Bryn Williams Yes Chef

Four of the best chefs in Britain

are on the hunt for their perfect partner.

For the first time ever,

amateur home cooks will be paired with the best in the business

for the cooking experience of a lifetime.

Have you done any cooking?

Each day an award-winning chef will choose their perfect partner

from four talented home cooks.

It really is on a knife edge.

Then in the Friday final,

all four pairs will go head-to-head to cook for culinary royalty...

Pierre Koffmann.

What impresses me with food is the end result.

The taste is the most important.

For the chefs, their professional pride is at stake.

Bring the home cooks in!

For the home cooks, it will be the ultimate test.

Yes! And who will win?

This is Yes Chef.

Hello, and welcome to Yes Chef.

Let's see who's cooking in the kitchen today.

First, it's Hussain Chaudhry,

an administrator from Manchester.

My strength is flavours, especially spices,

given my heritage.

Just having the opportunity is great, but I'd love to win.

Next is Julie Jones,

a full-time mum from Carlisle.

I love to cook Italian food.

It's my passion.

I love the flavours.

I should have been born Italian, really.

Andrew Sharpe is a butcher

from Dalton in Furness.

People will describe my food as simple farmhouse.

No complications.

And finally,

Barry Large is a sales training manager from Staffordshire.

My strength in the kitchen is being quite experimental,

and being quite level-headed.

I'm confident that I've got a really good chance of winning today.

So, we've met our cooks.

It's time, now, to meet our chef.

With restaurants in both London and his native Wales,

it's Bryn Williams.

Today's chef, Bryn Williams,

trained in some of the most prestigious kitchens in London.

He developed a reputation for immaculate, modern, European cooking

whilst working for esteemed chef Michel Roux Jr,

and now has both a London restaurant

and one in his hometown of Colwyn Bay.

What I really love about food is the smile you can give to somebody else,

and for me as a chef, the greatest thing I can see is an empty plate.

That's job done.

Having cooked for royalty,

Bryn's standards are incredibly high and he knows exactly what it takes

to impress in the kitchen.

The key thing for me is the flavour.

Got to be flavour first.

Presentation's very, very important and then the balance of the

ingredients in and around that has got to be flavour first, has to be.

When they're showing me their dish,

I need to see different techniques in there.

They must be able to listen and work clean and tidy.

If they've got those three things,

we can hopefully go further on to the final, and maybe win it.

Welcome, Bryn. It's an absolute pleasure to have you here today.

Thanking you. Now, our four home cooks

are going to be doing everything they can to impress you

in the hope that you're going to pick one of them as your partner

in the Friday final. OK. What will you be looking for?

An understanding of ingredients, an understanding of cooking techniques,

and they must be able to listen or follow a recipe,

which obviously for Friday it's very, very important,

cos there's a team effort, so listening is very important.

OK, well, let's get going.

This is round one, Dish Of The Day.

So, home cooks, you are going to be creating one dish for Bryn

that you believe will set you apart from the rest.

Now, you only have 45 minutes, so use your time wisely,

because after this round, one of you, sadly, will be going home.

So, Chef, it's over to you.

Enjoy yourselves.

Taste everything. Let's get cooking.

ALL: Yes, Chef.

Our cooks are off,

and with one of them destined to leave the competition at the

end of this round, they are going all out to impress Chef Bryn.

There's only 45 minutes on the clock, but for full-time mum Julie,

she's at her best in the kitchen.

I feel like I'm getting into it, now.

When I'm cooking, I feel happy.

I know that maybe sounds really cheesy, but it's true.

Hi, Hussain. Hi.

How's things? You OK? Yeah, not too bad. It's more just making sure,

like, the fish has a bit of time in the spices.

So, what are you actually doing for us? What's your signature dish?

So, basically Pakistani fish and chips. OK!

So, Friday nights, my gran always used to love getting fish and chips,

but we wanted to do this sort of Indian take on it.

OK. So, we always used to do, like, a pakora batter on our fish.

And what fish are you going to be cooking for us? It's coley.

Coley? Cos it's quite... Yeah. Quite meaty, and it can take the spice.

And the chickpeas over there...?

So, you'd get, sort of, mushy peas with, like, fish and chips,

it's that sort of take on it.

So it's the Indian street food thing called chaat,

so it's a bit of a take on that, basically.

Great, there we are. Sounds amazing. Good luck.

Good luck. Thank you. Looks good.

So, while Hussain feels at home cooking his family favourite,

Andrew's already having trouble with his timing.

Two rings, three pans to cook,

so stand twiddling your thumbs for a little bit, I'm afraid.

Hi, Julie. Hi.

What are we up to? I'm going to make Italian seafood broth

with fresh spaghetti. Oh. Nice, OK.

Are you going to make your own spaghetti?

Yes, the pasta's resting in the fridge at the moment. Oh, that's OK.

You're going to need all that 45 minutes, aren't you, really?

