Episode 21 The Box

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

from the ingredients in our cupboards.

To inspire you with throwing away the cookbooks

and going back to basics...

..we are 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.

Peter, from Sheffield,

who works as a packaging design consultant.

I make boxes.

I'm used to putting things in boxes

rather than taking them out,

so today is going to be a reverse experience for me.

Fashion designer Irene,

who's ready for a challenge.

Every night is an invention test, basically.

I just buy things off the hoof

and decide what I'm going to make.

And manufacturing agent Gary, from Stourbridge.

Ideally, I'd like to

open the box today and see some big hunks of meat in there

and, you know, not a live lobster

crawling out or something that I've got to chase

round the studio, you know?

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

put together by today's guest -

Top Chef and MasterChef judge Monica Galetti.

-Monica.

-Hi. Good to see you.

-Welcome to The Box.

Now, this will be slightly different today.

We're used to seeing you on MasterChef - The Professionals,

judging. How do you think they're going to cope today?

I think they'll be amazing.

-You reckon?

-JAMES LAUGHS

-Still going to be scary or not?

-No, I can't be scary.

You know, these are home cooks and they are here to cook,

you know, what they know how to do.

-Now, shall we have a look, see what's in here?

-Mm.

-Whoa!

I chose ingredients that I like to eat when I go out

and ingredients, as a chef, I like to use.

Half a duck? What on earth do you expect them to do with that?

-Cook it, James.

-Well...

You never... Hey, I don't know, they might just stick with the coconut,

to be honest. Well, they've got 50 minutes to create something

out of what's in here. So we're going to send you off,

and you can shout at the TV.

-That will be interesting.

-Yeah, it will be interesting.

-I'll see you in a bit.

-All right, see you soon.

This is definitely a real chef's box of ingredients.

We've even got some dandelion in here.

Right...

OK, guys, welcome to The Box.

You are going to need all your wits about you for this one.

So the rules are pretty simple.

50 minutes, one dish,

using whatever you've got in that box and the larder behind you.

Off you go. Let's get cooking.

Duck, for me, got to have the crispy skin.

I love it when it is quite pink.

And if they could do something with the legs -

confit it and then shred it...

Butternut squash...

It's very sweet.

It's versatile. Squash goes very well with a duck dish.

Dandelions.

Dandelions for me are very stunning, especially if you can get,

you know, the bright yellow, fluorescent dandelion leaves.

And it brings some lovely sort of bitterness to cooking.

Red kale.

I love it just simply quickly blanched,

bit of butter through it, you know, some kind of flavouring

or seasoning, a bit originality to it to make it stand out.

There is parsnips.

A whole fresh coconut.

Dark chocolate.

I love dark chocolate, it is my favourite chocolate.

So if they can make me anything with chocolate,

I'd be a very happy customer today.

Chestnuts.

Walnuts.

And port.

It's rich and quite heavy, port,

but it is also goes very well with the duck.

And it goes well with dark chocolate as well.

So there's a couple of options there for them to play with.

I'd love to be surprised.

I think it is important to take five minutes

and have a really good think about what you are going to do.

Well, our home cooks are pretty flummoxed with what

is inside this box, but I for one absolutely love it.

You could do sweet, you could go savoury.

And in amongst that, there is so many different choices

that you could make.

Luckily for all of our cooks,

they don't have to use all of Monica's ingredients.

Uh-oh.

# Come on, Irene... #

-What are you trying to do?

-I'm trying to butcher this duck.

-You have certainly butchered that, haven't you, really? This one.

-Yeah.

-MONICA SNICKERS

-I'm going to get the breast off

-if I can.

-Do you know where the duck breast is on it first?

Uh, yeah, kind of...

here.

That is the thigh!

-That is the leg.

-Yeah, that is the leg.

-There's the breast.

So what you are going to do is start

-with the knife in here...

-Uh-huh.

-..and work along...

-Oh, yeah, OK.

Is he going to the butcher it completely for her?

That is very kind, James.

-So, what are you going to do with this?

-I am going to pan-fry it.

And then, I'm not sure.

I wouldn't eat any of those things, really.

-Really?

-Yeah, honestly.

-Chocolate?

-No, I don't like chocolate.

-I haven't got a sweet tooth at all.

-Dandelion?

-No.

-Chestnuts?

-Eh... I'm going to use those, probably.

Well, hopefully, cos you're not cooking for me,

-you're cooking for our guest.

-Yeah, that's true.

Peter is also going for the duck.

