Episode 17 The Box

Across the country, lots of us are working out what to cook

tonight from the ingredients in our cupboards.

To inspire you, we're throwing away the cookbooks

and going back to basics.

We're pitting three resourceful and creative home cooks

against one another, to see what they can come up with.

Whoever does it best will be our cook of the day.

Ready to show they can think on their feet are today's three cooks.

Adge, who's an office manager, with a passion for African cuisine.

I run a Ghanaian supper club in Tunbridge Wells,

and Tunbridge Wells is very, very conservative.

People are ready for African food.

Sales director Graham,

who loves creating dishes using leftovers at home.

I do lots of cooking, making stuff up on the spot.

It's usually OK. I haven't poisoned anybody yet.

And design assistant Becky, originally from New Zealand,

who loves to cook for her friends.

I live with three other people and we love staying in,

I like to cook for everyone.

I am, sort of, the head chef of the house, you could say, yeah.

Their first test will be to cook from a box of ingredients

put together by today's guest,

actor and TV presenter, Christopher Biggins.

-Christopher...

-James, how are you?

-Welcome to The Box. Happy shopping?

Well, I think I've got an interesting box.

So where did the passion for food come from?

Erm, I suppose I've always had a passion for food,

as you can probably see by the size of me.

It's something I've always loved and I have a lot of restaurateur friends.

Fantastic, shall we have a look, then?

-There's a lovely piece of tuna there.

-Tuna.

Now, you've obviously got a sweet tooth, as well,

because...sponge fingers...

-Yes.

-..bit of jam and a bit of custard powder.

For a trifle. As long as they cook that lovely piece of tuna well,

-I'd be very happy.

-How do you want it, pink in the centre?

Yeah, absolutely.

We've got three nervous home cooks waiting in the wings.

We're going to send you off and you'll be able to

-shout at the TV for the next 50 minutes.

-I love it.

-See you in a bit.

-See you later.

-Great to see you.

Trifle or tuna?

I think I'll go for the tuna.

Biggins will be keeping a close eye on the cooking from

the guest room behind the kitchen.

OK, guys, welcome to The Box.

The ingredients in front of you have been chosen by our guest,

who's watching your every move.

The rules of the game are quite simple -

you've got 50 minutes, no cookbooks, no phone-a-friend.

Open your box.

Today, in my box, I have fresh tuna - not overcooked, please -

green beans and broccoli...

barley... I would like them to make a risotto with the barley,

which I did on MasterChef.

..coriander and parsley, trifle sponge cakes,

custard powder, raspberry jam. Mmm.

I'll eat anything.

I think, if they're adventurous, we could have some good food today.

They don't have to use all of Biggins' ingredients,

and, to help them, they have a store cupboard

full of the basics we might have at home.

Becky is completely lost. She's going to go for something sweet.

That's quite interesting, I wonder how she'll manage.

So, what are you trying to achieve?

I'm just going to make mini meringues.

Hopefully, they'll cook in time.

-Mini meringue, OK.

-And then I might whip some cream up.

Right, I'll tell you what you want to do first.

-Change the whole way of making a meringue.

-What, heat up...?

So, if you get four egg whites, 200g of sugar.

We're going to do what we call a Swiss meringue.

I don't know what a Swiss meringue is. This'll be very interesting.

So, you heat over a pan of water, ideally, to 84 degrees.

Once the sugar is dissolved...

You'll feel it in your fingers and then...

But dip your finger in, once it's hot.

-Should be about there, right?

-Thank you.

You've got to make sure it's quite hot.

Swiss meringue is a hot meringue, which means it's already warm

when it goes in the oven. It gets it cooked almost straightaway,

but whether or not it will be thoroughly cooked is another thing.

We've only got 50 minutes. This is a tall order.

I'm fascinated to know what Becky's going to do.

Obviously she likes meringue, but you can't put jam into a meringue,

you can't put custard powder. I don't know what...

It'll be very interesting.

Whilst Becky gets on with her dessert,

Adge is getting started with the pearl barley.

Adge is good on seasoning. She's doing all the right things.

She's got the ginger out - good girl, I love ginger.

And garlic, yes.

I think she's making a risotto,

but she should have sauteed the onions first,

then put the barley in.

-Now, Adge, how are you doing?

-This is hard, this is so hard!

Somebody told me you like to experiment

with different ingredients!

-Yeah, but...

-So what are you bothering about, then?

