Weekend Specials 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.

It's where it's proper nice.

Oh... 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.

..and 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.

Ah, the weekend, lie-ins, lazy days and beautiful food.

Weekends are great.

We have a little bit of extra time to get in that kitchen

and really enjoy cooking.

Create something super special for your friends,

family and especially yourself.

And I've got some of my best ever recipes to get

your creative juices flowing.

I'm ramping up a full English breakfast for those on duty

at the weekends but I've got my work cut out.

That's upside down, see that's the blade.

No weekend's complete without a roast chicken

but you'll never have seen one like this before.

See what you can do given a bit more time at the weekend.

I feel the heat as I cook up a Saturday Satay

at a Malaysian supper club.

-Chop, chop, Tom.

-Yes, Chef!

And I'm going to show you the naughtiest Sunday pud yet.

Well, everything about this pudding is bad for you

apart from it tastes nice.

Your weekends will never be the same again.

But first up is a beautiful leg of lamb which is going

to blast your average Sunday roast right out of the water.

I've got a recipe that you probably wouldn't have seen before.

It looks incredible but, most importantly,

it's going to taste amazing.

I'm cooking roast lamb but there's not a whiff of mint sauce here.

I'm swapping it for juniper berries, toasting them with sea salt.

Now juniper is normally associated with game

but, for me, it goes really, really well with lamb.

That's probably the heaviest thing in the world, bar me.

Now turn that juniper and salt into a dry rub.

Give it a good rumble and a crush up.

This sat in the pestle and mortar does look a little bit

like an ashtray but I can promise you it don't smell like an ashtray.

Trust me, this lamb is going to taste beautiful once

it takes on this juniper flavour, so score it on both sides.

And then get the contents of your ashtray...

Not really your ashtray, don't write me letters I don't...

It's not really your ashtray, it's juniper and salt.

Sprinkle it on and rub it right in.

If you was to do this at home you'd impress

all your mates by thinking you're being very experimental.

Finish off with some olive oil,

some chopped thyme and the zest of a lemon.

Now bang the lamb in the fridge overnight to take

on all those lovely flavours.

And now for the really fun bit.

Proper, proper bay leaves.

Whole big branches coming from a bay tree.

Now if you haven't got a bay tree, get yourself a balaclava,

go out at night, get over next door and nick theirs.

Only joking...

Whole branches of bay leaves can be found in local fishmongers

or you could always use rosemary.

Completely cover it up like that.

It's that simple.

Look at that, it's so cool.

It's a little bit like Arnold Schwarzenegger

in the Commando movie.

Next, I want to make a stock to steam this beauty

and the base is celery.

I'm going to sweat it down until it starts to soften.

Add half a bottle of wine and some lamb stock.

This is definitely not your average roast lamb.

Right, time to bosh it in the oven.

It don't half look pretty.

See you later, little mate.

I want it to slow cook.

Right then, Arnie, off we go.

So I'm putting it in 150 degrees for five hours.

Five hours, loads of time for a lazy morning stroll.

Oh, oh, oh...look at that.

Possibly the best lamb leg ever.

While that rests I'm going to whip up some dead easy gravy by just

reducing down the cooking juices.

All the natural thickness coming from vegetables.

Now you know this gravy's almost ready when the bubbles

are quite nice and thick, it looks a little bit like a toffee sauce.

You know what goes well in a toffee sauce?

A little knob of butter.

About 25 grams, I think that's the official term for a knob.

Now I'm going to give the gravy a right old squeeze cos

all of it is taste and flavour.

And that's the beautiful gravy sorted.

Right, back to me gorgeous leg of lamb.

Oh, the smell that comes out of that when you open it is incredible.

Cos it's steamed, not roasted, time to give it a bit of colour.

Now that's where this comes in.

Look at that, there's just one finishing touch before you

plonk it on their dinner table.

Brush on some of that luscious gravy.

And that, my friends, is a proper ace piece of meat.

Now there's no point in going to all that effort to make that

beautiful leg of lamb if you're going to serve it

with some boring, boiled broccoli.

So to make your greens a little bit more rock 'n' roll,

I'm going to serve 'em with some salt baked garlic.

The first thing I'm going to do is make a salt crust

to cook the garlic in.