But he has yet to do anything with it.

The duck is still in the box.

-It is, it's resting.

-It's resting?

You wanted to be a chef, didn't you?

-And you started off in the pot wash.

-I did, yeah.

-That's where I started.

-I went and had a go.

My dad wanted to put me off a life in catering,

so he sent me to a friend's kitchen to have a go.

And I quickly realised it was long hours for not an awful lot of money.

-At that stage.

-It still is, mate. It still is.

What are you going to do with the duck?

I'm going to take the breast off and cook it relatively simply.

I am going to go for a relatively classic port-oriented sauce.

And then dressed with the seeds from the butternut squash,

which I have got roasting in peppercorn and star anise now,

-just to give it a little bit of crunch.

-OK.

I think you'd unfortunately call it fusion.

-Fusion...or confusion more than anything else.

-Probably.

He is going with what he knows, and that is all right as long as it is

all done really well and everything is cooked properly, you know.

It will be good to see.

At this moment in time,

I still haven't got a clue what our guest is going to get.

MONICA LAUGHS

What I would do, personally, is I would roast off the duck leg,

and get that in first of all,

and then almost shred it all up into a lovely little salad.

Well, Monica is going to have two duck dishes to choose from.

And it looks like she might be getting a chocolate pudding

from our third cook, Gary.

Gary is doing chocolate fondant,

that middle-melt pudding.

It's actually really a good thing to do because it is pretty simple.

You've got the egg yolks, a touch of butter,

you've got some chocolate, a bit of sugar, whipped up,

and then you fold in whipped egg whites.

And then to stabilise it, you can either use cornflour or flour.

-Everybody likes a chocolate pudding.

-Absolutely.

I totally agree with you.

Yes, everybody likes a chocolate pudding.

Now, are we going to serve this with anything?

Because you've got some coconut there.

Yeah, I just wouldn't know what to do with it, to be honest with you.

I tell you what'd be nice, have you ever made praline before?

-No.

-Right, so sugar goes in the pan.

Now, as soon as this turns colour

and goes sort of this nice golden brown colour...

-Yeah.

-..shout and call me over.

-OK.

-All right?

-Thank you.

Peter is using the chocolate, too,

but I think he's adding it to the port sauce

to go with his duck,

which is unusual.

Irene seems to be going down the more classic route with her sauce.

That's balsamic vinegar, onion and a bit of garlic.

I'm going to add red wine, and I've made sort of a stock.

So you have utilised the carcass from the duck to make a stock,

-lovely. Are you measuring wine?

-I'm measuring 150ml of that.

I'm going to reduce that down.

I'm going to put the stock in and boil it.

-Oh, no way.

-That is 150ml.

-OK, all right.

-All right?

-Fine.

-Are you going to put the port in as well?

-Yeah, a bit of port as well.

-Right.

-The thing is about that, you've got to put this in now...

-Right.

-..and start reducing it down.

-Whoa! That's a lot.

Hey, give over, this is my meal.

MONICA LAUGHS

-So you reduce this down by about three quarters.

-Yeah. Two thirds.

-What is that percentage between me and you? Nothing.

-Sorry.

Three quarters, two thirds...

I'm using my scientist part of my brain now.

-Cos you've got what, a biometric science degree?

-Biomedical.

-Biomedical science degree.

-Yeah.

Wow.

And how on earth do you go from that to fashion?

Well, when I was doing my doctorate, they tried to convince me that it

was actually a really creative thing, designing experiments was

a creative process, but I wasn't really buying that.

So what are you designing, then?

I make wedding dresses, I make corsets.

I have made corsets for men in the past.

MONICA LAUGHS

-I don't even want to know.

-IRENE LAUGHS

Yeah, you do.

Irene is doing a classic accompaniment to go with the duck.

And I actually love the way she has incorporated the carcass of the duck

to make a sauce.

This has got all the hallmarks of a really nice, tasty dish.

Clearly, these guys have got some skills.

I mean, Peter is wonderful at filleting that duck.

Irene, you know, for the fact that she didn't like the ingredients,

is still managing to get a dish together.

Gary, who is making a pudding...

And is actually doing a pretty decent job.

Gary's caster sugar has melted down.

And to make a praline,

I'm just going to mix in some of Monica's walnuts.

We coat them in this wonderful caramel.

Pour it out onto a tray.

Once it is cold, blitz it for about two minutes

and you end up with the most amazing praline

that you sprinkle over the top.

Peter is also thinking about a complement.

I'm trying to work out what to do

with the various green things at the moment.