Yes, yes. Everything else is what, clams?

Clams, mussels, I've got some squid.

So what have we got in here? You've got...?

Shallots, thyme, garlic, chilli.

Just with some salt and some olive oil.

And then I'm going to put some tomato puree and fish stock,

white wine, cook it down and then I'll do the fish at the last minute.

And the reason why you're cooking last-minute?

Just because they only take a small amount of time to cook.

OK, good. Keep them plump and juicy. Oh, nice. Fantastic.

That sounds good. This is the style of food I cook at home anyway,

but I've practised it and it was within time.

That helps, doesn't it? Yeah, it does.

Good luck. Well, good luck. Thank you.

Keeping everything on track is key when you're cooking for

one of Britain's top chefs.

Just, like, a million and one thoughts in your head

whilst you're cooking.

Hi, Andrew. Hello. Hi, Andrew.

How are you? How are you doing?

If these get cooked in time, I'll be fine.

I can say you look like you're well in control here.

Well, it's really simple. OK.

And it's about flavours rather than complication.

OK. So, it's about mutton, nicely cooked, pink.

Yeah. Well, probably rare, for me.

What's it going with? Turnip or swede.

Swede? Whichever you call it.

Carrots, they're mashed.

So, we're doing a real meat and two veg, aren't we?

Yeah. But we're going to cook it in meat fat.

OK, yeah. And then a knob of butter in the sauce as well.

Always better with a bit of butter.

Yes. Yeah. Always. Everything tastes better with a bit of butter.

Can you actually believe 20 minutes has gone already?

Don't tell me that. It seriously has!

And as pressure builds in the kitchen, training manager Barry

is discovering that time may not be on his side.

Hi, Barry. Hi.

How's it going? Yeah, good.

How are you going? Confused by certain things.

Hang on. You have done this dish before, yeah?

Once. Once? Oh, OK.

And it took an hour and 15 minutes.

SHE GASPS

What are you making? Yeah. I'm doing fillet of pork

with some butternut squash puree, some discs.

Doing a quail scotch egg and a Madeira sauce.

I see some black pudding over there. The black pudding is going to be for,

I'm going to do some discs of black pudding. OK.

So, I'm trying to use pork in three different ways, so you've got the fillet,

you've got the sausage meat over there for the scotch eggs

and you've got the black pudding as well. So you've got your work cut out.

Yes. You need to save half an hour somewhere. I do, but I cooked it for two last time,

so I'm hoping getting rid of that other person helps.

OK. How long are you cooking it? Two minutes. Good lad.

And then it's iced water and...

So a nice runny yolk. Touch wood.

Halfway through and the cooks have just over 20 minutes left

to wow Bryn with their dish.

So, Bryn, whose menu at the minute excites you?

If Barry can pull it off... He's got a lot to do, done it once,

took an hour and a half. I might eat humble pie, but on paper...

It's too much. It's too much to do and he hasn't practised enough.

You're going to a competition, you've got to practise. Yeah.

Quail's eggs have just gone in. If they're not cooked for two minutes,

the inside will be either too soft or too hard,

so I'm just trying to... That's my biggest concern.

Julie seems very confident in her cooking ability. She understands ingredients,

she understands that mussels and clams don't take long to cook,

so she's put that to the side. She's made pasta,

so if she pulls that off, which I think she will be able to,

she seems very calm and in control, it seemed an interesting dish.

It's quite wet. It'll be fine, it'll be fine.

I would normally rest the dough for quite a lot of time in the fridge,

and it goes a lot colder and easier to handle, so I'm against the clock,

but we'll go for it, shall we?

Hussain has a lot of ingredients,

there's a lot of spices, there's a lot going on.

I like the fact he's trying to do his take on a British classic,

and he's cooking from the heart completely.

Yeah, all right, it should be letting of a bit more water

than it is, though, so it fries a little bit better.

Otherwise the batter doesn't stick to it properly,

if it's not wet enough, so we shall see.

Now, Andrew is doing your meat and two veg.

Two veg, yeah. He's going to cook a bit of meat, boil some veg.

Is that his ceiling?

Two rings is definitely interesting for the stress levels,

that's for sure.

Well, then, I'll let you go back in there

and see how they're getting on. Let's go.

Time is running out for our home cooks,

but Julie's as cool as a cucumber.

OK, Julie. Hi. How are you getting on?

Yeah, everything's under control, I think. Pasta's rolled.

That's a big skill, that, you know. I love making pasta.

I make it all the time. Fantastic. Thank you.

So, you've got about 14 minutes left, roughly.

Yes, so I'm just going to check the broth has got enough flavour in it.

OK. I'll check to see if there's enough chilli in it, actually,

cos some chillies aren't that hot, are they?

You're tasting, that's a good thing. Yeah.

A lot of people don't taste what they eat.

As a chef, we need to know what they're eating.

Exactly. Right. I'll leave you to it. Thanks.

