Takeaways Tom Kerridge's Best Ever Dishes

Tasty, amazing, delicious. I love cooking.

Oh, that smells lush!

But why not make your food the best it can be?

They've worked proper nice.

Oh, ooh-ah-ooh!

The difference between cooking good food and great food

is only a few little tricks and tips away.

I want to show you how to turn an ordinary dish...

..into something extraordinary.

Oh, my God, that is amazing!

It's time to push flavour to its fullest...

Absolutely beautiful.

..liven up those old favourites...

-That's delicious.

-It's delicious?

-That's really up with the best.

..and add a bit of magic to your cooking...

..with my Best Ever Dishes.

Takeaway food is one of my favourite things.

I've always enjoyed it as a kid growing up

and even now having a cheeky one as an adult.

It's fun food guzzled down in a hurry.

And I've got some recipes for you

inspired by the takeaways that I love

for you to try at home that's dead easy to do.

Like my childhood favourite sweet takeaway treat.

Mmm, doughnuts! I love doughnuts.

-Oh, right.

-Look at those babies.

That is amazing. I've got sugar everywhere.

A dead simple cheat's pizza...

Mm-mm! ..with soured onions and crispy beef.

Look at that, it looks absolutely incredible.

Spicy kebabs with an Asian twist that takes them to the next level.

I cannot wait to eat that. That looks lush!

Plus my real ham hamburgers

put to the test on a crowd of hungry burger fans.

-Who wants a burger?

-Definitely.

Who was that? Come on then.

Here we go, no worries.

-Tom, brilliant, cheers!

-Thank you.

This is takeaway food with the volume turned up.

But first, my best-ever West Country takeaway treat,

the good old Cornish pasty, taken to the next level with a fishy twist.

Now, everyone loves a pasty, it's the perfect takeaway seaside treat.

I might get a bit in trouble with Cornwall here

cos I'm going to be replacing the beef with some smoked haddock.

Sorry, Cornwall.

First things first - the pastry.

I'm using strong bread flour and a pinch of salt,

butter and lard for added richness

and cold water to bring it all together.

Now, rumour has it that Cornish tin miners used to take Cornish pasties

down the tin mines and hold them on that crimped edge

so that when they eat them with their dirty hands -

cos they're eating the pasty but not the crust -

and then they throw the crust away.

I think that's a load of rubbish, to be honest.

I can't imagine big, burly West Country blokes down the mine

not eating crusts.

They're big, burly blokes, not namby-pamby girls.

Pastry done, this just needs to chill for a while

while I get on with the filling.

I've already prepared a traditional swede, potato and onion mix,

but this is as close to the original recipe as I'm going to get...

Rock hard.

..as I'm swapping out the beef in this posh pasty

for one of my favourites - smoked haddock -

and this is what makes this extraordinary.

Now, for me, smoked haddock is an incredible fish.

It's got so much strength and texture

and the smell...is so meaty, it's absolutely amazing.

This is going to be a perfect beef replacement for my pasty.

Just cut it into cubes an inch or two thick

so it stays nice and firm when cooked.

Throw it in with the veggies and add some chopped parsley,

a good pinch of sea salt, and sticking with tradition this time,

plenty of cracked black pepper.

I'm fairly certain that there might be a few people in Cornwall

a little unhappy at my pasty recipe here

and if I've offended anyone in Cornwall, I am really sorry.

If you try it, you might forgive me.

Now for the business end - the pasty making.

The dough's been chilling in the fridge and is ready to roll.

I should get four pasties from this mix.

They're not little pasties - proper-size West Country pasties.

Then roll each quarter into a circle ready for filling.

OK, the fun bit, get yourself a big spoon,

be generous with this mix.

Big chunks of smoked haddock, potato and the swede.

And when you've piled on as much as you can,

simply seal the edges together with egg wash.

Don't let any escape. If it does, catch it and stick it back in.

Then crimp the edges together, brush on a load of egg wash

and sprinkle it with sea salt.

These are actually probably the ultimate takeaway.

You get them stuck in the oven, baked

and you carry them around like a... like a little clutch bag.

This one here, I can tell, has got just a little bit more mix in...

and has my name written all over it.

T...for Tom's pasty.

As for the rest of them, I've spied a group of burly builders

working across the street and I bet they wouldn't say no

to a smoked haddock pasty or throw away its golden crust.

They've worked proper nice.