The green things. Do you know what these green things are?

This one?

-It is slightly bitter.

-Dandelion.

-That is exactly what it is.

-Dandelion.

-Covered in a little bit of...

Well, it goes fantastically well with the duck as well.

Ten minutes left, ten minutes.

Our cooks are starting to plate up.

I'm curious what presentation is going to look like.

OK, that's it, stop cooking.

Well done! Yeah.

OK, guys, you are probably wondering who put that

amazing box of ingredients together.

Well, I can tell you now that SHE is a chef.

If you are a fan of MasterChef - The Professionals,

this is one of the toughest judges around, so good luck with this one.

It's Monica Galetti.

-Monica, welcome back.

-Thank you.

-How did you find that?

-Really interesting. Quite funny, actually.

-Quite funny?

-Well, in parts, yeah.

-In parts.

Particularly the preparation of the duck, really, at one point.

-The butchery?

-Yeah, butchery.

I was literally saying a prayer and then you came across.

Anyway, first of all, Peter, what did you cook?

I had a pan-fried duck breast with a port and chocolate sauce,

a dandelion salad with roasted butternut squash seeds

over a chestnut puree and some root chips.

-Wow. Chocolate sauce with duck.

-Have you ever had that before?

No, I haven't. There's a first for everything, isn't there?

-OK, well, dive in.

-HESITANTLY: Really?

-Yeah, yeah, dive in.

-LAUGHING:

-Go ahead, dive in.

The chocolate sauce is really strong. It's really thick.

Look, it is just sort of set on the corner there.

THEY LAUGH

-Sorry.

-It's all right.

It sat in the pan and it just went completely wrong.

And with the dandelion salad

and the spices coming through the vegetables,

you've got two or three dishes on the same plate.

I think you wanted to bring something different to the dish,

but you brought too much.

The puree is slightly different, but it kind of works with the chestnuts.

The carrots are cooked nicely. The parsnips are done well.

-The butchery of the duck was really good.

-Yes.

It is just the chocolate sauce, really.

-But good effort on the whole.

-Thank you.

-Gary.

-Hello.

-Hi, Gary.

-Hi, nice to meet you.

-Are you well?

-Yes, very well, thank you.

-So what did you do?

So, I've done a soft chocolate pudding and grated some chestnut

on the top. There is a cream and walnut praline.

-That sounds pretty good.

-Pretty impressive.

-It is still soft in the middle.

-Yeah, it's still soft in the middle.

It has gone a bit...

-Gary...

-Yes.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

-That is a very nice dessert.

-Thank you.

-I love...I love a chocolate pudding dessert.

-Good.

It is something that can be very simple,

but you brought something else to it.

Hm-mm.

-You've done yourself really proud today.

-Thank you.

-That's a cracking pudding.

-He has done very well.

-Thank you very much.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Wow!

-Irene, meet Monica.

-Hi, Irene.

-Hello.

-What did you do?

Well, I pan-fried duck breast.

I tried to make a parsnip with a little bit of chestnut puree.

Some crispy kale and a red wine and port reduction.

-OK, well, dive in.

-We'll try.

Irene, I think you made a stunning sauce here

and it has brought this whole dish together.

I think because there is so much flavour in that dish,

I wouldn't have a problem eating this up.

It's been a good effort from someone who didn't like

the ingredients in that box.

-I think you have done a great job.

-Thank you.

The flavours are all there, but that sauce is spectacular. Well done.

Thank you.

Now, of course, it is up to you to decide which dish you like the most.

So, all over to you, really.

I think they have all done something amazing today,

or they have had great points about their cooking.

But my favourite dish...

..was Gary's dessert.

-Well done, Gary.

-Thank you.

Gary, I thought it was a delicious fondant.

It was all down to the cooking. It all came together beautifully.

Well, I have to agree with you, that dessert tasted fantastic.

I was pleased to see chocolate in the box

and I knew I could do that, so...

-Well done.

-Thanks.

OK, guys, round two.

In front of me are three boxes.

All the ingredients of which I've picked.

We've got a pudding, basic and global box.

Gary, because you cooked Monica's favourite dish,

you get to decide not only what you'll be cooking with

but what everybody else will be cooking with.

So, first of all, what would you like Pete to cook with?

I will give Pete the global box.

-Travel a lot?

-I've been to quite a few places - Turkey, Mauritius...

Those two are not in here.

MONICA LAUGHS Oops.

What would you like Irene to cook with?

