Episode 5 The Good Cook

This series will show you how anyone can make fantastic food

and introduce to you some new and exciting ingredients.

I'm Simon Hopkinson

and cooking means the world to me.

I love cooking. It's my life, my passion.

As a child and teenager, eating was always an adventure.

I opened my first restaurant aged 20

and have been in the kitchen ever since.

But now I'm better known for writing cookery books.

For me, nothing beats cooking at home.

It's my real inspiration and I want to share my love of it with you.

That is just how it should be!

Tonight, I'm going to show you five dishes any chef would be proud of,

and that you can cook in your own kitchen.

Great home-made food that will impress your friends.

Follow my lead and you'll be able to cook some exceptionally good food.

I just love it!

-Hi, Alan.

-How are you, Simon?

-Very well. I want a nice chicken, please.

-Nice free-range?

-One of those, yes. They're fed on corn and really good.

-Does that look a good size?

-That's fine. Lovely. Perfect.

When I was growing up, roast chicken was a treat.

We had it, maybe, at the very most, once a month.

And now I think it should be a treat again.

I get such joy out of roasting a fine chicken.

A chicken roast in the oven is one of the loveliest things to do.

Nice seasoning,

basting, the smell of it,

the skin crisping up, I never tire of it.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, Simon.

-I'll really enjoy this. Thanks.

-Take care.

-You, too. Bye.

A wonderful roast chicken for Sunday lunch is a dish that always warms my heart.

Buy the best quality bird that you can afford.

But how it is cooked is every bit as important.

This is how I like to eat a roast chicken.

I'm here about how to get it right, how to cook it right, how to cook it so it's really delicious.

Follow this method,

and I assure you the results will be so rewarding

you'll want to cook it again and again.

First of all, I'm going to joint the chicken.

These are the wing tips. They go towards making a fantastic gravy.

A really well-made gravy is so very important to any roast.

Because I want to make the best gravy ever for this,

I always have some chicken wings in the freezer

and I'll have them there exactly for this express purpose,

either to make chicken stocks or to add extra flavour to a gravy.

I'll add probably a couple of these.

They're nice and cheap.

These chopped up bones and giblets make such a difference.

To begin adding flavour straightaway, heat up some oil to brown them.

Push them to the edge so the chicken can sit in the middle.

I used to roast chicken in lots of butter.

Which is very nice,

but this one I'm going to do with very little fat because I want just a very simple gravy.

I need to put just a little bit of oil -

you don't have to use olive and it doesn't need to be very good olive oil -

just a little over the chicken.

And just massage it into the skin of the chicken.

Season generously, as crisp and salty chicken skin is everyone's favourite bit.

Salty chicken skin is heaven!

Wiggle it about a bit till it's settled.

For a bit of moisture and to help the gravy begin,

a little bit of Vermouth.

Dry Vermouth adds a nicely aromatic touch to the chicken juices,

but you could use dry sherry or just some white wine.

To kick-start the chicken, give it a fast initial roast for ten minutes at 200 degrees.

Then turn down to 180.

A bird this size will need about an hour and 20 minutes.

Any traditional British roast is incomplete without proper trimmings.

Chipolata sausages wrapped in streaky bacon are a must

for my chicken.

Pop those in.

Controversially, for these potatoes, I'm steaming them before they go in the oven.

Not crisp roasted this time, but baked in the savoury chicken juices until sticky and golden.

Let those steam away.

Now that the hour and 20 minutes is up, our chicken should be ready.

Right, I'm just going to look at the chicken

which I think is about... about right now.

Looking gorgeous.

So, with any roast meat, resting is important.

All roasts should be rested after leaving the oven.

The meat relaxes and the juices settle,

making the bird tender and easier to carve, as well.

Let it drip a bit, because the more juice in there, the better the gravy.

I can't bore on about it enough, I tell you.

Even as much as half an hour's resting somewhere warm is just fine.

Hot plates and piping hot gravy will bring everything together

perfectly.

To increase the taste of the juices, add some good chicken stock.

Now, turn up the heat to reduce it a little so it starts to become a rich, syrupy gravy.

All these gorgeous crusted edges here, they all go into the gravy.

They help add colour and also add flavour.