It's like a little present to unwrap at the dinner table.

Mix up a dough of 500 grams of plain flour,

150 grams of your every day table salt

and 200mls of water.

Then into that I'm going to crack a couple of egg whites.

It's the white that gives it a really nice crust.

As well as looking amazing, this salt crust

is going to do things to your garlic like you've never

experienced before.

It keeps it very moist, really succulent.

It takes on lots of flavour from the actual crust itself.

The salt acts as a seasoning.

You can do potatoes or turnips or even pieces of meat.

It almost cooks everything in its own juices.

Now mix it all together.

You cannot eat this one, it'll probably make you very ill.

This is all about getting flavour into ingredients,

not about actually eating the dough itself.

Wrap it in clingfilm and leave it for an hour.

Just like me, the salt crust dough is chilled.

Now I know this might seem like a bit of a faff.

This certainly isn't something you do on a mad rush round

in a Monday evening, but it's the weekend,

you have that bit of extra time.

I promise you now, dump it in the middle of the table,

you're going to look boss.

Cut the dough into a rough circle

and then grab yourself a bit of muslin,

not a ropey old tea-towel.

Put into the muslin peeled garlic cloves,

a lemon, pierce it a few times first

and some rosemary.

Tie it up and then stick that into the middle of the salt crust.

Now this is the part that you want to make sure it looks nice.

You just kind of pinch it together.

You're making something that looks a little bit like a sack.

A little sack of flavour and delight.

Now bash that in the oven for 45 minutes.

It's going to come out all lovely and brown.

It'll be one of the loveliest things you ever did see.

Right, time to show off.

Look at that...

How cool does that look?

And that...

Oh, the smells that come from it.

The lemon and the garlic.

Chop the whole lot up, lemon rind an all

and mix it into the greens

but this ain't any old boiled veg,

this is fried cavolo nero, Italian black cabbage.

And that is ready to go with the leg of lamb.

There you go boys and girls, cavolo nero with some salt,

baked garlic. That is way better than boiled broccoli.

Get on it you lot, it's a weekend.

Now how do you fancy spicing up your weekends with a taste of The Orient?

One of my favourite Asian foods is satay chicken

and I'm here in China Town to find all the perfect ingredients

to make the best ever Saturday night satay.

I might have two Michelin stars under me belt

but I'm no expert when it comes to Oriental cuisine

so I've asked Norman Musa, a self-taught Malaysian chef

to take me shopping.

Today is a big school day. Lots of learning curves.

-Yeah, so you better pay attention.

-Yes.

-Right.

Every week Norman serves a right tasty nosh at his massively

popular supper clubs in London

and he's giving me the low down on key Satay ingredients.

Peanuts.

Not peanut butter, no?

No, you're not thinking of using peanut butter, are you?

-That is the laziest way like to cook peanut sauce.

-OK.

OK, right. The next one. OK? Ketchup manis.

Ketchup manis.

-Do you know about this?

-No, I don't know what it is.

OK, this is a sweet soy sauce.

In the UK we use light soy sauce or dark soy sauce.

What's the difference here?

Now this one has got palm sugar in it.

-So, basically, this kind of like caramelises the peanut sauce.

-OK.

-OK, so are you ready to cook?

-I am ready to cook.

-OK, let's go then.

-OK, let's go.

Ready?

Norman suggests I help him prepare for tonight's supper club

so I can get me head around the satay recipe

and I think he's going to be a harsh task master.

-This is your duty...

-My duty.

-Yes.

-Yes, sir.

-I want you to skewer the satay.

-OK.

-OK.

Norman's marinated chicken thighs in cumin, turmeric

and lemon grass.

-Skewer it by doing zigzags, OK?

-OK.

-So, basically, you don't want to expose the skewer.

-Right, OK.

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

-No wobbly satays?

-Yes.

-OK, all right.

-OK?

-I'll try my best.

-It's a deal.

-I promise.

-OK.

Time for me to get my hands dirty.

-Is that one OK?

-Let's see.

-It's a bit thick.

-It's a bit thick?

-Yeah.

You don't want it to be big because you want to make sure it's cooked inside.

OK. I was doing that one for me, I was just bring a bit greedy.

-Look at the size, this is Norman and this is Tom.

