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00:00Creamy, dreamy, irresistibly tasty.
00:03Whether it's the key ingredient or main event,
00:05Philadelphia is the one cooks reach for.
00:08You've got a friend in Philly.
00:10They say the dinner table is the heart of the home.
00:14But what they forget to mention is...
00:17the absolute chaos it takes to get there.
00:20Navigating the small daily hurdles, the inevitable chaos
00:23and the everyday victories are what make family life such an adventure.
00:27Thank you!
00:30Welcome to the bit between the fridge and the fork,
00:34where the chaos battles calm and pasta waits for no one.
00:38Mmm!
00:39I literally would eat that directly from the pan.
00:42This is not a cooking show about perfection.
00:45This is real-time cooking,
00:48where every minute matters and every dinner served is a small triumph.
00:53So let's get cooking.
01:00If you've ever opened the cupboard and thought there is nothing to eat,
01:05well, this is the episode for you.
01:07Today, we're raiding the pantry and turning everyday ingredients
01:10into some seriously impressive dinners.
01:13First up, I'm searing perfect duck breasts and serving them with a rich smoky cassoulet.
01:18All brought together with tinned beans and a few flavour-packed bits from the fridge door.
01:22This is real, real-time recipes.
01:25Then it's time for pasta night with a fiery twist.
01:28We're doing a spicy andouille carbonara that's creamy, bold and ready in minutes.
01:34All the things I love in one bowl.
01:36And finally, a fresh take on comfort food.
01:39Cacio e pepe orzo with juicy chicken, black pepper and plenty of cheese.
01:44All the vibes of a classic with a clever little shortcut.
01:47This is proof that the back of your cupboard holds more magic than you might think.
01:53So let's get cooking.
01:54Now, duck might sound a bit fancy, but it is ideal for a midweek dinner.
02:02And I'm going to show you how very quickly to get great results.
02:05I've got two duck breasts and all I'm going to do is season them generously
02:09and I'm going to place them directly into a frying pan, skin side down, cold.
02:15And slowly bring up the temperature.
02:17It cooks really quickly, so I'm going to keep my eye on that
02:20while I prep up a lovely little simple cassoulet.
02:23So I've got some onion, some carrot and some celery.
02:26While the pan is coming up to temperature, I'm just going to add a glug of some oil.
02:31And let's get chopping.
02:34The combination of onion, celery and carrot is the base for so many dishes.
02:40Soups, stews and a whole host of things.
02:42But in this case, we're going to cook it real hard and fast
02:44until we have the base for a fabulous bean stew.
02:47This is my kind of real time recipe.
02:49There's lots of things that you can be doing while that duck cooks off.
02:52So keep on cracking through with the veg.
02:55Lovely sweetness from the carrot and from the onion here.
02:58And I am going quite fine because this is going to cook out fast.
03:01Carrots go in.
03:03I'm going to add a little butter to allow that to melt down while we're cooking away.
03:08And lastly, the celery.
03:10To prep your celery, just slice it in half and then you're going to cut it into strips
03:14and then into fine little pieces.
03:16Again, I'm just trying to keep this as fine as possible
03:19and as even as possible so that it cooks out nicely.
03:22Get that straight in.
03:23I'm going to take this moment to season up plentiful with lots of salt and pepper.
03:27And the same for our duck.
03:30Lovely.
03:31Give that a little mix through and our veggies are just starting to soften down.
03:36And at this point, it's time to add in a bit of time and start introducing flavours.
03:42Any woody herb is quite good here.
03:44And in fact, I have some rosemary as well.
03:46So I'm going to pop that in.
03:47And the minute you add them in there, it just takes it to another level.
03:51We've got all those fresh herbs wilting into those softened vegetables and imparting their flavour.
03:56And over here, we've got some garlic.
03:58So I'm just going to finely slice our garlic.
04:00You don't have to be too particular here.
04:02You just want to introduce that garlic flavour into what's going on in the pan.
04:06Give that a mix through.
04:09Let that garlic become nice and aromatic.
04:11And now, to prep up these cannellini beans, I would recommend that you drain them and rinse them to get rid of any of that starchy water.
04:20And they're already somewhat cooked, so you only want to add them in at the last minute.
04:24So beans in.
04:26And any pulse will work a treat here.
04:29It's up to you which one you use.
04:31Straight in.
04:32Give them a little mix around.
04:34And at this point now, I only just want to simmer all these ingredients together.
