of that, or two, will be absolutely fine.

You can serve them individually,

but I like to stack them in a tower and drizzle on my lovely

tomato dressing and then finish with some fresh, chopped basil.

Wonderful!

They look so good. Just want to get stuck into it, don't you?

OK, here we go!

Pea rosti... That's OK.

The fresh peas just burst in your mouth.

It really is exciting.

The little bit of ground rice in there just gives it another

dimension, another bit of texture, if you like.

And we've got the tangy tomato that lifts everything

and brings those peas out beautifully.

You've got to try it. We should be proud of our peas.

And that's a recipe I still knock up today.

Right, we've got another spicy sauce for you now,

from a man who was always full of get-up-and-go.

We're joining the great Keith Floyd, who, way back in 1989,

was travelling around America and cooking up some great recipes.

This time, he's doing steak, Texas style,

in a rather impressive kitchen.

Despite global critical acclaim

and financial success of our little programme,

the BBC still adopt a very parsimonious attitude

towards our budget and I still have to beg,

borrow or even steal a kitchen for my little cooking sketches.

So, I sent my researchers out and I said, "Get me a typical Texan home."

You know, something modest, something quite ordinary.

Well, he was a Texan.

He came up with this. He thought this was quite ordinary.

The chap who owns it is only a multi-millionaire,

but what is Texas all about?

It's about Apaches, it's about vigilantes,

Longhorn cattle, Lone Ranger, Rin Tin Tin,

politics slightly to the right of Vlad the Impaler.

Also, it's about chandeliers, dining tables and clothes.

As you see, I haven't changed my image a jot!

America hasn't affected me one little bit.

I mean, note the pigskin jacket, note the snakeskin boots,

the little medallion, but it's only rock and roll.

Anyway, we're in the kitchen, Clive, so let's go and do some business!

Here, what we'll do is what they all do in Texas,

grill some steak and make a barbecue sauce and have a little slurp.

But first of all, straight to business on the ingredients

for a Texan barbecue sauce - butter, pepper, onions,

Worcestershire sauce, malt vinegar, lemon juice,

Tabasco, sugar, water, garlic and catsup.

All I have to do, because it is terribly simple,

although very, very important because they don't take any prisoners here in Texas.

If they want a steak, they want it tasting really good.

Because of the Mexican influence, they like things a bit spicy.

So, first things first, in with the tomato catsup, as we call it here.

As I say, America hasn't affected me in any way whatsoever, y'all!

It's all going perfectly well.

Quite a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

Stir that in. I can see some of you gastronauts at home wondering,

"What has happened to our dear Floyd?

"Tomato ketchup, Worcester sauce

"and now red wine vinegar into all of this?!"

Anyway, this is Texas and we're going for it.

Right, a load of chopped onions into there.

HE WHISTLES

Like that. No problems.

A cup of lemon juice, freshly squeezed, of course.

A dash of Tabasco. There we are.

You could use this for stripping the paint off things,

I wouldn't be surprised! And a load of sugar in there.

And some garlic into there, like that.

A knob of butter. Did I put the pepper in?

So, I'll put some butter in there and the pepper.

Say half a teaspoonful, like that.

Stir it round, whack it on the gas and wasn't it a brilliant...?

Do you know, that was a whole take right from the top of those

stairs right into the kitchen.

It's the sort of thing that most television cookery programmes

don't do, and even quite a lot of feature films can't get right.

After that one-take wonder, Keith took a little breather

and then it was back to the sauce and serving his hosts.

So, just to recap on the sauce.

It's tomato ketchup, Worcester sauce, lemon juice, a drop

of water, garlic, onions, butter, Tabasco sauce and a bit of pepper.

Bubbling away there very, very nicely.

The sort of thing Americans really like on steaks.

The other thing Americans like, they have a thought for the day.

I was wondering around the kitchen and I found it.

February 11th, which it is, 1989.

It says, "Oh, great Father, never let me judge another man

"until I have walked in his moccasins for two weeks".

It's an Indian prayer. Something to think about...

Anyway, steaks! This is a cookery programme, after all,

not the Morning Prayer. There is a Texas steak.

It probably only weighs around, I don't know, 16 or 20 ounces,

something like that.

They like them big around here.

It just goes whack onto the grill! One...

Two...

And...

..three. It's a very good thing.

You'll have read, those of you who are interested in these

kinds of things, the problems about American beef.

They inject it with steroids and all kinds of things

and there are all kinds of battles going on.

You know, agricultural wars and stuff.

Texas would like to point out, through me,

they are not part of that.

They do not do these funny things to their beef -

and their beef, they reckon, is pretty good.

Wouldn't the Ministry of Agriculture in America pay heed to them?

Anyway, that's my little, political lecture of the day.

Over we go. There!