But while Julie finesses her dish,

on the other side of the kitchen, it's a different story.

Everything's quite last-minute,

so I'm just trying to make sure I've got everything where it needs to be.

I may have overcomplicated things.

I will see, when we get to plating up, how much is actually done.

Timing's always the problem. Cooking the meat

and having it resting for the right amount of time,

not cold, that's the key timing, but I'm glad I made it simple.

That's all I can say.

OK, Barry, how are you getting on? So the sauce is currently juicing.

Yeah? Scotch egg's ready to go in.

Pork's in the... That's a big scotch egg, isn't it?

This is going to be a man's portion, this, isn't it?

It is, yes. I'm going to try and make it look as pretty as possible.

Well, good luck. Remember, keep tasting everything. Yes. Good luck.

Timing's a bit more crucial now.

Didn't matter before. Now it really matters.

So, with the pakora batter, it changes a noise when it's cooked,

and the actual fish is cooked.

But it's a bit difficult when there's chips in there as well.

Still got about seven minutes.

Seven minutes!

Oh, dear.

Tepid frying pan, that's good, Bryn, isn't it?

Any salt or pepper with it?

Yeah, it's going to be. Going to be.

Definitely smells like sheep.

I'm getting there, just keeping a close eye on the giant scotch egg.

Sauce is there, need to cook these discs off.

There we go, cooked.

I was more worried about the turnips,

but it's the carrots I need to worry about.

Cooks, you have just 30 seconds to get that food on the plate.

Stop cooking. Time is up.

No more. Step away from your plates.

Right, that's it. Round one is done.

It's now time to taste.

First to be judged is Hussain with his Dish Of The Day,

pakora-battered Coley with masala chips, served with chickpea salad,

or as he likes to call it, Pakistani fish and chips.

Right, I'm ready, look.

I'm ready!

How did you find the challenge?

Yeah, it was good. It went really quick, though.

Yeah. It does, doesn't it? Yeah, it does.

Ready to tuck in? I am indeed.

Look at that.

The flavours and the smells, the aromatic smells.

Beautiful.

I think the fish inside is cooked beautifully.

Batter's nice and crisp.

It's a well-balanced dish.

And you can see you've cooked this from here.

It's come from the heart.

The soul. And you can taste it on the plate.

A very well-executed dish.

Brilliant. You should be really happy with that.

Thank you. Really happy. Do you know what I mean?

He's smiling now! Yeah, yeah.

I'm absolutely thrilled.

Some really positive comments and really happy,

so left me smiling at the end.

JULIE: Mm. Lovely spices.

That was impressive. Yeah, very impressive.

That fish was lovely. Those chips were delicious as well.

Yeah, they were good.

Next is Julie with her Dish Of The Day.

Seafood broth with clams, squid, mussels and freshly made spaghetti.

Come on, you can smile now. It's over.

Yes. Relax a little bit.

THEY LAUGH

How did you find the challenge?

I really enjoyed it once the nerves settled a little bit. Yeah?

But, yeah. The quickest 45 minutes of my life.

Well, let's get stuck in.

Let me taste some of the pasta first.

That's... The labour of your work is the pasta, isn't it, really?

Yeah. Do you love making pasta?

I do, yes, I make it all the time.

Mm, lovely.

If I'm honest, the only thing that's missing is a piece of bread.

Could you do bread in 45 minutes?

No. I would have if I could.

Really good. Light, loads of flavour and very, very colourful.

In restaurant terms, they're the three things you need.

Thanks very much. Brilliant. What wonderful comments.

Yeah, thank you.

Absolutely over the moon.

It's such an honour to cook for a chef of such calibre.

And to do it to the best of my ability on the day,

I'm really pleased.

We can't eat this elegantly, can we?

No. Are you enjoying it? Your pasta's really nice.

Yeah. Thank you. There is a lot of technique in that.

A lot of technique. Brilliant. Making fresh pasta in 45 minutes.

And for it to come out as well as that. Yes.

It's pretty impressive.

Time for Andrew to face the taste test with his Dish Of The Day.

Pan-fried mutton with lavender, garlic and rosemary,

served with potatoes and a carrot and swede mash.

How did you find that?

It was all right. But the timing was crap.

That's why I'm a butcher, not a chef.

OK. Well, do you know what?

Let's get in. Yeah.

Yeah, tuck into it.

Well, it cuts well.

Really well. You cooked your lamb rare.

As a chef, I would always cook any lamb or mutton

medium rare to medium,

but that cuts beautifully, so, you know, let's have a look.

Very flavoursome. Let's taste the swede.

That's not mashed, so, gutted with that, but...

They're very tasty. The swede's very tasty.

Potato could have done with a bit of colour,

a bit of texture. Exactly.

Yeah. But that's your Showstopper?

Yeah. That's good.

I pretty much didn't get finished.

Just try the meat. Forget the rest.

I think, had I finished, it would have been competent.

Because the main focus, for me, is the meat.