04:39So, a splash of white wine.
04:41It'll add some gorgeous depth of flavour alongside a little bit of stock.
04:46Just mix that through.
04:51And the bones of this cassoulet are pretty much there.
04:55So while they simmer out, I want to turn my duck.
04:58Should have a nice sizzly golden skin on it at this stage, which it does.
05:03And while it's cooking out, we're going to use that duck fat that's in the base of the pan to get really gorgeous, crispy croutons that will finish off our cassoulet.
05:12So I have a few slices of bread.
05:14I'm just going to rip these into rough chunks.
05:16And we're going to start introducing them to the heat and the oil that's in the pan.
05:21Even if you're not using it for this dish, crispy crunchy croutons always a winner.
05:26Right.
05:27Let's tumble these into that hot duck fat.
05:30I'm just going to use the tongs to introduce the duck fat to the croutons and get them nice and sizzling.
05:37All the while, our duck is cooking out.
05:40Our beans are nearly there.
05:41This is real, real time recipes.
05:44A few more sprigs of rosemary in here as well.
05:47I'm going to take the duck off to rest.
05:49I'm going to leave that here.
05:51Our rosemary croutons are nearly there.
05:54I just want to make sure every little last one soaks up that lovely duck fat.
06:00My beans are looking pretty good.
06:04In fact, they just need a splash more liquid.
06:07And to finish them off, I have some flat leaf parsley.
06:10I'm just going to chop up and stir through.
06:13So half the bunch goes into the beans.
06:15I'm going to serve some over the top as well.
06:17So hold back a little bit too.
06:19Give that a little mix.
06:21And the smells are fabulous right now.
06:24I'm in good shape.
06:25But you have to keep your eye on the croutons.
06:28Janie Mac.
06:30This is why you have to have all your senses going.
06:33While you're in real time recipe mode.
06:35We've got our beans.
06:36We've got our duck.
06:37We've got our slightly charred croutons.
06:39And now it's time to take a breath.
06:41We've done all the hard work.
06:42Now it's time to serve.
06:43The duck has had a moment to rest.
06:45So using a sharp knife, I'm just going to slice across.
06:49And we're going to just expose the interior there.
06:53And I love the fact that when you slice through here,
06:56you get both the fat, the skin, and then that blushing pink inside.
07:00Look at that.
07:01Absolutely gorgeous.
07:02So push that aside.
07:04Take your time now.
07:05We've got the beans.
07:06We've got the bread.
07:07We've got the duck.
07:08And now it's time to serve up a nice bed of that bean cassoulet.
07:15Spread across.
07:17I've got my duck, which is rested and sliced.
07:23Grab up one or two of those lovely little croutons.
07:26And I'm just going to tear these in and around.
07:29So that while you're tucking into that beautiful cassoulet,
07:32you have these moments of texture and intrigue.
07:35This is the kind of dish that proves you don't need a big long shopping list.
07:39You don't need super fancy ingredients.
07:41Staples like beans.
07:43Staples like your regular veg.
07:45All brought together with a fabulously cooked duck breast.
07:48A serious dinner that takes minutes to make.
07:51The first time I made this, I had just come back from a trip
08:05and there was barely anything in the house.
08:07But somehow, with just a handful of ingredients,
08:10I managed to create one of the best pastas I think I've ever made.
08:14And it's a great reminder that a well-stocked kitchen cupboard
08:17is your best friend.
08:21One of the very few compliments my darling wife Sophie gives me
08:26is that I can make a meal out of whatever I have in the kitchen.
08:30And this recipe is a true testament to that.
08:33We're heroing a fantastic little pantry ingredient.
08:36Endouya, which is this Calabrian meaty spice paste.
08:39You can use chorizo if you don't have this.
08:41But if you see it, stick it in your pantry and it is so handy to have.
08:44It's spicy, it's meaty, lots of flavour.
08:47In a pan, I have quarter-filled this with water.
08:50This is my little trick for getting pasta water up quickly.
08:53And I have a kettle which is just boiled.
08:55And essentially, between the warm water that's in the pot,
08:58the boiling water that's coming from the kettle,
09:00I should have a pot of boiling water in no time at all.
09:03In my head, that makes sense.
09:06But I think most people who've tried to get a pot boiling quickly will know this trick.
09:11This is also a good moment to season this now that the water is nice and warm.
09:15Plenty of salt.