The bones have now exhausted all their flavour to make this gravy

and ready to be soaked up by those potatoes.

After about 20 minutes in the steamer, they should be cooked.

Remove their skins, revealing the lovely creamy flesh beneath.

The skins come off very easily.

It's actually quite a pleasing job, I find.

I think this is a splendid way of preparing potatoes for any roast

infusing them with the meat or poultry juices as they bake.

It's a kind of double delight

as there will be more gravy to come anyway.

And, you know what, I won't eat roast chicken without bread sauce.

So, milk first. About 500mls.

Add a medium chopped onion, salt, pepper and three bay leaves.

I like it quite clovey, so I'm going to put eight, let's say.

And a bit of nutmeg.

Just pop that in.

Last thing, a good knob of butter.

A buttery bread sauce is a good bread sauce.

Bring to a simmer, switch off the heat, cover

and leave to infuse for half an hour.

We're almost ready.

Sieve the flavoured milk. Push every last bit of flavour out of there.

Add a tablespoon of cream to enrich the sauce

then stir in the soft, white breadcrumbs.

Fresh white breadcrumbs will swell in the milk.

Keep that on a very low light.

Just to keep warm.

Now that everything's cooked and ready,

surely it's time to eat?

Angle a sharp knife so it carves the breast into perfect slices.

Two lovely little bacon sausage rolls.

These little potatoes are fantastic.

Gravy. Tasty, tasty gravy.

And last, but not least, the bread sauce.

Mmm!

It is an "Mmm" dish, actually, it really is.

And it's a really British taste.

It's a really savoury plate of food.

I don't think there's anything else quite like it, honestly.

So let's say cheers to the great British roast chicken.

Do make a special Sunday and go and get a good chicken.

And do it this way.

A fine roast chicken is one of the most special things to eat.

And for me, it will always be a treat.

There's nothing nicer than a glass of chilled wine and something to nibble when you get home from work.

My friend Rachel gave me a recipe for cheese biscuits some time ago.

And I never tire of making them.

It is important to stick to these measurements.

It must be plain flour, not strong white flour or pasta flour.

Just ordinary plain flour.

A good pinch of Cayenne.

I'm quite generous with this. I like it quite poky.

For a bit more oomph, add a teaspoon of mustard powder.

In that goes.

Let's give it a whizz.

At this stage, it looks like pastry crumbs before you add any water.

When I first made this, I thought, "It needs something to bind it together.

"An egg, or maybe a touch of water." But no. It does all come together.

There we are.

Is that not one of the simplest mixtures ever?

It's beautiful.

I love things that come together so easily like that.

Very nice!

This cheese pastry is easier to roll out after resting for 30 minutes in the fridge.

Now, I'm going to cut this in half crossways

as we're going to make one lot of plain cheese biscuits and the other half jalapenos.

From the first batch of pastry, roll out a square to the thickness of two pound coins.

Trim the edges.

You will also need some beaten egg.

Now brush the cheese pastry with the beaten egg

and sprinkle with a little more Parmesan.

I'm being relatively generous with this. Right up to the edge.

Cut into small rectangles.

I make it a bit of a palaver and like it all the same size

but don't get in a hissy fit about it!

For the remaining pastry, I want to add an extra something.

A slice or two of jalapeno pepper, which really makes them tingle!

Again, coat with egg.

Put on a slice of jalapeno and again sprinkle with Parmesan.

Then both biscuits into the oven for ten minutes.

That's good. There is a point

where there's just that moment

of just cooked and just undercooked.

And these are spot-on.

The cheesiest little what's-its I know.

Very pleased with those, even though I say so myself!

You can see how easy it is to make.

It's something to make at the weekend when you've got time to do some baking.

Crunchy, cheesy, as they should be.

Melt in the mouth.

That nice salty Parmesan edge. A little hit of Cayenne.

Yep. Mmm!

They are so moreish!

These biscuits keep well in a sealed container for a few days.

But they're so good, I've never known them to last that long!

Every ingredient in my kitchen is important.

And some make appearances more than others.

But the one that's always at my fingertips is salt.

I can't live without it!

The coast of Cornwall is a particularly fine source.

It takes four days to turn the seawater into sea salt.

It is filtered through a tangle of pipes and stored in tanks.