Nice, firm crust, and that glaze has given it a real good finish.

The one thing that I am disappointed about is that this pasty looks

better than the one I put the T on but it's too late to swap them over.

Time to see if that old wives' tale about not eating the crusts is true.

Pasty, brown sauce - every builder's dream.

-How you doing, boys?

-All right.

-Good-oh. Fancy a pasty?

Get in there, chaps. It's fish.

-A fish pasty?

-Smoked haddock. You like smoked haddock?

-I do indeed.

It's a bit hot, boys, just crack 'em in half, let the steam out.

-They're normally filled with beef.

-Yeah.

-Do you like that?

-Oh, yeah, very much.

-Lovely.

This is something different. This is really, really nice.

Definitely up there with the best.

And not much sign of those left-over crusts, eh?

One of the best places to pick up takeaway foods these days

are the many street markets that have popped up on our doorsteps.

Whether it's a quick snack or lunch on the run, you can generally find

what you're craving at food stores like this one,

but when it comes to sweet takeaway treats,

there's only one thing on my best-ever wish list.

For me, one of my most amazing early childhood memories of food

is freshly cooked doughnuts at the end of a pier

somewhere in the West Country.

And happily, here at London's Borough Market,

they're back on the menu

and having a bit of a renaissance thanks to fellow doughnut lover

Justin Gellatly, who gave up his day job 11 months ago

to perfect and sell the ultimate doughnut.

Mmm, doughnuts, I love doughnuts! What flavours have we got here?

OK, we've got caramel custard with a salted honeycomb.

I've got some lemon curd

and then we've got some classic vanilla custard.

Well, that sounds incredible.

Just stop there, I mean, that just is amazing.

It's no wonder Justin's doing such a roaring trade.

He's promised to teach me a few doughnut do's and don'ts

at his bakery around the corner.

But first things first, the dough.

So just take it out in one piece.

He uses strong bread flour to keep it nice and elastic.

That is amazing.

It took 50 attempts to perfect the recipe.

We did have a few exploding doughnuts.

We're having them in the fryer

-and there's chefs running for cover.

-Oh, really?

They literally just...

-That much?

-Yeah.

-This is perfected, right?

-This is perfected.

-OK.

-Absolutely.

His second trade secret is long fermentation.

In fact, Justin leaves his dough to prove for 24 hours.

-This is the fridge.

-OK. So the doughnut dough goes in here.

-That's going to sit there until tomorrow.

-Yeah.

But we've got one we need to use today.

-That fermentation, that improves the flavour?

-Absolutely.

Time to help Justin knock up a batch.

He sells a whopping thousand doughnuts a day on his stall,

each one rolled and filled by hand.

-So you have to do this for a thousand doughnuts?

-Yeah.

And how many of you normally work in doing that?

It depends who's on the doughnut shift, really. Just one of us.

That sounds like a dream job, don't it? The doughnut shift.

I think I've found my new vocation.

After a second proving, it's into hot rapeseed oil

until the doughnuts are puffed up and golden.

-You have to be quite delicate, so just...

-OK.

-If you just watch...

-I have to be honest with you,

I'm not known for delicacy.

-Down like that.

-OK. All right.

Look at those babies.

Someone better get the kettle on, we need to get some coffee going.

I could eat these right now,

but first they need their sugary coating.

You cover the whole thing in sugar.

Carpet-bomb a doughnut in sugar. Now, this is proper cooking, this.

And one of Justin's signature custard fillings.

You'll start to see it inflating.

Wow! It's gone from something really light and airy

to like the heaviest thing in the world. That is amazing!

And after Justin's piled on loads of delicious honeycomb,

I finally get to dive in.

That is amazing. It is the best doughnut ever.

I've got sugar everywhere. This is like...

this is like the best morning of my life, it's amazing.

That is amazing.

But best of all, I've learnt enough tricks

to whip up my own gourmet doughnuts at home,

a takeaway treat that's sure to satisfy the big kid and the chef in me.

One of the key things I've learnt from Justin

is long, slow fermentation.

But if you can't wait 24 hours for your doughnut dough, 12 will do.

I have in here one that's already been in the fridge overnight.

It's your basic dough recipe of flour, milk, water,

sugar, egg and fresh yeast

with melted butter for extra flavour.

At this point, just kind of like you would with a bread dough,

just knead it

and just kind of use that part of your hand

cos that's where you can get most of the pressure from.