You need to get into that sauce, though, cos that's the key.

That's the key. Flavour's different to what I was expecting.

The potatoes weren't particularly big.

To not have got them boiled and pan-fried in 45 minutes,

I don't understand.

Sometimes you should not show your weaknesses.

And finally, it's Barry with his dish of the day.

Pork cooked three ways.

Fillet of pork with a Madeira sauce,

a Scotch quail's egg

and black pudding served with butternut squash.

That's it. There we go. BOTH: Now, that...

THEY LAUGH

Just. Just. Skin of your teeth. Yeah.

You happy with how everything's gone?

The pork looks a bit pink.

That is quite pink, but I think the pressure I put myself, with time,

it was just, let's try and get it on the plate.

OK. And the Scotch egg, has that cooked?

I've only done one, so we don't know how that's going to look

when we open it. OK. Pressure.

The pork is a little bit on the raw side... OK.

..but my guts are strong enough to take it, I'm sure, but...

Do you know what? The bit that's cooked is lovely.

Right, let's chop into this... Beast.

..Scotch egg. Yeah.

The pork, unfortunately... No, it hasn't...

I won't be tasting that one.

No. Yeah, it's a shame, because a lot less mince around it,

and it probably would have cooked.

The outside of the pork fillets, which is cooked, tastes lovely.

Unfortunately, the quail Scotch egg hasn't quite hit the mark.

But I think you did try and do too much in too little time. Yeah.

I was gutted that the sausage meat wasn't cooked on the Scotch egg.

The sausage meat wasn't cooked,

so we didn't want to risk anything with you.

Hopefully the techniques I've showcased to Bryn

should be enough to get through to the next round.

There was a lot of techniques on that plate. Yeah.

A lot of techniques. Might be a real gem underneath all that,

you never know. OK.

Only three people can be taken through to the next round.

For one of our home cooks, it's time to leave the competition.

Knowing that Bryn's the chef here as well, I really want to get through.

It's so exciting, such a new experience. I'm loving it.

Yeah, I think I've done enough to get through to the next round and

I'm looking forward to trying the new challenge

and seeing what we're going to do.

Yes, of course I want to go through, but someone's got to go,

and I feel the other guys were so good,

I know where I am in the rankings.

Do you think you've seen enough to make your mind up?

Well, a kitchen of two halves, really.

Two exceptional, two not so exceptional.

I think I've seen enough to know who's staying and who's going.

OK. Well, let's go and tell them.

Good.

Firstly, I'd like to say a big "Well done" to all four of you.

However, only three of you can go through to the next round,

and Bryn has made his mind up. So it's over to you, Chef.

First of all, well done, everybody.

You know, 45 minutes in this environment is tough going.

Hussain, I think the balance was beautiful.

Julie, making fresh pasta, fantastic, so you two are safe.

With Andrew, I think within the 45 minutes,

I think more could have been done.

Barry, a couple of raw elements on the dish,

but I could see a lot of technique there, so on that basis, Andrew,

I'm afraid I'll be sending you home.

I think sometimes, the simpler things, there's nowhere to hide.

And I think it just showed on that plate.

Aww. Andrew.

It's not a shock, is it?

The right decision was made.

The other guys were really, really good.

And timing's not my greatest thing,

as anyone that knows me will tell you, so, you know,

c'est la vie.

So, that leaves three home cooks.

They are... Administrator Hussain.

Full-time mum Julie.

And sales training manager Barry.

Round two, it's the Chef's Challenge.

Now, in this challenge, Chef will be looking to see who's got the skills

he's looking for. So, Chef, what is today's challenge?

Right, so today we're going to make a mayonnaise.

So, the challenge, really, is understanding the process.

It's one of those things where to learn how to do it properly,

you've got to make it wrong. Let's hope I don't do it wrong now.

THEY LAUGH

But that's the key. So, the first thing we're going to do

is separate the egg yolks,

making sure there's no shell in there.

And then we're keeping the yolks.

Same again.

So, first we're going to add mustard in.

Good spoonful of mustard.

Then we're going to need about three spoons of vinegar.

It's important, now, that we don't put salt straightaway onto the egg.

The salt starts to cook the egg.

We don't want to cook the egg until it's all mixed together.

So, we whisk it together, not trying to get air in there,

just want the mustard and the vinegar

to start to emulsify to the egg yolks.

And this is the skill set,

it's the understanding of how much oil and when to add it.

So, to start off with, you're just going to pour a little bit in,

and there is a process of adding a little bit at a time.

It's not about rushing this, it's about making it right.

Take your time, do it properly, not a race.

So what's the worst thing could happen now,

if they'd put too much oil in at this point?

The worst to happen now,

the eggs won't be strong enough to combine all the oil,

so it will split, so you'll have eggs and oil.

See, now it's starting to change colour.

Yeah. It's not as yellow. If it goes thick, thick, thick

and then goes to thin, you've gone over the point of no return,

so it's knowing when to stop.