When the crystals get too heavy, they sink to the bottom, ready to be dredged out by hand, then dried.

Salt is one of the oldest forms of preserving as well as for seasoning.

Simply, it makes everything taste better.

Good sea salt is perfect for curing raw meat and fish.

This process draws out the moisture and firms up the flesh.

Cooking without heat.

A little bit of time spent in the week

means you'll have something really special for the weekend.

If you like the texture of smoked salmon, this should suit you too.

I like the way that I'm going to do this

because it's all going to happen in this container that I bought the fish in.

I'm going to take the fish out, pop it over here for the moment.

You will need 500g of centre-cut salmon fillet, bones removed.

Salmon and dill make the perfect marriage.

Always have. Whoever thought it would go with salmon is a genius, because it's terrific.

I love using flaky sea salt

as it runs through my fingers. Its coarse texture

helps to draw the moisture out of the fish more gently.

The unique taste of this salmon is its sweet and salty combination.

To complete the curing process, add a little vodka or gin.

And pepper. A lot of white pepper.

Best thing is to just keep going until you think it's enough, and then do a bit more!

You almost can't overdo it.

Whizz everything together until it's a bright green paste.

Give it a little scrape down.

Smells very good, smells almost... You could put it in the bath, actually!

Place half the mix in the container, then lay the salmon flesh-side-down and cover with the rest.

I really like the fact that you don't need any clingfilm,

it's just...nice packaging!

That's it.

Very easy. Now, pop it in the fridge for a couple of days,

turning it over now and then.

When the salmon is ready, make the traditional garnishes.

A cucumber salad and some mustard sauce.

I always peel cucumber.

You don't want this cucumber too thin. About... About that.

Add caster sugar, a little salt and a generous grinding of white pepper

before mixing together.

Finally, add a little white wine vinegar.

Put it into a small bowl and leave in the fridge for about an hour.

This cucumber salad should be served really cold.

For the mustard sauce, begin with some Dijon mustard.

Once again, some sea salt, white pepper and some sugar.

A squeeze of lemon to brighten the flavour.

Add a touch of dried dill

then mix it all together.

We're going to make this like a mayonnaise

with ordinary salad oil. You do not want olive oil in this.

Whisk in a light oil such as sunflower until you have a loosely thick sauce.

Good. Sauce is done.

The salt has now cured the salmon.

The dill has delicately flavoured it

and its colour has changed to a nice deep orange.

Now you need to rinse the fish.

It doesn't matter if a few specks of dill are left behind.

I just want to get rid of the excess.

Just do long strokes

with a serrated knife.

That's usually the best one to use.

A lovely deep pink colour inside.

Just one more slice.

It's the prettiest plateful of food.

A little sauce.

A perfect thing to eat with gravadlax is some rye bread.

A piece of fish...

..a little slice of cucumber.

A bit of a smear of the sauce.

And here we go!

Lovely. It's a really nice combo, that.

The creamy sauce, a crunch of cucumber,

the soft silkiness of the fish, it's a winner, really.

It's very pleasing to have something ticking over in the fridge while you do other things.

Also, this traditional Scandinavian delicacy is perfect for picnics.

It's hard not to be tempted by certain ingredients.

I find all good cheese irresistible.

But there is one blue cheese which is legendary.

That cheese is Roquefort.

Its origins started in a small town buried deep in the mountains

in southern France.

Roquefort is made with ewes' milk and only the finest milk is used for the cheese.

But it is only one of the factors that help produce its unique flavour.

Legend tells the wonderful story of a young shepherd

sitting in a cave having his lunch of bread and cheese when a pretty girl passes by.

He abandons his meal in favour of the girl,

only returning to the cave months later to find his bread and cheese covered in mould.

Intrigued to see what the cheese was like, he tasted it

and found it very much to his liking!

Romantic and lovely though this story surely is,

there is something very special about the caves where Roquefort matures.

It is the air that ventilates the caves which helps the bacteria grow,

producing the sweet and salty cheese that I adore.

Roquefort may only be made in the caves of this region.

It is unique and wonderful eaten on its own,

however, it is also lovely combined with sweet pears and bitter chicory leaves in this simple salad.

Refreshing salad leaves in a bowl of iced water perks them up no end.