I haven't cooked tuna that much, so I'm going to do my best.

-What are you going to do?

-I'm going to do a...

It's almost like a West African paella.

Right. Rice, but it's not rice,

-we're going to use the pearl barley.

-Absolutely.

-OK, with tomatoes, spices, ginger, that kind of stuff.

-Yep.

What is in the traditional one, then?

-Bush meat.

-Bush meat?

-If we were in Ghana, not here!

I've got to tell you, I've spent a lot of time in Africa,

-and I LOVE it.

-OK.

-I love it.

And, literally, when I opened the lid of this box of ingredients,

-I instantly thought of a dish that I learnt in Africa.

-Which was?

-Which was a dish with tuna. I'm going to show you.

-Show me.

So, in here, you've got some cumin, coriander, cardamom.

-And this is really weird at this point.

-OK.

You've just got to bear with me on it.

-Marmalade.

-Oh, no. What?!

SHE LAUGHS

Do you want my advice or am I just making this for me?

-No, no, I'm learning, I'm learning.

-OK.

-Sounds delicious.

Can I try it?

-Mm. OK, I like that.

-Ah, you see!

-Do you want to do it all with the tuna?

-Yes, all with the tuna.

OK, we pour this over the top,

-then we coat this in this lovely marmalade.

-OK, thank you very much!

-Happy with that?

-Yeah, you know what you're doing.

Providing she doesn't overcook the tuna,

we're on to a winner, I think, with Adge.

I don't know what Graham is doing, at all.

He's, sort of, coated his tuna with something or other.

Crust.

Graham. What have you done? Have you got black pepper all over that?

Yeah, that's it, black pepper. It's really quite spicy, so you fry it

really quickly, then just slice it. It'll be kind of raw in the middle.

OK, sounds pretty good to me. What are you making here, then?

I've made a dressing already. I'm not quite sure I like it,

-so I'm going to keep trying to get it right.

-What is it you don't

-like about it?

-I don't know.

-What is it you're after?

I'm after a, sort of, sweet and spicy...

Yeah, see, that's what I did, when I did it,

-so I'm going to start again.

-Hmm.

Hmm.

So, a dressing for this, really, would be, a little bit of ginger.

-If you grate it with the skin, you get an amazing heat from it.

-OK.

-Like chilli, but not fiery.

-Sure.

So, I've got in here, soy, bit of garlic, touch of coriander...

and some of this Thai fish sauce.

Taste that.

That's definitely better than mine.

I think he knows what he's talking about, Graham.

I think it's a little simple, but simple is good.

Graham is using Asian influences with the tuna.

He's basically brushed it with mustard and cracked black pepper.

And the key to that is make sure the pepper's cooked,

cos if it's not, it becomes very, very harsh on the palate.

Becky's got the meringues in the oven,

but she still hasn't decided on her final dish.

Oh, dear, I don't have much confidence in Becky.

Becky has no idea what she's doing.

-So, Becky...

-Hi.

-So, what are you using from the box?

-You've left most of it.

-I'm using the jam...

-Yes.

..maybe the sponge fingers.

So, you're maybe just using the jam then?

If it wasn't tuna, I'd be OK, but I've never cooked tuna before,

-so didn't want to risk it.

-Tuna's pink and you like pink food??

I've been told that's all you would eat when you were younger.

I forgot I said that!

When I was a very little girl, I was extremely fussy with my food,

and Barbie had a big contribution to what I ate.

This is not good news. Barbie influenced her life.

The concentration on your face over this tuna.

I just don't want to ruin it. It's such a lovely thing.

The meringues look good. They're coming along nicely.

OK, five minutes to go, guys. Five minutes.

Burnt it!

That marmalade.

Adge, see, you haven't burnt it. This is perfect, look, look...

It's not burnt, it's caramelised!

ADGE LAUGHS

With time almost up,

it will be Biggins judging who has made the most of his ingredients.

But Becky has only used the jam.

Oh, my God, what is she doing? Becky... Disaster.

-Adge's risotto looks lovely.

-30 seconds, guys. 30 seconds.

Very nice, the tuna, that's Graham's.

OK, that's your lot. Stop cooking.

That was hard!

OK, guys, well done, three dishes - just - in 50 minutes.

Now, the wait is over,

I can now tell you who put that box of ingredients together.

This gentleman is a bit of a national treasure, really.