That, to me, is where I think I want it.

What I'd like you to do, once you've done the mayonnaise,

is take it from there...

to a tartare sauce.

We've got dill, flat parsley, capers, gherkins and shallots.

And then you're going to add all that

to your mayonnaise to create tartare sauce,

that you'd go with normally fish or chips.

So you can add as much or as little of the greens as you want,

but what we're looking at is the quality of the chopping.

It's all got to be the same size.

Right, guys, if you'd like to have a taste.

If you only can taste mustard, the balance isn't right.

If it's too vinegary, again, the balance isn't right.

Don't be afraid to go back and tweak things.

I would like to give you 20 minutes, but at the end of that 20 minutes,

I want to see perfection. Fantastic challenge.

Any last words for our cooks?

Taste, taste, taste.

Cos the most important thing as a chef is to taste what we do.

ALL: Yes, Chef.

So our cooks are attempting to make the perfect mayonnaise,

and then, using the additional ingredients,

they must transform it into a tartare sauce

all in just 20 minutes.

The first delicate step in the process

is to combine the egg yolks with the oil.

I think my biggest thing is that I don't split the egg,

so...fingers crossed, I won't!

Good workout on the arms, isn't it?

Hopefully I'll be on time. At least it can't be raw.

Hi, Hussain. Hey. How are we getting on?

Yeah, not too bad. Just trying to stop the bowl from wobbling.

There you go. And how do you feel about adding all the ingredients

to make a tartare sauce? Yeah, hopefully good,

because I'm the kind of chef

that likes to taste stuff and sort of make up dishes

based on taste, so hopefully be able to flavour it just right.

Good luck. Keep whisking, lad.

SHEREE LAUGHS

Bryn's looking for a rich, velvety mayonnaise.

Too much oil added too quickly will result in a runny mess.

Hiya, Julie. Hi.

Julie, you OK? Yes, thank you.

Whisking away there? I am, yeah.

Just go a little bit quicker with your oil, just a little tip.

Yeah. That's it.

If they pour it too slow, is there...?

Well, yeah, you'd just be there forever.

You need two hours rather than 20 minutes.

But it's that gradual stream, which is what you're looking for as well.

OK. So are you feeling quite confident?

I can only try.

I've made it twice before at home and it hasn't been great,

but now that I've seen you do it, you know, it's helpful, isn't it?

Great. Well, you're looking OK, so it's good.

Thank you. We'll leave you to it.

Yes. Get out of your hair. Thank you.

Hiya, Barry. Hiya. You good?

OK. Just trying to really...

Just trying to get the... Yeah, it's not quite holding.

You've got plenty of time.

Once that's made, you've only got to chop.

Only got to chop. That's all. And how's your chopping skills?

It's keeping everything even which I struggle with.

I can get things quite small, but it's keeping everything

military in the same kind of, like...

Look at the concentration on his face.

We'll leave you to it. Keep on going.

Good luck. Good luck.

Absolutely aching right now.

HE LAUGHS

You don't want to ruin it at the last minute, do you,

by a big glug of oil going in?

Right, guys, you've had ten minutes, so you're halfway through.

Just focusing on whisking and making sure that the egg doesn't split,

but I think it's there now, perfect.

(Let's start chopping.)

HUSHED TONE: So they all seem quite capable.

Yeah. I'd say the only one that seems a little bit nervous is Barry.

Barry, yeah. I think it's a harder challenge than just cooking.

Once it's cooked, it's done. Yeah.

But they can chop and change until the very, very last minute.

Do you think they are going to taste all very different?

Yes, massively. They will all look different. One will put more herbs in,

one will put more gherkins, capers and shallots in.

They all will be very, very different,

but as long as they taste right. And so far, so good, I think. OK.

Cooks, you have just two minutes left.

Good. Thick. Good.

Yeah, I tried to keep it a little bit thicker as you said,

so we can add things to it. Add things to it.

Remember, when you come to the seasoning, you can always add,

but you can't take away. Take away. Yeah?

With time ticking away,

our cooks must use every last second to get the balance

of shallots, gherkins, capers and herbs just right.

Just 30 seconds left.

Right, that's it, time's up! Step away from your bowls.

Well, that's the end of round two. Now it's time to taste.

'It's the moment of truth.

'One of our home cooks will be leaving the competition

'if their tartare sauce doesn't meet Bryn's high standards.'

Did you find that challenge OK? Yeah. Yeah.

My arm's killing now.

Some good exercise. Yeah, it's tougher than I thought,

concentrating so hard on the whisking,

getting everything to the right consistency.

Yeah. It was good, challenging. OK, let's have a taste.

Right, let's have a taste. Let's start here.

Difficult.

They're all very good.

The closest one, for me, to what I was looking for...

would be this one.

The reason being is, it's got a texture in there,

so well done indeed. Yeah, very good.

Well played.

The flavours are there, but it's the texture of it

which is very, very good.

