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00:07I'm Prue Leith, cook, restaurateur, cookery school founder, and writer of 15 cookbooks.
00:15That is the most delicious thing that we have cooked.
00:19I'm in my 80s, so I haven't got time to waste.
00:23This series is all about the things that really matter to me.
00:26Family, fun, food, and friends.
00:30Come on, what kind of day have you had? Get it out!
00:34We'll be sharing simple home-cooked recipes.
00:38Oh, brilliant. I'm going to take this bit home and save it for later.
00:41You idiot.
00:43She's such a gourmand. She's incredible.
00:46And celebrating the best produce.
00:50I am lucky enough to live in the astonishingly beautiful Cotswolds
00:54with my darling, sometimes darling, husband, John.
00:59Come on, you've had enough.
01:02Coming up today, the delightful and straight-talking actress Sophie Winkleman joins me in the kitchen.
01:09I like cakes.
01:10You're right. We should have had you making a cake.
01:12No, my passion lies with pies.
01:15I make a grapefruit and treacle tart while John gets back in touch with his primitive instincts.
01:21I think there's something about men and fire.
01:24And I've got a time-saving hack that means your greens don't become a chore.
01:29Just saves a lot of trouble.
01:31Welcome to my Cotswold kitchen.
01:38I am the queen of thrift.
01:40I love a bargain.
01:42And I also hate to waste anything.
01:44And the same goes for cuts of meat.
01:47I believe we should be eating nose to tail.
01:50My first dish today is my absolute favourite stew.
01:56Oxtail stew.
02:02I mean, it is one of the best stews you could possibly have.
02:05It's full of flavour.
02:07It used to be really cheap because bits of the animal, like the tail and the liver and the heart,
02:14so-called offal, were always cheap because nobody wanted to buy them.
02:18But now there's no such thing as cheap meat.
02:21However, it's worth paying for oxtail because it's the best.
02:26It takes a while to cook.
02:28But if you can make an oxtail stew, you can make any stew.
02:33I'm going to use the stew pan and a frying pan because I've got a few pieces to fry.
02:39So you put a very little bit of oil in the bottom of the pan because this has got lots
02:44of fat on it.
02:45So it doesn't need much oil, just enough to wet the bottom of the pan.
02:52You can tell whether your pan is hot enough by just putting a bit of meat into it or anything.
02:59And if it sizzles, you're there.
03:05Cooking the oxtail long and slow is the secret to a tender, flavoursome dish.
03:11Space out your pieces and turn them occasionally, not constantly.
03:16You want them really brown on all sides.
03:20That's how we want.
03:21Like that.
03:22Like that side.
03:28So now these have been frying very closely attended for 12 minutes, which means for 12 minutes we've turned them
03:36round, got every side fried and brown.
03:41And now I'm going to do the onions, carrots and celery.
03:48We don't have to get them very brown, but we do need to fry them so.
03:54And I put the sliced onions in here.
04:03And the carrots and celery in here.
04:08So what we're aiming for is just to have the vegetables a bit softened and just beginning to colour, but
04:14not really brown.
04:16Then add two cloves of crushed garlic.
04:19Cook it for about a minute before combining both pans.
04:24Next, add three tablespoons of flour with salt and pepper already in it.
04:30Mix that into the sauce along with some tomato puree.
04:35Then add the red wine and the stock.
04:38This is beef stock.
04:40And you can use a beef stock cube if you like.
04:43Honestly, it doesn't really matter.
04:46And then you stir it until it boils because you've got the flour in there and you want the flour
04:52to thicken the sauce evenly and not let it form lumps.
04:57We've now got the stock slightly thickened and just simmering.
05:03So I'm going to put the oxtail back.
05:09I'm just adding a bouquet of bay leaves and thyme.
05:12So that goes in there and in two hours' time, we will come back to the most delicious oxtail stew.
05:23I'm certain.
05:30My stew is absolutely beautifully tender now and it took two hours to simmer to get to the stage.
05:39And then I've got it cool enough to handle because I want to stick my fingers in it and pull
05:45the bones out.