-Yeah.

Look at that, yeah?

While I get to grips with these skewers,

Norman whizzes up the peanut sauce starting with

Lemon grass, ginger and garlic.

Yes.

-OK.

-Let me smell that.

-See how fresh that is.

-Very powerful but really fragrant.

-Do you want it spicy?

-I love spicy.

-OK.

-I love spicy.

I'll add a bit more chilli paste in there.

And now for the peanuts themselves.

They've been toasted, cooled and then crushed up.

The sauce is finished off with tamarind juice, coconut milk

and the ketchup manis which I can't wait to taste.

Wow! It's like soy sauce on steroids, isn't it?

It's like...it's full-on.

-It's a little bit like black treacle and quite salty.

-Yes, yes.

-It's beautiful, Chef.

-That is the secret ingredient

-OK.

-Remember that. OK?

-I will remember that and it will stay a secret.

-Yes.

'So, the sauce is done. Now, what does Norman reckon to my skewers?'

OK, so you've done a good job here, I have to say. I'm impressed.

-OK. Would you hire me?

-Not quite yet.

-No. OK.

'Norman's not doing much for my ego

'but there's no time to dwell on that now

'cos the guests are arriving and I need to get my skewers sizzling.'

-Chop, chop, Tom.

-Yes, Chef!

OK, everybody, I think you might want to take your seats.

This satay is almost ready.

We have the first one. Satay, OK?

And that's to go with the peanut sauce. Enjoy.

Don't worry, there's some more coming.

'The satay skewers are going down really well

'and luckily there's two left for us.'

-Ready?

-Yeah.

That is so good. Oh!

Thanks, Chef.

What an amazing, incredible day. Norman is a legend

and I can't wait to put everything I've learnt into practice.

I'm taking satay and turning it on its head to give your taste buds

a work out they'll never forget.

'Norman made fab chicken satay skewers with a peanut dip

'but I'm going to do it the Kerridge way.'

I'm going to marinate the chicken whole in the peanut sauce

and roast it rather than use it as a dipping sauce.

First marinate the chicken in cumin and turmeric.

Don't be scared of getting your hands bright yellow.

Rub the paste right in cos all of that is flavour.

Chill that in the fridge overnight and crack on with the satay sauce.

Remember, it's not for dipping the chicken in.

'I'm going to slot the sauce on the whole chicken and roast it.'

So all those kind of peanutty flavours go into the chicken.

I'm blitzing lemon grass

and garlic with galangal, a proper authentic Asian spice.

It's very similar to ginger except it's like its posh brother.

You can find galangal in most supermarkets now.

Cor! Wow, that's incredibly powerful.

Then mix in a whole tin of coconut milk and the zest of a lime.

And this lime zest is the counterbalance

to the sweetness in the coconut milk,

the yin and the yang I suppose.

Next add dried chilli flakes.

I'm going to put about two tablespoons in there,

that's cos I'm big and strong and very, very brave.

Now for the peanuts. I've roasted 250g of blanched peanuts.

And they smell amazing, they're all toasted and lovely.

And not a jar of peanut butter in sight.

I'd hate for Norman to have to come round here and tell me off.

Cool 'em, chop 'em and now stick in

Norman's secret ingredient, ketchup manis.

Shh! Mum's the word.

Now, this would work really well as a dipping sauce

but I'm not going to use it like that.

I'm going to smother this all over the chicken.

Right. The chicken's going to sit in there

and cook for a couple of hours at 120 degrees.

Then I'm going to turn the oven right up

and giving it a really lovely peanut crumbly crunch on the top.

'While the chicken's doing its thing I've knocked up a fresh

'crunchy salad with a beautiful Asian dressing.'

It's the perfect balance.

Right, the chicken's ready. Mmm-mmm-mmm.

Now, I know it doesn't really look that appetising

but I can promise you it tastes absolutely fantastic.

Serve it up with the salad and a sweet chilli sauce.

There you go, look.

See what you can do given a bit more time at the weekend

with the amazing satay roast chicken dinner.

Now, if you've been watching your figure all week,

the weekend is the time when you can be a bit more indulgent and I know

a good old-fashioned pud that I bet will be right up your street.