Right, it's very difficult to split from these two.

I would say this one has a greater flavour,

but the only thing it's lacking here, it's all a bit too small.

And in this mayonnaise, it's a bit oily,

in the sense there's not enough vinegar in there to cut through.

OK. So, on that basis, and I think as well from this morning...

and I'm sorry, Barry, I'm going to have to send you home.

Cos I just think the combination of what you created this morning,

it were a little bit chaotic,

and I think if you could just slow yourself down

and think a bit more, you would progress a lot faster.

That's the reason, I'm afraid.

Brilliant, thank you for your feedback. Aww. Thank you.

I'm gutted to have left before the final,

but it was always going to be an uphill challenge

after my, erm, ambitious first round.

Just two cooks remain -

administrator Hussain from Manchester

and mum-of-three Julie from Carlisle.

But only one can be chosen as Bryn's partner

for the Friday final.

OK, so, it's time for our third and final round, the Chef's Special.

In this round, our two home cooks

have been given a set of ingredients to

one of Bryn's signature dishes.

So, cooks, the aim of this round is to see what you can make

with these ingredients.

You'll get to see what Bryn makes a little bit later on,

but for you at home, here's today's ingredients.

Bryn's chosen lemon sole, white wine,

butter, capers, shrimps, thyme,

parsley, leeks and lemons.

Easy enough for a classically trained chef,

but what will our home cooks think?

So, Bryn, any last tips?

Yeah, I'd like to taste what I see on the plate,

and most importantly, sometimes, less is more.

Right, guys. You have one hour.

Use your time wisely.

Reveal your ingredients, because your time starts now.

Good luck.

OK.

That's a difficult round.

SHEREE CHUCKLES That's difficult.

This is the first time our cooks are seeing the ingredients,

so they waste no time getting stuck straight in,

but how much do they know about handling a whole fish?

Initially I was going to start taking the fillet off, but then,

you know, the flavour and the moisture

might retain in the fish if I keep it whole.

You see, I've never really cooked a whole fish like that before,

so I'm just going to have to go on a little bit of intuition,

but I'll try my best.

Hussain, however, appears to be a man with a plan.

Well, I'm thinking I'm going to fillet it,

and then I'm going to pan-fry it quite simply,

but I've never worked with this kind of fish before,

so it's just sort of figuring out what to do with it.

HE LAUGHS

Me too, Hussain.

Hi, Hussain. Hi.

How are we getting on? Yeah, not too bad.

A bit nervous, just cos I've never

worked with that kind of fish before.

Right, OK, do you know what it is?

Either plaice or something like that.

Lemon sole, yeah. Very close, yeah.

So have you got a plan of what you're going to do?

Yes, I'm going to do quite a simple...sort of pan-fried capers,

bit of thyme and lemon with, erm, the lemon sole.

And I'm going to do it on a bed of leek

and keep it sort of simple and fresh.

OK, well, good luck. Good luck.

(Right, right, right. Still got to put the butter in.)

Hi, Julie. Hi. Hi, Julie.

How are we getting on? Well, I've never cooked a whole fish like this.

My initial thought was to take the fillets off.

Right, OK. And then I thought, "No, it's a good fish,

"I'm going to cook it on the bone and then finish it in the oven."

I'm just kind of thinking logically,

because I've never cooked a big fish,

so, I've just got to try. Yes, definitely.

Well, good luck. Good luck. Thank you.

I have to say,

I think it's the first time I've ever seen two contestants,

or two finalists, dive straight in.

Oh, don't jinx it. Don't jinx it. But they seem so confident.

Are you OK, Hussain? Yeah, just thinking it through.

I think I'll be all right.

Let's discuss Hussain's dish first.

So he's cleaned the fins and taken the head off

and he's going to roast it on the bone.

He'll cook it, it'll take six, seven, eight minutes.

He'll cook it one side. He might baste it in butter, thyme.

So I think we're doing it slightly differently.

Just think it will be easier and it will look a bit better on the plate.

That's why I ended up doing it that way.

And Julie is keeping the fish whole.

She's kept it whole.

She's left the roe on and the head and the eyes.

Some customers don't like to see the head and eyes. No.

But, saying that, it's still the right way to cook that fish.

So she started it earlier, so she'll cook it longer and slower.

I'm thinking the fish will be the same as meat,

where a little bit of resting will help.

SHE LAUGHS NERVOUSLY

When I show my dish later,

it will look similar to one of them, but it doesn't mean it's right.

No. Because the other one is cooking it differently,

but it's still right as well. Still the right way to cook it.

I've got a sneaky feeling it would be down to the nitty-gritty

fine details who takes it on the day.

They are speeding through,

so I don't know if you're going to have another look.

Go and look around, see what's going on.

If the fish is cooked OK and I can produce a nice accompaniment

to go with it, maybe it'll be OK.

Right, cooks, you've had half an hour.