09:16So while that comes up to a nice rolling boil,
09:18I'm going to get my pan on and I'm going to slice it onion and get that finely chopped.
09:22Now, we're taking the bones of a carbonara recipe and we're breaking all the rules.
09:26We're adding onion, which of course is not traditional,
09:29but it's going to add great flavour and it works really well with the spice paste too.
09:33So just a nice fine chop on the onion.
09:35And finely chopped like this, it's going to cook really quickly in the pan.
09:40Right, a little drop of oil into the pan.
09:45And I'm not adding too much here because there is some oil through that and do you as well.
09:50Let's get that fried off.
09:51And whenever I add onion to the pan, always add a little bit of salt.
09:54It just helps dry the moisture and for the onion to cook it quicker.
09:57Give that a little mix through.
10:00And while it's frying off, a few garlic cloves.
10:05Now, one of the biggest mistakes I made a couple of years ago when I was making a TV show in Italy
10:09was the fact that I added garlic to just about everything.
10:12The Italian grandmothers were up in arms because it's a strong flavour.
10:16And typically, Italians, when they're adding garlic into a recipe,
10:19will add the clove in and literally take it out before it comes time to serve.
10:23So it just gets the flavour.
10:25Have I learnt those lessons? Absolutely not.
10:27So we're going big on garlic in this recipe.
10:30Three garlic cloves here, finely sliced in amongst the onions.
10:34Absolutely gorgeous.
10:35If you want to keep to the traditions, absolutely a classic carbonara is fine.
10:38Don't add the garlic there.
10:40But with something like this that has big, bold flavour, it can take the garlic.
10:44Straight in with our onions, a little bit of salt, a little bit of pepper,
10:49and let that continue to fry just gently while we make up the base of this carbonara.
10:55And for that, I have some pecorino cheese.
11:00But the great tip here, especially for speedy home cooking, is store-bought fresh lasagna sheets.
11:08If you've seen these and thought, I don't have time to make a lasagna, this will be the way you use them from here on out.
11:15They're so simple to cook and you just tear them into nice rags like this.
11:20You get these really kind of luscious sheets of fresh pasta that have all the opportunity to soak up the flavours of the pan here.
11:28So just tear these in half or slice them, whatever you fancy, but this isn't about being perfect.
11:34This is all about rough and tumble.
11:37This same recipe works a treat with dried pasta, but in terms of speed, fresh pasta is your way forward.
11:44Pasta's looking good.
11:45Check on the onions.
11:46And these have just softened down now, so it's a perfect moment to add in this fabulous endouille.
11:53I highly recommend, if you see this in the shops, pick it up.
11:57And a generous dollop or two goes in here and just allow the heat to do its magic.
12:05In with the onions, in with the garlic, it starts to come alive and then just let it sizzle away.
12:23The endouille is sizzling away, the pot has come back up to the boil and my pasta is ready to go.
12:41I'm going to prep the ingredients for a classic carbonara, which of course starts with some eggs.
12:47I'm going to go one whole egg and two egg yolks.
12:51This should leave us with this really creamy, velvety finish to these pasta rags.
12:56And a good little tip is to keep those egg whites.
12:59They freeze really well.
13:01And four egg whites with some icing sugar and you'll have beautiful pavlovas.
13:04So don't waste your egg whites.
13:06Now, save my egg whites.
13:09Give the hands a quick wash.
13:12Now it's time to bring this together.
13:14Loads of pecorino cheese.
13:16A little microplane grater.
13:19And I'm going to use almost half this block.
13:22I'm using pecorino cheese here, which is this sharp, salty sheep's milk cheese.
13:27A little bit different from Parmesan in its flavour profile and works really well in this mixture.
13:32But of course, use Parmesan if you have it.
13:34Plenty of pecorino there and we'll use some more to finish over the top.
13:39I'm going to add the cheese to the eggs, season it with a little black pepper and then just use a fork to whisk that up.
13:49Once you whisk that, you get left with this really beautiful, vibrant egg yolk mixture, which is going to be perfect to toss our pasta into.
13:57But at this point now, we are good for the pasta to go into the salted boiling water.
14:01And it's only going to need a couple of seconds just to cook through and become nice and tender.
14:06Give it a little help in the water just to get completely coated.
14:10Now, this recipe is highly adaptable.
14:12Get this right and you can add in veggies, any nutritional content you fancy.
14:16But essentially, we've got pasta that's going into a beautiful meaty paste.