He's been involved in television since the '70s,

appeared in pantomime in theatres all across the UK,

and most recently was a semifinalist in Celebrity MasterChef.

It's the ever-shy and retiring Christopher Biggins.

Well...

CHRISTOPHER LAUGHS

-Hi, how are you, Becky?

-I'm good, how are you?

-Very good.

-Lovely to meet you.

-How was that?

It was absolutely fascinating. Becky, you used one of my ingredients!

I used two. I used two!

-What was the other one?

-A biscuit crumb and then the jam.

Biscuit crumb?!

-Biscuit crumb?!

-Everyone loves a crumb.

They certainly do. Well, I can't wait to taste your meringues.

So, what did you do?

I made a meringue/marshmallow jam cream,

and then I made some caramel shards, and I had a nice crumb on top.

Shall I taste it?

Mmm. The jam is lovely.

Well, you chose it, so I hope it would be.

CHRISTOPHER LAUGHS HYSTERICALLY

It's very soft meringue, but that is quite soft, isn't it?

-It is very soft and it's very sweet.

-Yeah, it's not quite there.

The shards are nice, the jam's nice, but the meringue...

That's quite a tall order to get that done in just 50 minutes, but...

-OK.

-Bye-bye. CHUCKLING:

-Bye.

-Hi.

-Hi, Graham, how are you?

-Mr Biggins, very well. How are you?

Very well, indeed.

I made a pepper seared tuna and a simple salad

of broccoli and beans, with a soy and honey dressing.

It looks good.

-Lovely.

-Phew.

-Really, really nice.

The tuna's cooked beautifully. Beans nice and...

-Oh, have you put coriander in?

-Yeah.

-Lovely, I really like that.

What I like about it is that you've cooked the pepper.

-That's the key to it.

-Yeah.

I like the broccoli. You've cooked the beans nice,

dressing's good. It's a great dish.

-Perfectly cooked bit of tuna.

-Thank you very much.

Phew.

-Adge, we went along the savoury route.

-Yes.

So, what have we got here?

We have a pearl barley jollof rice, which is like a West African paella,

with tuna marinated in coriander seeds and marmalade.

-Mmm, sweet and sour.

-Yes.

-Mmm. You've made a really, almost, barley risotto.

-Mm-hmm.

The tuna's a little overcooked, but I'm still enjoying it.

I really like this dish. I've never seen anything like it

and I've been to Africa a lot of times.

-I need to go to West Africa a bit more, clearly.

-Absolutely.

-Cos the barley just needs a tad more cooking.

-Yeah.

Ever so slightly. It's a little bit crunchy.

But it's certainly a very delicious meal

-and I would love that in a restaurant.

-Excellent.

-Well, you chose the box of ingredients...

-Yeah.

..so you get to choose which dish you like most.

-Oh, how exciting!

-But well done.

-Thank you.

-Yeah, well done.

Thank you very much.

What do you think of everybody's, on the whole?

Well, actually, on the whole I was very impressed by everybody.

It was really good.

-Now, you've got to decide which dish you like the most.

-Yes.

And based on the three that you've tasted.

Uh, my favourite dish...

..has to be...

-..Adge.

-Yes!

-Thank you.

-THEY LAUGH

I love what you did. I thought it was really fantastic

and you used nearly everything.

-The whole ambience of you today was great.

-Thank you very much.

A pleasure.

So, well done. The second round.

At the end of this, I get to decide the cook of the day,

based on what you produce using the three boxes in front of me.

So, we've got...

Adge, because you were Christopher's favourite dish, you get to

decide what your fellow competitors will be cooking with, as well.

So, first of all...

..what would you like Becky to cook with?

-I would love Becky to do an afternoon tea.

-Really?

Are you happy with that, Becky?

-I don't know until I open it, really!

-Adge, pick a box for Graham.

I'm going to give Graham a meat box.

-You happy with that?

-Sounds good to me.

-And I'll have the basic.

-Which leaves you the basic box.

Can I change my mind?

Not any more.

Not any more, and what it leaves you with is 50 minutes to create

a dish to impress me.

Good luck. Collect your boxes.

Oh!

What have I done?

In Adge's basic box, I've put in turkey mince, spaghetti,

tomatoes, a green pepper, dried mixed herbs and grated Parmesan.

I'm not so sure whether the basic was a big mistake,

cos I think what she will do is a lot of seasoning.

Look, already she's making some terribly strong mixture there,

which is going to blow our minds.

Right, Adge, how we doing?