05:46You need it, of course, but if you do want to serve it like a stew without any bones, then
05:52you need to get your hands messy.
05:55I like doing this.
05:56It's like mud pies.
05:58I have always been happy to get my hands messy.
06:03I'm going to get this back to simmering point very slowly while I make the dumplings.
06:11So what I have here is self-raising flour, a bit of parsley.
06:18This is shredded suet.
06:19You buy it in a packet and it's just called shredded suet.
06:23And it's a fat.
06:25It's the fat from around the kidneys of an animal.
06:30And that's beef suet.
06:33And then some grated horseradish.
06:35No more than a teaspoon as it's really hot.
06:39So then you put a bit of mustard in.
06:46About a tip of a teaspoon.
06:49About that much.
06:52And then you add the water.
06:56Now I've got the self-raising flour, the shredded suet, the chopped parsley.
07:02And I need a little bit of salt.
07:05And a bit of pepper.
07:08And I've got the horseradish.
07:09And the mustard.
07:12So it's going to be quite a good dumpling.
07:17Make a little ball.
07:20And I'll stick them here.
07:21And then we'll dump them all together.
07:23And we're going to make them a classic way where you make each dumpling separately.
07:28But my great-aunt, who taught me to make dumplings, used to just spoon them out of the bowl in
07:38any kind of dollop and put them straight into the sizzling pan.
07:43But they did go all over the place.
07:46She cooked all sorts of things that I never see anymore.
07:49Like neck of lamb stew.
07:52You know, neck of lamb is the sort of scrag end of leg.
07:55It's mostly bone.
07:57But the meat that's on it tastes amazing.
07:59It's really good flavoured.
08:01But I'm on a mission here to get the world to like the old-fashioned dishes.
08:06Now, if you want proof that dumplings are an old recipe, archaeologists have found dumplings in China that are over
08:14a thousand years old.
08:16Tried and tested, I'd say.
08:18The stew bubbling away, and you just plonk the dumplings in.
08:24And you see there's quite a lot of, well, there's not a huge amount, but there's a little bit of
08:29fat, beef fat floating on the top of the stew.
08:32But with any luck, the dumplings will absorb it.
08:37And then we stick a lid on.
08:42Turn it down to a simmer and leave it for 20 minutes.
08:45Now, I'm going to cheat here and use frozen mashed potatoes.
08:50The frozen pack will have just potatoes, salt and butter, and not much else.
08:55So why not save some time?
08:58Nine pieces is one portion.
09:00Pop in the microwave for three minutes, stirring once.
09:04So then we need a dumpling.
09:11And a bit of chopped parsley.
09:15So this is my idea of the perfect winter food.
09:20Oxtail stew and mash.
09:22It's sort of falling apart really beautifully.
09:27The mash.
09:35And then there's a dumpling, which you really need with a bit of gravy.
09:43Mmm.
09:45It is so good.
09:48Heaven.
09:50And no, there's none for you, no matter how you look at me.
09:59Coming up, TV and actual royalty, Sophie Winkleman, gets her hands dirty in the kitchen.
10:06You can use your mitts if you like.
10:08As we cook up a British pub classic.
10:12Genuinely mood-altering.
10:14Do people cuddle you at this point or do they leave you alone?
10:17I feel it.
10:27Welcome back to my Cotswold kitchen.
10:30When we're not cooking or gardening, John and I do love a bit of telly.
10:35In particular, anything that features this lady.
10:40My guest today has a career spanning TV, film and drama.
10:46She is an amazing actress and she's married to a royal.
10:50She is Sophie Winkleman.
10:53Welcome to my Cotswold kitchen.
10:54Thank you very much.
10:55Thank you for having me.
10:56Lovely to be here.
10:56So Sophie, we asked you what you wanted to cook and you said, I'm going to do most of the
11:04cooking.
11:04So we're going to do it together.
11:06And I thought we'd just do a chicken pie.
11:09Yes, please.
11:10Everybody's favourite.
11:16So it's going to have a hot water crust pastry, which I thought would be fun because very few people
11:23know how to make hot water crust.
11:25Can you cook?