Once kneaded, cut the dough into doughnut-size portions,

about 30 grams apiece.

Look at that, I am one gram out.

Just roll them into balls.

Do it two-handed, ambidextrous doughnuts.

Then leave them to rest on squares of parchment paper

for about 40 minutes,

giving me time to make their Justin-inspired filling

and this is what makes them doughnut-tastic!

Dark chocolate mousse, flavoured with - wait for it - rose-water.

Kind of like a grown-up Turkish delight

made from chocolate, butter, sugar, milk and loads of double cream.

Now, this lovely chocolate oozy centre

is going to be the masterpiece in these doughnuts.

I remember as a kid getting jam doughnuts

and eating all the way through 'em

trying to find a massive ball of jam in the middle

and just get a little dot of jam

right at the other side of the doughnut.

That's bad times.

These boys are going to be packed full of filling - good times.

This just needs a splash of rose-water to push it to the next level.

You'll find it in the baking section at your local supermarket

and trust me, it makes all the difference.

Now, I say with most things in cooking, don't be scared,

don't be shy, you can be quite heavy handed.

With this, you've got to be a little bit scared

cos if you are too heavy handed with it,

everything that you eat for the next five weeks will taste of rose-water.

Literally about half a teaspoon and then just stir it in.

And rose-water isn't the only grown-up addition to this posh doughnut.

I'm using dry lavender flowers to flavour its sugary coating.

Nick them from your granny's garden next time you go round for tea.

Then blitz them up and add them to some sugar

ready to roll your doughnuts in.

They should have doubled in size by now.

You see there's loads of air in them and they've puffed right up.

If I was to drop this tray now, all the air would collapse out of them

and they'd go down, a little bit like a whoopee cushion,

just without making the same noise.

These just need to be fried in hot oil now.

You can leave the paper on to help get them in there

and peel it off when you flip them over.

Simple.

I've just got a massive smile on my face, you know,

when you're like an excited kid.

I just cannot wait to get to eat these.

All they need now is a coating of lavender sugar

and a generous helping of cooled chocolate mousse.

Pop the nozzle in so you can feel it beginning to fill up the doughnut.

Look at that. That looks incredible.

And there it is, my grown-up sugared doughnuts

with chocolate rose-water delight.

A takeaway treat my mate Justin would hopefully be proud of,

piled up high like a motorbike display team.

But like with all motorbike display teams,

there's always going to be a casualty.

Oh, my God, that is amazing!

That is amazing!

Mmm!

Next up is another takeaway favourite of mine

made in half the time at home

with some tasty, no-fat, shop-bought pastry.

Pizza is one of my favourite takeaways,

but I know it's a bit of a pain to make at home -

making the dough and letting it prove up.

So I've got a bit of a cheat's version using puff pastry.

It's a bit of a tart crossover

and it's the perfect base for crispy beef.

All you need to do is roll the pastry out

to about half a centimetre thick, cut it into a circle

and chuck it in the fridge to rest.

That is way easier than all that dough-making malarkey.

An hour later, it's had time to chillax,

simply prick it with a fork to help it rise evenly

and then cover it in egg wash.

Kind of really work it in, you've got to massage it in,

and this way, the more it gets pushed into the pastry

the nicer, richer glaze you're going to get on the top

which will also help give it a really lovely crust.

And if you've had bad experiences with puff pastry before,

I have the answer.

No soggy middles.

Start with the temperature on high and turn it down later.

Now, to go with this pizza, I'm going to be doing double onions.

I'm going to be doing an onion jam that I already have in a jar

and some sour onions using these boys.

Just cut them into segments with the root intact and pop them

into a dead simple pickling liqueur

of cider vinegar, sugar and cider.

I use sweet, but any will do.

As long as it's cider and it tastes nice.

Then leave them to poach for about five minutes on each side.

Look how lovely they look - that cider vinegar and the sugar

is beginning to caramelise and glaze on top of them.

Ah, they look amazing! I love onions like this, mm-mm-mm!

All they need now is a quick char, courtesy of this manly gadget.

This is a proper plumber's blowtorch,

not one of those namby-pamby kitchen ones.

Get down your DIY store, buy one of these.

It quickly caramelises the onions' natural sugars,

creating lots of lovely burnt bits

that'll go brilliantly with the crispy beef.

Oh, that smells lush!