If only I could get some stars on those stripes,

I'd have a real American steak.

Well, I suppose it should be ladies first, but a man wearing a hat

at the dinner table has a certain authority, doesn't he?

Larry and Shelley Beard lost their handmade shirts

in the property crash just two years ago,

but, unlike Britain, there's no great stigma in going bankrupt.

You just pick yourself up and dust yourself off

and start all over again.

It's always too soon to give up.

You know, you can be flat on your back...

Thomas Edison, I think, tried 900 and something times

to get electricity and his motto was he never had any failures,

he just had a bunch of processes of elimination.

And, erm... I didn't feel...

I had a good wife who supported me through all these...

I had depression like anybody else,

but there is a certain amount of Texas pride that comes out.

You say, look, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

And, let's just see what we can do.

We did it once and we can do it again.

I'm not saying I won't fail again, but we can do it.

Anybody that's down can get up. Just try. Keep it up.

-So, how's the sauce, Larry?

-Well, this is excellent.

I mean, if my wife doesn't put ketchup on it

and drowns it, literally, well, then it's good.

I'm not as picky as she, but this is excellent.

I want a copy of this

because this stuff is going to come home to me and I'm going to use it.

I don't know what your specialty is, but it's obviously very good.

We are big beef eaters down here

and we're real particular about our steaks, and these are good steaks.

Like you said, we like things a little spicy down here

because of the Mexican influence. This is great.

I especially like things spicy. I'm a hot sauce connoisseur, aren't I?

You are!

-Say that to me again!

-That was wonderful.

-SHE LAUGHS

-She's a hot woman!

Say it with that lovely accent. It's beautiful.

I am a hot sauce connoisseur.

THEY LAUGH

I'll drink to that!

Cheers, Keith! And that reminds me.

One of the times when you may need a little pick-me-up is when you're

suffering a bit because you've possibly had one glass too many.

Here's a coping strategy from Nigel Slater.

It's what he calls his hangover beef salad.

Put some lentils on to boil.

I always pop in some aromatics like garlic, onion, bay leaves.

Just to give the lentils a bit more flavour.

Next, it's time to make a dressing to go with the lentils.

Whenever I make a salad dressing, I have an unusual habit in that

I put the salt into the vinegar and dissolve it...

..before anything else and I do that just to mellow the vinegar.

It just takes that really sharp bite off it.

I'm going to put a little bit of mustard in this.

Grainy or smooth, whatever you have will do.

Add some pepper and a good glug of olive oil.

Now for that secret ingredient, fresh horseradish.

There's something about the fresh stuff.

It has a real zip to it. It's really quite hot.

Wonderful with Bloody Mary in the morning.

It really makes your eyes shine.

And it's dead easy to grow.

Just pop a root cutting in the garden, but be warned,

it can take over.

It's not a fiery heat, it's a fresh, clean heat

and it's really good with earthy food, like lentils.

We've always kept it for beef, yet it has so many other uses.

Smoked fish really appreciates horseradish.

If you're using ready-made horseradish,

two or three teaspoons will be fine, but once you've tasted

the clean heat of the fresh stuff, you'll never go back.

I reckon lentils are done when they're still a bit nutty.

While the lentils are still warm, pour in your mustard dressing

so all those lovely flavours soak in.

I want something really fresh and green in there.

You know, this is a day when I don't want to do much,

so a little bit of parsley, that's all that's going in there.

It's funny. The warmth...

..that the lentils have given to the dressing

has released all the oils in the horseradish

and I can actually feel it coming up.

Good for clearing the sinuses if you have a cold!

And it's certainly good for a hangover.

This is such a brilliant dish to kick off the New Year with.

It's great for using up any bits of meat that are in the fridge, too.

I'm actually going to use the cold roast beef from yesterday.

Whenever I use cold meat or fish in a salad,

I keep the pieces fairly small

because this is the sort of food that I want to eat with just a fork.

There's no ceremony to serving this one, just dish up the lentils,

tuck in the juicy meat and brace yourself for that horseradish hit.

Then some grains of sea salt, really coarse stuff.

I love that moment of crunching through brilliant white salt

on cold roast meat.

It's got an earthiness to it and a freshness and then, slowly,

that gorgeous heat is just coming through from the horseradish.

It's a really good way to start the year.

Do try this with fresh horseradish if you can.

If you don't fancy growing it,

your local grocer should have some going cheap.

There's really no excuse!

That was put together by Nigel as part of a New Year's feast,

but it will work its magic any time of year, of course.

As will this next recipe - another salad,

brought to you by the marvellous Mary Berry.

When it comes to summer parties,

I always think it's good to serve your guests a salad.

And my fiery red rice and carrot salad brings sweet

and spicy flavour combinations and a wonderful splash of colour.