11:26I can bake.
11:28I like cakes.
11:29You're right.
11:30We should have had you making a cake.
11:31No, no, wrong.
11:32Because my passion lies with pies.
11:35Oh, no.
11:35Pork pies get sort of the Oscar.
11:39But, but, there's nothing more classic and elegant and happy making than a chicken pie.
11:44So this is perfection.
11:46A classic English pie for a classic English actress.
11:50Let's get going.
11:51We're going to make the filling first and then we'll come to the pastry.
11:55So, we've got a bit of butter and chopped up leek.
12:01So how long do you do those babies for?
12:03Just until they're a little bit soft.
12:04We're nearly there.
12:06You see, I'm not trying to brown them or anything.
12:08I just want them to soften them a little bit.
12:10Lovely.
12:11And then you put some flour in, because we're going to turn this into a sauce now.
12:16It does smell like heaven.
12:19And then we'll have the chicken, which is already cooked.
12:22Big palace.
12:23That's going to be the filling.
12:24Heaven.
12:25And we're going to just flavour it with a bit of mustard, a bit of creme fraiche and a bit
12:30of...
12:30How about you chop that?
12:31Yes, please.
12:32Is that tarragon?
12:33Yeah.
12:34Do I get a point for knowing that?
12:35Yeah, you do.
12:37Look, I've got creme fraiche in here and mustard.
12:40Yummy.
12:41Black pepper or not bother yet?
12:43Yeah, we can have black pepper.
12:45There we go.
12:46I'm just going to season it with a little salt and pepper.
12:50So that's going to be the filling.
12:52And then to make the pastry, you put the lard, which is 100 grams of lard, into 100 mils of
13:04water.
13:04Okay.
13:05Water's already in there.
13:07Plus 100 mils of milk.
13:10So basically you've got 200 mils of liquid melting 100 grams of fat.
13:18Next we need to put 240 grams of plain flour and 100 grams of bread flour into a bowl.
13:25Can you make some extra so I can just have a bit?
13:28Yeah, probably.
13:30And then we need a bit of salt, pinch of salt, and then we're going to pour the fat in
13:37and beat like crazy.
13:39So do you want to do the stirring?
13:40Yes, definitely.
13:42And will this have that lovely sort of white scurf underneath it?
13:46God, I love that stuff.
13:48Why are people rude about that?
13:50Why are people rude about fat?
13:52It's the best stuff in the world.
13:54In go the eggs.
13:56Right, you're going to get half of this.
13:58And the rest is going to be for glazing the top.
14:01Is there any reason you use this guy instead of a spoon?
14:04No, you can use your mitts if you like.
14:06Okay.
14:09That's a girl.
14:10That's my girl.
14:12This is very satisfying.
14:15Who doesn't love a pie?
14:18And then...
14:19What should it look...
14:20What am I aiming for it to look like?
14:21That's it.
14:22That's perfect.
14:22Excellent.
14:24Sophie, I've got rid of your board because we're going to just do this on here.
14:28Okay.
14:29So you need to do it while it's warm.
14:31Okay.
14:32It's still warm.
14:32Yes, lovely.
14:33Okay, so we need to roll it out.
14:36So if you roll it out, nice and thin, and we're going to put it in these two rows.
14:45We need to make bases and lids for our pies.
14:49I'm going to use a slightly bigger bowl to mark the bottoms, as they need to be a little
14:54larger than the tops.
14:56Because it's, you can mangle it and it stretches, but it doesn't matter if you don't get it
15:01perfect.
15:02I thought I had got it perfect.
15:04Yeah, no, you did.
15:05You did.
15:06But it wouldn't have mattered if you hadn't.
15:08So it's very forgiving, this stuff.
15:10It's totally forgiving.
15:12Go around.
15:14Just make sure that your bottom corner is pushed in properly.
15:18So then we're going to put some chicken in there.
15:20Do you want to do that one?
15:22Yeah.
15:22The idea behind the dish.
15:24I think you were a little too thin there.
15:27Shall we just?
15:27Yes.
15:28This is to prove that you can do anything with this pastry.