Treacle tart is always a winner and I've got a few twists that's

going to make this recipe even more delicious.

First things first with a treacle tart - the pastry.

All your normal gubbins goes into it - sugar, flour and butter

but before you put in the eggs I want to ramp up the crunch

with some Bran Flakes.

This is going to take it to that next level but the good

thing about these is that they've already been toasted

so it's already got this kind of cooked, bitter,

lovely crispy crunch going on.

-Put your fingers in your ears.

-MACHINE WHIRRS

'Blitz them up until they're like dust.'

Put up with the noise.

Then add the bran dust to your pastry mix,

along with two beaten eggs.

And that...is it.

Quite a wet and sticky kind of pastry.

Right. I'm just going to chuck this in the fridge,

let it chill out for about an hour.

'That gives me a chance to tackle that crossword.

'Or not.'

I'm ready to roll me pastry.

I know it's a bit odd that I'm sticking breakfast cereal

in my pastry, but you've got to trust me on this one.

'Gently push the pastry into a round tart tin.'

Here you go, that easy.

'Now blind bake it at a 170 degrees for about half an hour.'

Right, onto the filling and I'm not going to lie to you -

'this filling is right naughty but it's the weekend so you deserve it.'

First things first, I'm going to melt nearly a whole pack

of butter in the scrummy way they do it in France.

I'm going to take the butter to the burnt butter stage,

beurre noisette, that's what they call it in French.

Stick it on the heat, but now's not the time to read your Sunday paper.

You've got to keep an eye on it, you don't want it to burn.

You just want it to be foaming and brown,

it's two very different things.

Brown is cooked, black it's not.

Just as its stopped making a noise and it's all gone a bit quiet,

that's the point to take it off.

And to stop the cooking, this goes in. This is the treacle.

Just all of that.

'Now whisk up all that gooey loveliness.'

You know, everything about this pudding is bad for you...

..apart from the fact that it tastes nice.

So that's got to be good for you.

Grumpy people take note - eat more treacle tart.

'The next stage of the filling has my mouthwatering already.

'I'm going to take this tart from the ordinary

'to the extraordinary with brioche.'

It contains lots of butter,

you'll see as I pull it apart it's really gooey and soft and beautiful.

Wazz up that beautiful brioche into crumbs

and slop on the treacle and butter mix.

It's kind of like the best looking toffee sauce.

Now for some extra yumminess - double cream.

Double cream, double smiles.

And one of my little cheffy secrets - salt.

A good pinch of that.

Add two whole eggs and one yolk.

Right, let's get this show on the road.

Pretty much up to the top.

That has to put a smile on your face.

And now it's back in the oven.

'The tart needs to cook for about 50 minutes at 160 degrees,

'but turn it down to about 140 halfway through.'

Right, let's see how my delish treacle tart is getting on.

It's got that lovely wobble on it.

Now, it needs to set for about half an hour and then trim it up

and sprinkle with sea salt.

Lovely. Now to taste it.

This is the proper exciting bit. Look at that.

That's beyond perfect.

At the weekend you've got time to cook yourself a proper breakfast,

but spare a thought for those that are working.

Like these guys here at High Wycombe Fire Station,

they deserve a proper breakfast and I'm here to make sure they get one.

-Yeah, feet in there.

-'But before I get my frying pan out,

'the little kid in me wants a ride in the fire engine and guess what?

'These guys are all too happy to oblige.'

Oh, 'ello!

It must be the thought of a full English coming their way.

There's no need to rank me because I'm sure I'd be a great help.

Gloves.

Brilliant, we're off, are we? Right. Come on, boys, let's go.

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

-Squeeze up then, Tom.

-Oh, 'ello. It's cosy in here.

-There's blue lights going on.

-Don't worry, Tommo,

-we're not going anywhere.

-Thank God for that. I'm boiling.

It's like a sauna in here. Who wants a cup of tea and some breakfast?

-Sounds good!

-I've always wanted to do that.

Right, I best get these hungry chaps their breakfast

'and it's not going to be their usual bog-standard toast and cereal.

'I'm going to show 'em how to whip up a right filling breakfast

'omelette that'll keep them going through the most gruelling shifts

'and they've promised me their most experienced man to be my sous chef.'