Here I've got a mixture of both red

and the more common white chicory.

You could use any bitter leaf, but for this salad

I prefer to use this shape of chicory.

Give them a nice fondle!

Leave those to soak in iced water for about ten minutes.

Pour off the water and dry the leaves.

I rather like these old-fashioned salad shakers, as I'm quite an old-fashioned sort of fellow!

If you have a much-more efficient spinner, use that.

Remember, Roquefort is salty, so for a nice contrast between the bitter leaves and the cheese

use something sweet and fruity.

Nice and fragrant, these.

You can't better the best combination, and this is one of those.

It's really... It's perfect.

This is not a complicated salad.

In fact, it is more of an assembly.

Arrange the chicory on a large handsome plate and add the pear.

Just take a peeler, and in thin slivers - you can use a knife

but I love using my peeler! -

and just drape...

..drape the pear over the leaves.

A nice glass of fruity red wine would be perfect with this.

Crumble, crumble.

It's just...as much as you want

or as little as you want.

But with me it's going to be fairly much!

You want the salty lumps. Little explosions of saltiness.

And cheesiness.

There we are. I've used it all.

Lick fingers!

And finally,

the finishing touches.

Black pepper,

slightly rare for me, not too fine.

It's nice to have little moments of it on your tongue.

And delicious walnut oil.

Don't want any crunchy nuts in it, just my oil.

It's a great salad, this. It seems obvious to say there's nothing wrong with it.

But there's something that's just very good about it.

I can't think of anything nicer for lunch with a chum.

A glass of fruity red wine. All is right with the world with this salad.

Salty and sweet, bitter and oily,

this is a clever little salad and can be put together in minutes.

Most of my favourite puddings come from childhood.

And none is more memorable than rice pudding.

It's not to everybody's taste. Some have terrible memories of school rice pudding.

But I'm going to show you how to make it into a beautiful rice pudding.

This is comfort food at its best,

especially when made in the most traditional way.

Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees.

Now measure out 40 grams of unsalted butter.

It is fairly exact amounts in this pudding.

I like to do it like this. Some say, "Oh, just throw it all together."

But the exactness of it, I think, is important to the finished dish.

So I'm going to do it this way.

Dead on. Onto the stove.

Put it on a lowish light.

You will usually find pudding rice in the baking section of most supermarkets.

Pour in some golden caster sugar

and season with a good pinch of salt.

Stir it around so all the rice gets coated.

In a minute, the butter will start to separate out from the sugar.

Right.

That's done.

And in with the milk.

And all that at the bottom, as you'll feel with your spoon, is very crunchy.

It's gone into lumps.

This is intentional.

But as this milk warms through, it'll melt all the sugar away so don't worry!

It'll all come together.

Keep stirring until all those sugary bits have dissolved

and then pour in some double cream.

A little vanilla makes it taste even better.

Oh, go on, a drop more!

Some like to put fruit in it, like raisins, or things like that.

I like mine pretty plain.

My brother and I's children always stir jam into it.

Mine usually turn out a pale pink,

and my brother's was a much deeper colour.

But we would stir and stir until it went this mad colour.

The reason I like cooking it in the pan straight from the heat of the stove into the oven

is as it's coming to the boil, and it goes into the oven, there's no heat loss

and this method ensures you'll get that nice even mass of rice

and milk.

Rice pudding and nutmeg go hand in hand,

so be generous with it.

Now bring everything quietly to a simmer.

Bake in the oven for about an hour

or maybe slightly more.

Check on the pudding half-way through.

Yeah, it's still quite liquid

and you can see this "tarpaulin", skin of mine, doing its thing.

Smells fantastic! I'm going to pop a bit of foil on top.

Just so that it'll carry on cooking but not brown too much.

All you need is to do that.

Don't wrap it round, just rest it on top.

As the pudding cooks, the rice very slowly swells,

giving it a wobble and creaminess that is unsurpassed.

I think we're there.

Moment of truth!

It seems odd to say, "Melts in the mouth", but the rice is so lovely and so soft

it's a perfect pudd, that's what it is!

Lovely, lovely rice pudding, all milky and sweet.

Nothing nicer!

Next time, I'll be showing you five more super recipes,

all of them special, all easily made in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Restaurant quality, but made by you!

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