To start with, 450g of red rice.

It is unusual.

This particular one came from the South of France.

It's very nutty and has a lovely flavour.

Tip the rice into a pan

and add 600ml of cold water along with a teaspoon of salt.

I'm going to bring that to the boil and then down to a low simmer

with a lid on for about 25 minutes, till the liquid has been absorbed.

Now, coarsely grate six carrots in a processor then roughly chop

eight spring onions.

This is starting to look a very colourful salad already.

When I was young, salad was literally cucumber,

tomato and lettuce.

Just you think how salads have got much more interesting

in the last few years.

Set the vegetables to one side and get on with the dressing.

Add the juice and zest of four limes to two finely-chopped red chillies.

Pour in two tablespoons of cider vinegar

and four teaspoons each of honey and light olive oil.

No need to put it in a mixer, processor, blender.

Put it in a jar and give it a good shake.

Make sure the top is well screwed down.

Once the 25 minutes is up, the rice should be done.

Tip into a serving bowl along with the carrot and spring onions.

Now, finely chop a handful of coriander and add it to the mix.

I like to make this the day before,

then the flavours really do work well.

You've got to let it marinade, preferably overnight,

so you really do get the flavours to mix.

It's looking even more colourful now.

I love the flecks of red with the orange.

To serve, just add a garnish of coriander.

A spicy and colourful salad that goes so well with both fish

and meat.

Thanks, Mary.

I'm also a big fan of red rice, it goes very well with chicken.

Now, that was beautifully simple, and we have another very easy

but very rewarding recipe from Nigella Lawson.

The kick with the wonderful ice cream she makes here comes from

the coffee, but you'll also sit up when you see how Nigella serves it.

-I know

-I

-certainly did.

Per favore, una copa con tre gusti?

When I first came to Italy, nearly over half a lifetime ago,

I was just blown away by the way everything tasted.

The first time I went into a gelateria

it was like suddenly having flavour in technicolor

because I'd been brought up in a world where you had ice cream

in chocolate, vanilla, strawberry.

Now, Italian ice cream is the best in the world

and I want to do honour to it, but I certainly won't compete.

So, what I've done is come up with a simplified version,

but it still has the depth of flavour

and complexity of proper Italian ice cream.

There is a reason that most people buy ice cream.

The thing is it can be incredibly complicated to make.

One, most ice cream needs a custard as its base.

The second thing is, you need an expensive, fancy machine.

But my no-churn, one-step, coffee ice cream is really so simple,

it's almost embarrassing.

You start off with this very elegant ingredient, condensed milk.

A lot of people will think this is not very Italian, but actually

latte condensato is quite an Italian ingredient.

No-one would believe that here, but it's true.

So, here I am feeling very Italian.

On top of that, about 300ml of double cream.

Only two more ingredients. It's a very simple recipe.

I want two tablespoons of instant espresso powder

and that's what it is -

it's not grand espresso coffee and it's not instant coffee.

You can find it in the supermarket easily.

It smells very strong, but I want it strong and that's why,

as well, my final ingredient is some espresso liqueur.

The thing about alcohol is it really helps with ice cream

because alcohol will never freeze hard.

So the consistency of your ice cream will always be soft.

I promised you one step, and one step it is.

Let's turn it on and whizz.

And all I need to do now is wait until that rather magnificently

Manila-toned cream has whipped to soft but thick peaks.

Perfect! Now, my tubs.

You can use any, but I rather like acting as if I've got my own

ice cream factory...

To write on, just in case I forget what I'm doing,

which happens quite a bit these days.

That's coffee ice cream.

I love the colour of this as well as the taste.

Mm, mm! It is delicious!

Very sweet at this stage, and that's for a reason.

When you freeze any food it numbs the flavour a bit

so you eat ice cream so cold you want the flavours to be slightly

more emphatic at this stage, and emphatic they most certainly are!

This is the hardest part for me.

Actually getting something from one container into another.

And the great thing about this ice cream is that it keeps that

texture and all that airiness - and once it's frozen, too.

That's for me in a minute, but for now these tubs... In the freezer.

FREEZER WHIRS

It is serenading me!

And when it comes to serving this ice cream,

Nigella's not interested in a cone. Oh, no!

Get a load of this.

Let me demonstrate to you my art, OK? I have a brioche bun.

This is how they eat ice cream in the south of Italy.

Really? It's like a burger!

I have my ice cream, I'm going to squodge, I'll put the lid on...

-Mm.

-It's exactly an ice cream burger.

-Wow!

-Mm.

-Mm!

-Delicious!

Delicious indeed.

Thank you for that, Nigella, and thanks to all the wonderful chefs

who've hopefully given you a bit of a lift today.

Please, join me again next time for more of The Best Dishes Ever.

Take care now.