15:31You just patch it up like that.
15:34There we are.
15:34So this is an amateur cook's best friend, this pastry.
15:37It is.
15:37It is.
15:38Then we put a couple of spoons of chicken and leek and creme fraiche.
15:47Yummy.
15:48So now we need a couple of lids.
15:52So this is a good size.
15:55Right.
15:56Now you have to crimp the edges to stick it together.
16:00And you just push finger in like that.
16:03Oh my God.
16:04This is where it gets dicey.
16:06You do it.
16:07It's hard.
16:08No, no, you're doing fine.
16:10You just have to sort of push the two together.
16:12Okay.
16:14Yeah, I think you've done it fine.
16:16Okay, let me just finish my one.
16:19I think you've done it fine from Prue-leaf.
16:21It's a bit like a handshake from Paul.
16:24Okay, and then we just brush the top of the egg to make it shiny and brown a bit better.
16:38And then we'll bake it and then we'll bake it and when it's nearly baked we'll brush it again and
16:43make it even browner.
16:44Okay, gorgeous.
16:46We need to make a hole in the top to let the steam out.
16:50And then we're going to stick it in an oven at 180 for about 40 minutes.
16:59Yay!
17:00With TV credits that include Peep Show and Waking the Dead and a long list of theatre and film roles,
17:07I'm keen to ask Sophie about her career.
17:10You've had such a great career.
17:13I just wondered, do you like telly or stage or film?
17:19I think at the very top is radio, which is a shame because it pays in shillings and sort of
17:26bits of brass farthing.
17:27But it's my favourite medium to go into a little studio somewhere sort of a bit scruffy and then create
17:35a world of sort of medieval knights with just your voice.
17:39And there's all these scruffy actors in their tracksuit bottoms and we're playing sort of Elizabeth the First and her
17:44courtiers.
17:44I love radio so much.
17:47Just creating with your voice I think is a great art form and a great discipline.
17:51And then stage is wonderful but it's harder when you have children because you have to vanish.
17:57Because you've got two little ones.
17:58Yes, two girls.
17:59I loved stage.
18:00I worked with all sorts of wonderful people.
18:02I did a very fun play in downtown LA with Eric Idle and Billy Connolly and Tim Curry and Tracy
18:09Ullman and Eddie Izzard and all these wonderful comedians.
18:13That was heaven.
18:14There's something thrilling about the stage because it could go wrong at any second.
18:19So there's a heightened energy and excitement.
18:22But yeah, I've mainly done telly for about sort of 15 years or something.
18:27I've mainly done TV.
18:28But you know, the other thing I know you for is you're a great campaigner.
18:35You're forever in Parliament badgering MPs to take your campaign for children not to be, have their childhood completely ruined
18:45by screens and social media.
18:49How's that getting on?
18:50Well, I'm quite excited in that I think the conversation is now happening across the country that it's not a
18:56good idea to give a three-year-old an iPad or a smartphone.
19:00It's definitely being talked about now, which is a relief.
19:03And I want the government, whoever's in power, to take control and protect them.
19:08Brilliant.
19:08I think we need Sophie for PM.
19:17Oh, lovely.
19:19They look quite good, don't they?
19:21They do.
19:21They look beautiful.
19:22I'm just going to put a second glaze on our pies.
19:27Two glazes gives a deeper, richer golden brown colour and a more pronounced shine.
19:34You must have some wonderful memories or some roles you've particularly liked.
19:39Yeah, I've liked every part I've done.
19:42The part, obviously, that lives in most British men's hearts is Peep Show.
19:48The writers seem to have captured just the male psyche in those two main parts.
19:54And you're either more Jez or you're more Mark, but you're basically both of them.
19:58You're definitely one of them.
19:58You're definitely one or both of them.
20:00It's very sweet having been part of something that made people laugh so much.
20:05That's a joy.
20:06I've done so much comedy now.
20:08It's heaven.
20:09Shall we have a look and see if these pies are done?
20:12Yes, please.
20:16Oh, look.
20:18Look at that.
20:18They're beautiful.
20:20That's all right, isn't it?