Onions done, it's time to check up on that puff pastry

and show you how to get a crispy base every time.

Oh, look at that!

That boy has been in for about 20 minutes and he's puffed up

and this is the point that I know you take it out at home, but don't.

Keep it in there and just turn the temperature down.

In another 15 minutes, that's going to be perfect.

Especially once it's piled high with onions and crispy beef.

I'm using bavette steak which loves being flash-fried,

coated in cornflour...

and fried until crispy.

You want that kind of hard, fast heat. It makes it nice and crunchy.

But be careful you're not wearing your best shirt

cos everything's spitting out.

If you're in silk, you're in a lot of trouble.

All these need now is a pinch of salt and some cayenne pepper

and they're ready to sit on top of that puff pastry base.

Look at that!

Look at the colour of it, it looks incredible.

Now, every good pizza needs a topping

and we're going to start that topping

not with a tomato sauce, but something beefy.

Bovril, and plenty of it, followed by home-made onion jam...

..those boozy, burnt sour onions and plenty of crispy beef.

Really don't be shy with this.

Everyone loves a pizza that's got loads of topping on.

This just needs a final blast in the oven

while I whip up a blue cheese, creme fraiche and chive topping.

It shows how big and strong I am.

I can't even beat up blue cheese.

Now, if it's a little thick, you just add a small splash of water

and that's the consistency you're looking for.

Quite loose, so you can just drizzle it all over the top.

And that, boys and girls, poured all over hot beef and onion

on a crispy puff pastry base has got to be the best cheat's pizza

you've ever laid eyes on.

Look at that, it looks absolutely incredible!

Way easier than making the classic takeaway pizza.

With peppery watercress.

And I would argue, even with an Italian,

that it's going to taste way better.

Now, nothing rounds off a night in the pub like a takeaway kebab,

but I guarantee, once you've tried this sophisticated

make-at-home number, you'll be inviting the boys back to yours

for some post-pub grub instead.

Now, I love a kebab, especially late at night,

even those ones, doner meat, that looks a little bit

like an elephant leg - love 'em.

But this version is like a proper posh version

and instead of using lamb or chicken,

you're going to be using duck.

It's a right tasty alternative to your regular kebab meat.

It can be cooked pink and it's nice and lean.

Just score the skin and render down the fat in a hot pan

placing it skin side down.

You can hear it already, the instant it hit the pan,

it slowly begins to render and make a really nice little sizzling sound

and this pan had no fat in it already,

this is the natural fats coming from the duck.

Look at that.

Once it's nice and crispy, pop it in the fridge to chill.

It'll make it easier to slice later

and give you time to make my punchy Asian marinade.

First in is soy sauce followed by vegetable oil in equal measure.

Now, I know that looks quite a lot,

but what happens is as you cook this,

it kind of reduces down, caramelises

and helps to give a really lovely colour to the duck kebabs.

Then it's in with a squeeze of honey,

plenty of grated garlic and its partner in crime, ginger.

It's a proper knob of ginger.

Grated straight into the bowl to release those natural oils

with some red chilli, seeds and all.

I love that heat.

And a good squeeze of lime for that famous Asian tang.

It always amazes me how much juice comes out of a little lime.

Marinade made, it's time to prep the veg.

I'm using crunchy green peppers, red onion,

broccoli and field mushrooms minus their stalks.

When I was a young chef, I was always told

to take the middle stalk of a mushroom out

and I didn't really know why, and then the head chef told me one day

what mushrooms are actually grown in.

Veg chopped, it's time to revisit the duck

which should be cold enough to slice now.

I'm probably going to get between six and eight big chunks...

..ten big chunks per duck breast.

And now we get to the fun part.

Now, normally, shish kebab is served on one of these - a big skewer -

but today I'm going to do it on some lemongrass.

This is what makes these kebabs even tastier.

This definitely gives off more flavour

than a bit of stainless steel.

Pierce the vegetables very carefully,

and then thread the lemongrass through the hole

trying to keep it intact.

Me being me, my kebabs should definitely have

more meat on them than broccoli.

Once threaded, simply drench the kebabs in marinade

and chuck them in the fridge to soak up all those lovely juices.

After a couple of hours marinating, they'll be ready for grilling.

Eight minutes for medium rare, longer for well done.

The sound of that sizzling plate is great.