14:22A little bit of the pasta water comes with it.
14:25And hold on to that pasta water because we're going to use that to loosen out this mixture if we need it.
14:31Now, I always take a moment for the pasta to just cook in that meaty mixture.
14:36OK, this is looking pretty good. A lot of that water has evaporated now.
14:41So I'm going to take the contents of this pan and I'm putting the hot pasta into the eggs and not the other way around because I don't want to scramble the eggs.
14:49And then with the tongs, just fold it through.
14:53You're going to twist it, fold it until it's got this beautiful, luscious coating all the way over.
15:00I mean, come on, just look at that.
15:03Absolutely gorgeous and worth breaking a few rules along the way.
15:06And actually, a good little tip, don't be afraid of using up that pasta water.
15:10It's starchy and it's going to help loosen this out if it does start to look a little bit too thick.
15:16Looking at the dish, not following the recipe exactly to the T and knowing how it works in your kitchen is so important.
15:23This is now ready to go.
15:25So, take a spoon, take tongs and I'm going to attempt to somewhat graciously serve this.
15:35It's messy, it's spicy and it's all the things I love in one bowl.
15:42Look at that. Finishing touches. A little more pecorino over the top.
15:49And that, for me, is a perfect little bowl of dinner that I am so looking forward to trying.
15:59Last little glug of some extra virgin olive oil, just to brighten and add a peppery finish to it.
16:06And that is just ready to be devoured. So, let's get in.
16:13Only a couple of minutes in the kitchen and you have dinner to the table.
16:18Mmm.
16:31This one is a firm favourite in our house.
16:33Gorgeous cooked chicken meets orzo meets cacio pepe in a fabulous creamy cheesy sauce.
16:38So good.
16:39Now, this is a recipe in two parts.
16:47One, a beautifully cooked chicken, but two, a fabulous orzotto or orzo in risotto form.
16:53This is a pantry saviour and you can cook it just like you cook pasta or you can do it risotto style like I'm about to cook it.
17:00Now, we're going to begin in a pan with plenty of butter.
17:03And the whole idea is that we're going to toast the pepper in the butter and build the flavour.
17:07Cacio e pepe means cheese and pepper.
17:10So you want to go big or go home.
17:12So get that in there.
17:14I'm just going to melt that down and let the butter foam and let that pepper come to life.
17:19To this, we're going to add the orzo.
17:22I just want to toast those grains ever so slightly before we add the liquid here to get them completely coated.
17:29And the smell of butter and pepper in the air right now is fabulous.
17:33So once that is nicely toasted, time to go in with a little bit of stock.
17:38Chicken stock will do or any veggie stock you have.
17:41That's the orzo almost taken care of.
17:43I'm going to keep checking back on it.
17:45I'm going to cook it on a medium heat.
17:47Let it bubble away while we crack on with the chicken.
17:49Now, I'm using chicken breast here.
17:52I have some pecorino cheese, which we're going to finish our orzo with.
17:55The chicken is really easy to prep.
17:58I've got two chicken breasts here.
17:59While we're in the motion, get your pan on nice and hot.
18:02I'm going to bring that up to temperature with a little drop of oil.
18:06And while that's coming up to temperature, I'm going to slice these chicken breasts in half.
18:11This will just quicken our cooking time and it'll speed everything up.
18:15So take a sharp knife and the way to ensure that you get this nicely done is take the thickest part of the breast,
18:21hand flat down and then we're just going to use a knife and really allow the blade to do the work here.
18:27Don't put too much pressure.
18:28We're going to butterfly this out and it'll now cook in half the time.
18:32You basically get this even layer of chicken that cooks out beautifully every time.
18:37Season with a little bit of salt and it really is important to season the meat before it goes on the pan.
18:44A little bit of black pepper and this is one of my favourite quick ways to cook with chicken.
18:48Simple, really fast and full of flavour.
18:51So straight into that hot pan and we're going to sizzle this for a minute or so until we get nice brown colour,
18:59giving me the perfect time to do a little clean down.
19:02OK, we're in business. Check on that orzo. It's starting to plump up and take on the liquid.
19:17And I want it to cook out just until it's al dente. So keep an eye on this.
19:21It'll take about 10 or 11 minutes, maybe a little less depending on the liquid here.
19:26And while that's moving, let's check on the chicken. I'm going to turn it now.
19:32And look at that colour. Really beautiful golden brown.
19:36And while it's turned over, this is a moment to add flavour here.