'So while both cooks are desperate to impress Bryn with their fish,

'what about the rest of his selected ingredients?'

Hussain, you OK? You good? Not too bad.

How we getting on? I think OK.

I'm just sort of figuring it all out.

Have you tried brown shrimp?

I tend to dry them out and use it that way.

Like a salting agent kind of thing?

I'm using it in the same sort of way.

I like it cooked with what you're cooking with,

so you get that flavour into it. Flavour in together.

With her fish in the oven,

Julie turns her attention to the shrimps.

I'm just putting some more of the shrimps in

because they've got such a lovely flavour,

and perhaps I put a few more capers in than I should have.

By putting some more shrimps through,

it might balance the flavour out a bit more.

Our two confident home cooks seem calm under pressure,

and in the final minutes of the competition,

turn their attention to presentation.

But whose lemon sole will secure them a place in the final?

So, cooks, you've both finished with time to spare,

so I'd say it's time to taste.

Yep.

First up, it's Julie,

with her roasted lemon sole, served whole with brown shrimps,

leeks and a caper butter sauce.

How did you find the challenge?

It was a challenge for me,

because when I'd seen the whole fish,

I was thinking, "What should I do with it?

"What's the best way to serve it to keep it moist and everything?"

So this is the way I decided would do that.

As long as I've cooked it OK, that's the main thing.

Time to tuck in, isn't it? Yes, it sure is.

OK, let's have a look.

Yeah, it's definitely cooked.

When it comes away from the bone a lot,

that's when you know it's cooked.

Beautifully cooked. Thank you.

Very moist, seasoned well.

Taste these leeks and things now.

I'm glad to see you didn't overcook the brown shrimps,

because they were already cooked. Yeah.

The capers are there, you can taste the lemon.

Beautiful. Thank you.

Very well-cooked. Top drawer. Phew. I'm going to cry!

The tasting went really well.

He said my fish was cooked perfectly, which was a relief,

and I'm just really happy.

That's really good. Thank you, Hussain.

Really light, really delicate.

It wasn't overpowering... No. ..it wasn't too buttery.... No.

..wasn't too acidic. Uh-uh. Yeah, beautiful.

Next into the tasting room is Hussain.

He's made pan-fried lemon sole

served on a bed of sauteed leeks,

with brown shrimps and capers.

There you go, guys.

Now, was that a challenge or was that a challenge?

Yeah, it was a challenge!

Because I didn't realise what fish it was,

so I was just figuring out what to sort of do with it.

OK, time to tuck in. Yes. Let's get in there.

The one thing I have noticed straightaway,

there was two sides to the fish, one with no skin,

one with a white skin underneath, so it's fine to cook it

on that side, but you just need to remove that skin now.

What it has done,

that would have protected the fish as well,

so could be a good thing or a bad thing.

We'll have a look. Again, you see the fish just come off the bone,

you know it's cooked.

Seasoned, it's moist,

nice to see the capers on the top with the brown shrimp.

A little bit of parsley, the leeks are nice and soft,

you've cooked them in the butter with a bit of white wine.

On the whole, top-drawer cooking.

Seriously. Thank you. You should be very proud. Good cooking.

Well done. Thank you. Well done.

Yeah, bit happier, so I was worried about the way I cooked the fish,

but he said it was fantastically cooked, so I was really happy.

Mm, lovely. A lot of capers, a lot of vinegar, wasn't it?

Mm. Very sharp.

I think you're going to have a very hard job.

You're not going to help me, are you? SHE LAUGHS

With the final challenge complete,

it's just left for Bryn to deliberate over our two home cooks.

So, Bryn, do you have any idea who you're going to pick?

No, because they both cooked the fish

in two different ways, but at the same time,

the correct way. Yep. And they've both cooked it beautifully.

It's down to the wire, and it's down to the minute attention to detail.

Wow. Because they both can cook. Well, like you said,

you are going to cook for us now

and we're going to see what you make with those ingredients.

Just got to hope it's as good as that!

Well, I hope so. So do I.

OK, cooks. Before we find out who will be joining Bryn

in the Friday final,

we get to see what he makes with those ingredients.

So, Chef, it's over to you.

Right, OK, so what we're going to do with the leek,

I was saying less is more, you want to taste what you see,

so I'm going to cook this leek slowly.

I'm going to knock the root off and we're going to cook it

virtually in its own juices.

Leek in. En papillote, we call this.

We put a knob of butter, a little bit of salt, twist of pepper,

bit of thyme in there. Make it into a parcel.

In with some white wine. That should be enough.

Obviously it is very important that we close the bag.

Place it in the oven for 12 minutes at 140 degrees.

So a nice, slow, long cook. Now, to the fish.

What we're going to do,

snip the bottom and then run our scissors up the side

of the flesh, so we take everything that we don't need away.

What I'm going to do now is segment a lemon.

So this dish that you're doing for us now

is one from your restaurant in Wales.

In North Wales, yes.