Right then, Firefighter Dunbarton? Someone's...is that you?

-Is that you?

-That's me, Sir.

-Mess duties, you've been assigned mess duties.

-Show me how it's done.

-Are you any good at this?

-I'm the best, that's why they've chosen me.

-I'm the best on the watch.

-Come on, then.

-What is your speciality?

-Lasagne soup.

-Lasagne soup?

-Soup.

-What happened? Put in a bit too much stock?

I don't think there was any pasta in it, that was the problem...

'Oh, dear. I think this might be a challenge.'

So this is like going to be your one-pan wonder

but it's everything that's lovely about full English breakfast.

-We all happy with a full English breakfast?

-Yeah, definitely.

-OK.

'I'm starting with a full English essential - black pudding.'

Here, have a little bit of that whilst they're mugging you off

and taking the mick you can have a little bit of crispy black pudding.

THEY LAUGH

That was supposed to be a treat and it still backfired.

Right, just peel the garlic, there's a little knife,

there's a little knife there.

That's upside down, see? That's the blade.

THEY LAUGH

-OK, so the sharp side is that one...

-OK.

-That's the blunt bit.

Right, come on, boys. Let's get back to the omelette

'and my next ingredient.'

Now this is proper posh bacon, pancetta.

And then we're going to cut it into what the French call lardons,

which is like a posh French term for bacon chunks.

Or you can use nice whole smoked streaky bacon.

'Once that's crisped up...'

-It smells delicious, don't it?

-Oh, it does.

'..I'm going to take this omelette up a notch by whacking in

'not your average bangers but a taste of Spain.'

Now, these are beautiful chorizo sausages.

All this kind of lovely paprika and flavours are going to back in

-and make one pan taste delicious.

-OK, fantastic.

Does this look like something that you might attempt to do again, Tony?

To be honest with you I need something a bit more challenging.

I'm finding it quite easy, to be fair!

THEY LAUGH

'But Tony's hit the nail on the head.

'This dish is dead simple to knock up.

'Once the sausages are done pop in the shallots,

'stir in grated garlic and hard boiled new potatoes.'

-It makes it really hearty.

-OK, lovely.

Now, you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs,

can you, Tony?

-What do I do if shell does go into it?

-Take it out.

-Pick it out.

-Do you want to get that out?

THEY LAUGH

'Nice one, Tony.'

I've got to be honest,

I have never seen that in 22 years of being a chef.

'Right, this is the point where we start to put everything

'back together into one pan.

'First add rosemary, parsley and chilli to the sauteed potatoes.'

-Give it a good stir around and how lovely does that look?

-Amazing.

The chorizo chopped into chunks, black pudding and the pancetta.

Stir it all around so it all gets nicely mixed.

'And then on top of that goes the eggs,

'whisked up Tony style.'

And just pour it all into the pan.

'Season, and then I'm going to cook it on a high heat

'keeping a close eye on it.

'I don't want to be starting any fires.'

Any health and safety tips for us, Tony?

A lot of fires we go to are in the kitchen cos the grease build up

and crumbs and stuff can set on fire.

Keep it as clean as possible cos that can prevent fires.

My thoughts exactly.

OK, now this bad boy's beginning to set,

whack it in the oven for 15 minutes.

-That's fantastic.

-Look at that.

Right, time to get these boys fed.

-That's Tony who did that.

-Yeah.

-Tony did that.

And Tony's full English Spanish omelette looks just the job.

-Who wants this first nice small portion?

-Oh, come on then.

Enjoy, mate, enjoy.

-Look at that.

-It's on its way.

Yeah, tuck in then, boys.

-How's the omelette, boys?

-Oh, it's lovely, Tom.

It's really, really nice. It does taste really nice.

-That's fantastic, really good.

-I love the kick of the chillies.

Yeah, there's a spicy kick to it.

And all the flavours go really, really nice together.

But to be honest with you, Tom, I think it's the fact that I've

cooked it and that's why it's so fantastic.

'Next time, I'll be dishing out some right tasty dinners...'

Cooking don't get much better than that.

'..from an easy one-pan wonder...'

Easy peasy lemon pepper chicken squeezy.

'..to a revamped '70s fish supper.' What do you make of them?

Absolutely handsome. HE LAUGHS