Is this a taster?

Yes, so what I'm doing is, I'm taking a little of the mince

and I've flavoured it up, to see what it would taste like with

different combinations of spices, before I make the actual thing.

-SHE LAUGHS

-OK.

So, are you eventually going to make one big pate?

Exactly, and I'm going to do probably, either,

a poached or fried egg on top...

JAMES AND CHRISTOPHER: Ooh!

-..almost like a brunchy dish.

-A West Africa turkey, is it available?

You've got bigger stuff over there, haven't you?

-Yeah.

-The ostrich and all that kind of stuff.

-Yeah.

What's the most unusual stuff you've tried?

-Erm, probably the giant snail.

-Giant snail?

Talking about "giant", how big?

-Like...

-Ooh, dear!

-And it's black and scary.

-Dear, oh, dear.

-I'll leave you to it.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

Ange is having to be really creative with the ingredients in this box.

Turkey mince is a great quality piece of meat,

but because it's quite lean, you've got to cook it perfectly.

If you overcook it, it becomes very dry,

so you've got to make sure you've got a sauce to go with it.

Becky's got my afternoon tea box,

which contains white sliced bread, smoked salmon, cream cheese,

cucumber, raisins and sultanas, fresh strawberries,

clotted cream, Earl Grey tea bags and shortcrust pastry.

Well, funnily enough,

-one of my favourite meals of all time is afternoon tea.

-Is it?

And make sure you make the Earl Grey. Very important.

I'm looking forward to a cup of tea.

-You happy with this, Becky?

-Not really.

What do you mean, "not really"?

Well, I don't really know what to do with it.

Afternoon tea. Never made scones before?

-Can't whip up some scones.

-Why not?

-I don't know how to do that.

I can show you.

-Scones, fundamentally, are flour, castor sugar, eggs and butter.

-OK.

So flour... and I always do three parts...

one part...

..one part.

What you're going to do is rub the butter together.

-Use the tips of your fingers.

-OK.

So, you can use the palms of your hands, if you want,

-but the fingers are the coldest.

-OK.

-Never made scones before?

No? Because you use the self-raising flour, this will cook in 12 minutes.

-12 minutes.

-What I would do is use a little bit of milk.

Whoa, that's enough.

So, a little milk. If you crack me an egg.

In there.

And get some of those sultanas,

which are the lighter one of the two.

Throw those in, as well.

The key to scone mix is you don't overwork it,

that's why it's much better to do it by hand.

And then, we can just basically knead this ever so slightly,

the minimum amount.

-OK? The trick is, when you put them on the tray, turn it over.

-OK.

-And then, eggwash the top with egg yolk.

-Mm-hmm.

Cos then you'll get a straight side and not a wonky tower.

-OK.

-All right?

We've got the scones on the go, a nice little jam compote,

couple of different types of sandwiches.

I think we've got everything I'm hoping for all on one board here.

I'm looking forward to this.

Finally, Graham has been given my meat box,

containing a pork chop, Bramley apple, red onion, swede,

dessire potato, thyme, sage and Calvados.

What I'm hoping for for this is a nice crispy pork chop.

What you want to do is grill it quite slowly under the grill,

so you get that skin and fat nice and crispy

and, at the same time, the pork stays lovely and juicy and moist.

-Graham.

-Hi.

-You look like a happy man.

I'm quite relaxed at the moment.

JAMES LAUGHS

More than I was in the first round. Meat's not bad, is it?

-It's a man's kind of box.

-OK.

-Can I give you some advice?

-Go for it.

I would take that pork out of there, put it on a tray, and I would

grill it, cos this is what you're after, this lovely pork fat.

Already ruined that by taking the skin off it.

-Well, you... Where is the skin anyway?

-It's in the bin.

CHRISTOPHER LAUGHS

Yeah, that's gone.

But give me some form of crispy, crackling skin. That kind of stuff.

-How long have we got?

-And what's in that there? Onions...

Yes, just onions and garlic and Calvados,

and probably drop a bit of cream in, right at the end.

-Yes.

-Cheers, thank you. I was hoping to take that home with me.

-Oh.

Now, the pork, sadly, he's taken the fat off the outside of the pork.

This to me, as a pig farmer, is like, noooo!

The cardinal sin, you're taking the best part of the pork away

and you're throwing it in the bin.

I'm not a great fan of turkey. In fact, so much so, that I've never

tasted turkey yet, as long as I've been alive, that's any good.