You just know it's cooking up lovely

and whilst they're cooking, keep dabbing on the marinade...

cos what's happening is all those flavours are beginning

to stick on the bottom of the griddle

and as you turn the kebab,

the kebab will pick up all those flavours from it

and get this lovely, rich, sweet, sticky marinade

all over the top of it.

Oh, look at that! That's what you want, that bit just there.

I cannot wait to eat that. That looks lush!

And way tastier than those late-night, elephant-leg kebabs.

Oh, my God, they look amazing.

So next time you need takeaway food in a hurry,

why not whip up a batch of these extraordinary kebabs instead?

I promise, you and your mates won't be disappointed.

No best-ever takeaway menu would be complete without a burger.

They're the ultimate takeaway food and my personal favourite.

So I've come to Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium

where they serve loads of burgers on a Saturday night

to put my version to the test

which puts the ham back into the hamburger.

-FANFARE PLAYS

-That noise means it's burger time.

These guys are proper burger fans.

It'll be very interesting to see

what they think of my real ham hamburgers.

Like regular burgers, my best-ever hamburgers start with mince,

but not just any mince, I'm using short-rib beef mince

and real ham mince, and it's the ham

that makes these burgers super special.

It tastes fantastic.

The lovely salty, bacony, cured flavour pulls everything together

and makes this one of the nicest burgers you'll ever have.

This just needs some dried sage,

then plenty of seasoning, including salt, cracked black pepper

and another star ingredient...

cayenne pepper. Another large spicy hit coming in.

Followed by garlic powder for an even more savoury kick,

then bring it all together with your hands.

Now, this mix makes eight burgers.

I'm being distracted by dogs running.

Oooh, photo finish!

And here's a top tip to stop your burgers falling apart on the grill.

Keep rubbing it around and you'll feel the mix begin to get tight,

almost form like a ball where the salt is working its way through

that meat and pulling all the proteins really tightly together.

When you can hold it up without it collapsing,

the mix is ready to turn into burgers,

which couldn't come quick enough for these eager beavers.

-What are we doing?

-Hello there, chief. We are making burgers.

-Oh, I'm sold.

-You're sold already.

-You got a bet on this race?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Which one?

-3 and 4.

-Good luck, chief. Come back for a burger.

-I will.

If you lose, it's for free, if you win, there's a pound charge.

Hey, stop eating the chips, chief,

you're going to have free burger later.

While they firm up, I can finally have a flutter.

-How are you, OK?

-Very well. £5, ALittleLessLip.

-Best of luck.

-Thank you very much.

And they're on.

Oh, hello, we're in the lead. Come on.

Still in the lead, come on!

Come on!

It's a winner!

And there's the £3.75, well done. Thank you very much.

-Gentlemen, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Chief, thank you very much.

Wow, a nice little pink one.

Mission accomplished, it's back to my burgers.

I'm just waiting for the sizzle.

These need to be fried on both sides for three to four minutes.

I feel very at home at a dog track cooking burgers next to the elves.

I can't wait to find out

what these people make of these real ham hamburgers.

Time to put them to the test.

Served in a bun with mustard mayo, crispy gem lettuce

and home-made pickled cucumber.

Right, who wants a burger?

-Definitely.

-Who was that? Come on then. Here you go.

-Go careful, it might be a little bit hot.

-Thank you.

So what do they make of my secret ingredient?

How's that tasting for you?

-Delicious.

-It's delicious?

-It's delicious.

-That was a good burger.

-Tom, brilliant. Cheers.

I thought it would be.

And it's not just the punters that want to taste-test my burgers.

Word's got out to the dog owners as well.

You've got to let me know what you think of that.

-Can you taste the ham in it?

-Yeah, it's lovely.

The next dog I get will be called Running Tom.

Oh, mate, thank you very much. Honestly, promise me that.

He's going to name his next greyhound after me.

I've got to be honest with you though, naming a greyhound after me,

I'm not certain it's going to be a born winner.

Especially if his latest dog, George, is anything to go by.

Get running, George!

He's just eased up.

-No, he's going back now.

-Oh!

I think he's had one of your burgers.

He's definitely had one of your burgers.

Next time, I'll be spicing up your weekend...

I don't want to see any wobbly satays from you.

..giving your Sunday leg of lamb a proper makeover...

It looks a little bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Commando movie.

..and dishing up my best-ever full English for the lads.

Come on then, boys, I ain't going on me own!