I'm lucky enough to have a restaurant in Colwyn Bay.

It's right on the seafront.

And have you always wanted to have a restaurant back home?

Yeah, it was something I always wanted to do

but didn't think it would happen.

It's a dream come true, really, to come home to cook.

OK, so we've got the lemon segments, they're ready.

We're going to chop some parsley. Keep it nice and big.

You don't want to chop it down too small because otherwise you start to

lose the flavour and the colour starts to go.

Use a nice, sharp knife.

Roughly all the same size. Nice, warm frying pan.

That's it. That's what we want to hear.

We're just going to baste it in butter.

So at what age did you start cooking?

I started in a bakery when I was the age of 12.

Oh, wow. Every day now, in the London restaurant,

the first thing we do is bread every day.

We walk in about 8.15am, 8.30am, just the smell of fresh bread.

So you moved from baking into...

Into cooking. I started cooking when I was about 16

in the local pub, and I just think with cooking,

you can express yourself that little bit more.

Just going to add a knob of butter,

and add the thyme, and I'm going to turn this over.

If you're on a diet, this is the time when you turn away.

LAUGHTER

We're just going to baste the fish in the butter.

You can smell the oil has come out of the thyme,

which is important. The fish is nearly ready.

What I'm going to do is leave the fish in the butter

just to cool down.

We're just going to deep-fry the capers, and these WILL spit.

Obviously water and oil... I'm standing well out of the way.

..doesn't mix.

There you go. When it stops making noise...

You know it's done. You know it's ready, yeah.

Right, drain them off.

Finish off with a pinch of salt.

Now we're going to go for the sauce.

When I squeeze the lemon, it will spit again.

SHEREE LAUGHS

So we're done there. You can smell that now.

Smells quite nutty, quite lemony.

Again, it's not just butter you're adding,

a complete different flavour.

We add the brown shrimps, you want to warm them up gently.

We're going to add the lemon segments,

in with the parsley, and that is the sauce.

The leek is ready, so what we're going to do now

is remove it from its bag.

A little bit of that onto it.

Just natural cooking juices, nothing better.

Little bit of salt.

We're going to put the fish...

You don't have to serve all the butter.

Then to finish off, nice bit of texture.

You just add the capers and that is it.

There's not much difference to the pair of yours, to be honest.

Amazing. It's all gone quiet.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

I'm not quite sure. Good. Is it good?

Absolutely delicious. Oh, my gosh!

Well, that certainly is zinging in the mouth.

It's absolutely delicious.

Fantastic. And it is time to reveal who you are going to pick

as your partner in the Friday final,

but before we reveal who that person is,

let's just have a quick recap of what they made earlier.

In the first round, Hussain impressed Bryn

with his innovative take on the British classic fish and chips.

He stole the show in round two with his tasty tartare sauce,

and in the final round, he made every second count

to produce his dish of lemon sole

with shrimps and sauteed leeks.

Julie is stiff competition,

but I do hope I get through to the final on Friday.

Julie wowed Bryn with her Italian-inspired seafood broth

and home-made spaghetti in the first round.

She impressed with her flavours in round two

and showcased her skill and technique in the final round

with her perfectly cooked lemon sole.

I would absolutely love to win and go through to the next round.

It would be amazing to meet all the chefs.

Whatever happens, I've had a great time.

Firstly, I'd like to say a massive well done to both of you.

You've both done so well,

but only one of you can go through to the final,

and Bryn has made up his mind.

So, Chef, it's over to you.

I've got sweaty palms. That's how hard it has been.

Hussain, we start with yourself.

Great fish and chips, great spices,

and then you went from your world into my world.

And you adapted so well.

Julie, today, the first dish you did,

the skills in there, making the pasta,

and then doing the lemon sole, again,

very, very tasty. It really is on a knife edge.

I just think...

going forward to the Friday final, I just feel that...

Julie might have a bit to offer me in your repertoire,

so for that reason... SHE SQUEAKS EXCITEDLY

..I'd like to take you through to the final on Friday.

But, Hussain, you did an amazing job. I know! The flavours were amazing.

If you open a restaurant and serve that fish and chips,

can I be the first one to come? Definitely. Cos it was stunning.

You should be both very, very proud of yourself.

You should be. Thank you. Thank you.

I wasn't expecting it, quite honestly.

I thought Hussain just had it in the bag, so when I heard my name,

I was just like, "Wow!"

Yeah, I'm gutted not to get through to Friday's final,

but Julie was fantastic competition

and such a lovely person to get through.

So, that's it for today.

Bryn and Julie will be back for the Friday final,

but make sure you join us again tomorrow

when four brand-new home cooks will be put to the test.

See you then.

Tomorrow on Yes Chef...

..four more home cooks go all-out to impressive super-chef Luke Tipping.

It's the chance for them to work alongside the best in the business.

But only one can become his partner for the Friday final.

Argh!

It looks like a dog's dinner.