Don't let that put you off.

He's never tasted turkey he's liked, but today, prove him wrong.

-How are you getting on?

-Not too bad, thank you. I've made a jam.

I've made some egg sandwiches, some salmon and cream cheese and some

-cucumber and cream cheese.

-OK and the scones are in the oven?

They're in the oven, yes. They should be done shortly.

-They look wonderful.

-What about...

They really do look very impressive.

-I had a little helper for those.

-Did you?

-Yes.

-A little gnome came in?

Yes, a little helper.

Five minutes to go, guys. Five minutes.

Try this. I've put Parmesan in it. Try it, it might add style.

It's like a cheese sauce, really.

-One minute to go.

-No pressure.

He's done this sauce really well.

I'd like to have seen that pork fat, though, you know. Left in the bin!

That's it, stop cooking! Step away from the hobs.

Leave it!

Well done, guys.

Becky had to create a dish from my afternoon tea box.

So, I made some home-made scones, home-made jam,

some cream cheese, lemon and salmon, some cream cheese and cucumber

sandwiches and, then, I made some egg mayonnaise, with a cup of tea.

-Cup of tea, perfect.

-Looks good.

-So, what do you think?

-I think you've done fantastically well.

-Better than last time.

-Much better. Really, really good.

The scones are absolutely delicious.

I love the egg mayonnaise sandwiches.

They were absolutely fantastic. It's very, very nice

and I love the way you rolled the cucumber like that.

The salmon is absolutely delicious.

It's a really good afternoon tea, with a cup of Earl Grey.

I think the scones are fantastic. You cooked them absolutely right.

The key to this is the jam.

A quick compote, that's exactly what you want.

The toast, as well. It's just a really nice afternoon tea.

-Good.

-So you should be very pleased.

-Thank you.

It's taken a huge amount of work to be able to create that. Well done.

Graham had to create a dish from my meat box.

Pan and then oven roasted the pork chop.

I've done a textured swede mash, a Calvados sauce, with a little

caramelised apple and some sauteed potatoes.

I like the idea of a "textured swede mash". What does that mean?

It means it's lumpier than I would've liked it!

LAUGHTER

-That's probably the swede.

-You're right.

-Shall we taste?

Nice sauce. The chop is good.

I think the sauce is fantastic, really good.

The reason being, you cooked that Calvados out.

I love the touches of the apple.

Swede and potatoes good, but when you get good quality pork,

you have to cook it like that under the grill.

-I really like that dish.

-Yes.

-Really well done, well done.

-Top work.

-Thank you.

-Excellent.

Finally, Adge, has created a dish from my basic box.

So, I decided to go brunchy and I made, sort of, a spiced

turkey patty with tomato, fried egg and a special cheese sauce.

So, what are the spices in here?

I've, literally, just... I've used the onion, peppers,

and then paprika, chillies.

I hope I haven't over-seasoned it.

Oh, I think that's very, very nice.

-Not over-seasoned?

-No. Really.

-Really.

-Thank you.

-You don't like turkey.

-I don't mind it.

-Oh!

Tell you what, the burger's really nice. You kept it nice and moist.

-This sauce is unique...

-It's good!

-On the whole, that's a cracking effort, well done.

-I agree.

-Thank you.

-And it's made my job a lot harder.

-Hm, very good.

-Thank you.

-I think we've got three really good home cooks here.

-Seriously good.

I'm really impressed by all of them.

I get to choose today's cook of the day, based on what I've just tasted.

It was a tough decision...

Very, very close.

-It goes to you, Adge.

-Yay!

You're supposed to say you're happy.

You actually nailed it, to be honest, because that was fantastic.

-Congratulations, well done.

-Brilliant.

-Thank you very match.

Where's this going to live in the house?

It'll be in the kitchen, on a shelf.

-I don't know, I could put things in it.

-Bangles and stuff as well.

-Yeah.

-Thank you very much, Mr Biggins, for turning up.

-It's been a pleasure.

-My chief taster and we'll see you on stage very soon.

-You will.

-In a bit more elaborate costume than at the moment.

-Possibly.

-You might fancy me.

-Possibly(!) That's all we've got time for today.

Join us again... - I can't believe you said that! Join us again soon,

when we meet three more enthusiastic home cooks, to win this amazing Box

trophy with more Box of ingredients,

and some great big names in the world of food.

See you again soon. Bye for now.