I'd like Irene to cook with the pudding box, please.

-Are you any good at desserts, Irene?

-I can do some desserts, yes.

You can do some desserts with that, OK.

So that leaves you, funny enough and surprisingly,

with the basic box.

So 50 minutes...

Off you go. Collect your boxes. And good luck.

Today's basic box has got diced chicken, carrots,

a green pepper, a leek,

sprouts, rice and puff pastry.

And all that should cost you less than seven pounds.

Gary has taken the basic box,

which, for me, it was a surprise.

Which one would you have chosen?

Personally, I would have gone for the global box, not the basic box.

What would you do with that, then? Just go home?

If I had Gary's box, I'd do exactly what he did and go

and stare at that wall in the corner.

THEY LAUGH

Why did you choose the basic box?

Cos I thought it would contain something like, you know,

a cannon of lamb or just something...

Fillets, just something.

-Fillet steak? In a basic box?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Basics...

-Yeah, I know.

-Well, you have got something against diced chicken?

-No, no.

-Diced chicken will be fine.

-So, what road are you going down?

We are going to have just a chicken stir-fry.

Are we going to use the Brussels sprouts at all?

-I wasn't thinking about that, really, no.

-I like these.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

-I'll do something for you.

I don't know if I'd like them in a stir-fry.

I've never had them before.

-We're about to find out.

-We might have them in today.

THEY LAUGH

Basic ingredients can really taste fantastic.

I think Gary was hoping for a cannon of lamb or a fillet steak.

I am certainly going round to his house if that is basic.

The key to stir-fry is actually make sure you don't over oil it.

Get that wok nice and hot, throw in all the ingredients.

And if it does get a little bit dry, offset that with a touch of water.

Don't keep adding more oil to the pan.

Peter got the global box.

And today, it is got a Japanese theme.

Inside, there is tuna, spring onions,

purple sprouting broccoli, shiitake mushrooms, daikon,

mixed seaweed, soba noodles,

miso paste, sake and Japanese soy.

-Now, you seemed quite happy when you got...

-Yeah.

This is the kind of food that I cook a lot at home,

especially once the kids are gone to bed.

A lovely miso broth with the noodles.

Sear the tuna, put it on top.

And the spring onions just to dress it on top.

Quite strong flavours going on here,

-so you need to control the amount...

-Absolutely, yeah.

I'm a bit scared of what's going on in here with the seaweed,

-whether it is going to complicate things.

-Taste them.

Would you do with the seaweed, then?

Lovely as they are in the bottom of the broth you are making,

they also crisp up really nicely as well. Have a play.

You have got some time on your hands.

The sprouting broccoli, are you going to use this?

I'm trying to work out where I'd fit that into a miso, but...

Come on!

-Don't just dip it in chocolate sauce.

-No!

I'm extremely glad there is no chocolate in there.

We've taken the chocolate out.

Finally, Irene was given the pudding box.

It contains mixed berries, Madeira cake, an orange, mint,

ricotta, marzipan

and a fresh vanilla pod.

-You are smiling.

-I am smiling, yeah.

This is a different Irene to the one I saw earlier.

You look as if you got part of it done so far. What are you making?

-I am making creme brulee, and they are in the oven.

-OK.

Cos there's two ways you could have done it.

You could have cooked it on the stove, put in the dishes and set it.

That is what I did, yeah.

-I'm baking it as well.

-Oh, you are going to bake it again? OK.

I do like a creme brulee, so that is what I thought I'd make.

-Sounds pretty good to me.

-Looking forward to trying it.

What will you do with the rest of the ingredients?

Well, I have got some blueberries

and raspberries that are quite tempting.

And maybe even strawberries.

So I might just have a play around with them, because I have got time.

-And the cake? Are you using that at all?

-No, I don't think so.

Come on, I've gone shopping for this. This is lovely.

Do you want me to do some cake? OK, all right then. OK.

You like the cake.

You know, creme brulee is nice, but sometimes it is nice with something.

-Something.

-Right, OK. All right then.

-Good luck with it.

-Thanks.

Creme brulee is made with a combination of sugar,

eggs and cream, generally flavoured with vanilla.

But if you overcook it, it can scramble or curdle.

Once you've done that, it is ruined.

Time is running out

and I'm expecting great things from Gary's stir-fry.

-Things are looking good?

-Trying not to burn that.

So in there, you've got some honey, by the smell of it.

Honey, soy sauce, chilli flakes. Just cooking that off first.

Cook the veg off. A few of your sprouts, James.