19:40So I'm going to let it cook out on the other side, turn down the heat ever so slightly.
19:44Grab a couple of cloves of garlic, crack your garlic open.
19:48I'm not even going to take the skins off here. I'm just going to place them straight into the pan.
19:53Add in a knob or two of butter.
19:55We're going to add lovely rosemary, a hearty herb that is lovely with chicken.
20:01Just tear off those sprigs and the smell of rosemary with chicken cooking off in hot butter is out of this world.
20:08So plenty of that rosemary in there. Sprig for good luck.
20:13And now all it's a case of is getting that garlic rosemary butter just basted over the chicken.
20:19Just basting it in that garlic rosemary butter completely transforms it.
20:25OK, I'm going to leave that to cook. Check on the orzo at this point.
20:28It's starting now to soak up that liquid.
20:31And if it does look a little bit dry before it's al dente, top tip is just take a little bit of water and top it up.
20:39Now, while that is finishing cooking, my last job to do is a bit of pecorino,
20:45which I'm going to blitz up in a food processor, get really nice texture on it and then bring it all together.
20:50Now, look, you can hand grate your cheese, no bother, but I love processing it like this to get really gorgeous texture.
20:55It kind of reminds me of those old school American Italian diners that serve it with a little teaspoon.
21:00OK, now we've got the texture and this is what I'm after.
21:12This will completely transform this dish when it comes time to serve.
21:15The pasta is just al dente. So, to finish this off, a little more butter.
21:20I know, I know, I know, but it really will make a difference here.
21:23A little of that pecorino cheese gets added in here.
21:26Or a lot of cheese if you're feeling fancy.
21:29Give that a mix and just let that cheese and butter melt into that orzo.
21:35This is cacio pepe brought next level.
21:38Right, that is pretty much where I want it to be. Heat's off.
21:42I've got my chicken from the pan and just look at that.
21:45Tender pieces of chicken, the smell of rosemary right now.
21:49I'm going to place these out.
21:51I'm going to slice them up.
21:53If I'm serving this straight to the dinner table, I always slice up the meat first.
21:57And because I've butterflied these breasts, I'm going to get lovely texture,
22:01but I'll also know that they're nicely cooked as well.
22:04Time to serve.
22:07Take some of that beautiful orzo and generously put it into a bowl.
22:14Okay.
22:15Finish it with that chicken over the top.
22:19And don't forget about those beautiful chickeny pan juices.
22:23Brown chickeny butter.
22:26This is where it's at.
22:28Proper comfort food.
22:30A little finish with some of that pecorino over the top.
22:33Yum!
22:35I feel like this is the kind of dinner you need to eat with a spoon.
22:38It looks so good.
22:39A little bit of the orzo.
22:40A little bit of the chicken.
22:42Oh.
22:43That is a bowl of happiness right there.
22:49So there you have it.
22:50Proof that a well stocked pantry can deliver serious magic.
22:54We kick things off with that rich and rustic duck cassoulet, garlicky beans, crispy skin and golden bread crumbs.
23:01The kind of dish that feels like a proper French bistro dinner minus the effort.
23:02Then we turned up the heat with the andouille carbonara, pasta rag slicked with that smoky chili kick held together by eggs and cheese.
23:08It's one of those back pocket dinners you'll keep coming back to.
23:09And we finished strong with that cacio e pepe orzo and chicken.
23:11Peppery, creamy and comforting.
23:12Honestly, it doesn't get better than that on a weeknight.
23:13So next time you're staring at your shelves wondering what's for dinner,
23:16what's for dinner?
23:17Let's go.
23:18Yeah, let's go.
23:19Oh.
23:20Oh, God.
23:21Oh.
23:22Oh.
23:23Oh.
23:24Oh.
23:25Oh, God.
23:26Oh, God.
23:27Oh.
23:29Oh.
23:30Oh, God.
23:31Oh.
23:32Oh.
23:33Oh, God.
23:34Oh.
23:35Oh, God.
23:36Oh, God.
23:37Oh.
23:38Oh, God.
23:39Oh.
23:40Oh, God.
23:41Oh.
23:42what's for dinner raid the pantry there's more in there than you think for
23:46all the recipes from this week's show visit rte.ie forward slash food and I'll
23:50see you next time
24:12creamy dreamy irresistibly tasty whether it's the key ingredient or main event
24:25philadelphia is the one cooks reach for you've got a friend
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