I'm hoping Peter has put those fantastic Japanese

ingredients from the global box to good use.

Can I give you a word of advice?

When you are using a chargrill, put it on the biggest...

So move that over there.

Pop that...

-And when you are using one of these chargrill pans...

-Yeah.

..always oil the food, not the pan.

Right.

And I think it is time Irene took her creme brulees out of the oven.

-They're ready.

-You think?

-Yep.

-You sure? I would normally leave them a lot longer than that.

25 years as a pastry chef...

OK.

Yep, straight out.

Get those straight in the fridge.

Three minutes left.

OK, that's it, stop cooking.

Step away from the hobs. Well done.

Peter had to create a dish from my Japanese-inspired global box.

-I think I've kept it relatively simple this time.

-Good.

As I said, it is a base of soba noodles,

some vegetables cooked in the miso stock, a simply seared tuna,

topped it with some lightly pickled vegetables

and some crispy seaweed with a miso soup ready to pour over.

It looks quite fancy, don't you think?

It does. I think you have done a great job.

The noodles are cooked wonderfully.

I like the broth, but there is not enough in there to taste

cos the noodles are just soaking it all up,

and it is all in the bottom of your bowl.

I like the use of the seaweed.

I think it is a nice dish

and you pretty much have used everything in the box.

LAUGHING: Again.

On the whole, I really like it.

I don't think there is enough broth, exactly what Monica said.

The pickle really kind of is the overpowering flavour.

That, unfortunately, just kills the flavour of the tuna.

But I think, as a dish, you know, on the whole, it is a great effort.

And there is a lot of quite unusual ingredients in,

but I think a good try.

-So well done.

-Thank you.

-No chocolate.

-No chocolate.

Gary chose to cook a dish from my basic box.

I made a chicken stir-fry with ginger and honey and soy.

-It sounds pretty good to me.

-It's a nice looking bowl of stir-fry.

I think this is all going to be in the eating and the cooking.

The chicken is lovely and moist.

But there is a lot of ginger.

OK. It was just that it was so bland when I opened the box up.

Trust me, it's not bland any more.

-Good. I will remember that.

-There is quite a lot of ginger in there.

And if you are going to use ginger,

you have either got to chop it quite fine,

particularly for stir-fry...

But I actually like stir-fry.

-It is a cracking dish there.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

And finally, Irene made a dish from my pudding box.

I've made creme brulee.

I have made some Madeira orange biscuits

and some raspberry and blueberries.

Where did the biscuits suddenly come from?

Well, you told me to use some Madeira cake,

so thought I'd make them into a biscuit.

Oh, it's cracked.

It's a nice creme brulee.

I think because you said it was something that you made quite often,

I was expecting a knockout creme brulee from you.

And I think you could have looked

at a whole lot more that was in the box

to really make this an outstanding dessert.

-That's fair.

-There's two different ways of making it -

you either make it in the oven or you make it on the stove.

You don't try to do a bit of each.

And what happens is,

as the mixture starts to cook while you've got it in the oven...

The problem is, because it is hot,

it's curdled on the top.

Because of that, it tastes like scrambled eggs.

But great use of the biscuits.

I never thought of that

when I was putting Madeira cake in there as well. But great effort.

I think in both rounds, everybody has done pretty well,

-don't you think?

-Very good.

They have all put up very different dishes from their boxes

of ingredients today. They've done well.

Now, remember, I chose the boxes of ingredients for this round

so I get to pick the overall cook of the day.

And on the basis of what I have tasted,

and it is a dish that I would want to eat and actually

finish off the entire thing,

the cook of the day today is...

..Gary.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

-Great job.

-On the whole, it tastes really, really good.

-I feel fantastic, thank you.

-Well done. Congratulations.

-Well done.

-And that chocolate fondant was superb.

-Yeah, that was fantastic.

-Thank you.

-Well done. Now, have you enjoyed yourself today?

I've had a great day, thank you.

And my two fellow contestants as well, I think we've all had

-a super day.

-Irene, come on over. Pete, come on over.

-Well done. Commiserations.

-Well done.

-You came very close on the dessert.

-Nearly got there. Well done.

-Thanks.

Well, there you go, that's all we've got time for.

-Thank you, Monica, for joining us.

-It has been a fun day. Thank you.

Join us again soon, where we'll meet three more creative home cooks,

some more big celebrity names and some more boxes of ingredients.

I'll see you again soon. Bye for now.

For more budget recipes and tips, go to bbc.co.uk/dishup.