20:24That's a very...
20:25I want that as my screensaver.
20:27That's beautiful.
20:28The trick is to let them get a bit cool before you try and get them out.
20:33I just want to see them underneath.
20:36Yeah, that's pretty good done.
20:38Gorgeous.
20:41This veg has already been prepped, and I'll show you how to do it later.
20:48Now, time to check on those pies.
20:50Right, so here we have a little...
20:54I think I'll just turn it over like that.
20:58Oh, look at that.
21:00You were absolutely...
21:01Bang.
21:01Yum.
21:02Look at that.
21:03That's beautiful.
21:04That's good.
21:13Well, madam, you said you like the pie.
21:15They are completely exquisite.
21:19Go and get the veg.
21:21Do the veg in advance.
21:23It's such a good idea.
21:25This is beautiful.
21:28Good.
21:29Lovely sound.
21:31It even sounds nice, this pie.
21:34What a lovely...
21:35Oh, look!
21:42That's genuinely mood-altering.
21:46Sophie, thank you so much for coming.
21:48You have been an absolute joy.
21:50Thank you for having me.
21:52I'm a big fan.
21:52Can you be?
21:54Do people cuddle you at this point, or do they leave you alone?
21:58I feel...
21:58Oh!
21:59Thank you very much.
22:04Still to come, John joins gardener Philippa
22:07to see how our homegrown fruit and veg is progressing.
22:11The aubergines are really starting to get going.
22:14Aubergine's very exciting.
22:15And we meet a lady who's bringing proper Chinese and Korean cooking to South Wales.
22:20Don't do chips, because we don't eat chips in China.
22:31Welcome back to my Cotswold kitchen.
22:35I love cooking with fresh ingredients,
22:38especially if it comes from our own garden.
22:42And right now, John is finding out from Philippa,
22:45who does most of the hard graft in our garden,
22:48about what's coming on.
22:56We moved in here about three and a half years ago,
23:00and garden development and landscaping is a never-ending little enterprise.
23:06We've recently just done a fruit cage.
23:09We've done new beds.
23:11We're making mounds at the end of our avenues.
23:14There's lots of things going on.
23:16But right now, let's go and see what Philippa's up to down in the fruit cage.
23:23Morning, Philippa.
23:24Morning, John.
23:25How are you?
23:26I'm good, thank you.
23:27Good.
23:27I must say, this does look just quite lovely.
23:30When you think we sowed seeds back in April
23:33and started them off in the potting shed under those grow lights,
23:36and now they're doing this out here, it's not bad.
23:38Absolutely wonderful.
23:40And how's the sweet corn coming along?
23:42Shall we go and have a look?
23:43Oh, good, yes, OK.
23:44I think we're probably a couple of weeks off yet,
23:46because we need to make sure that these silks are brown
23:49and they're still turning, aren't they?
23:51There's one there that we could try.
23:52Well, Prue did pick one over-enthusiastically,
23:55and it was one time she'd sort of taken all the out of it.
23:57Was there nothing in there?
24:00We've got the fruit in there,
24:02but all the fruit is work in progress, really, isn't it?
24:05Yes, yeah.
24:06The fruit cage, let's go and have an inspection.
24:10I must say, the rhubarb's doing well.
24:12Yes, you have some crumbles.
24:15And the gooseberries?
24:17Yeah, gooseberries just about going over now,
24:19but you had some good planets full, didn't you?
24:21Yeah.
24:21You've got a few red currants on there to pick.
24:25Yeah.
24:26Have that with some nice green.
24:26So are these red currants?
24:28These are red currants and black currants here.
24:30But again, they're young plants,
24:32but hopefully by next year they'll really be getting going.
24:34The right amount for sprinkling on my yoghurt,
24:37but maybe in 12 months' time we will have enough for a loaf cake or crumble.
24:42How many of the raspberry plants that we planted just didn't take?
24:47About seven of them.
24:49Seven of them.
24:50Yeah.
24:50Out of how many?
24:51Er, 14.
24:53These are autumn bliss, so these ones are still in progress.
24:56I don't know whether we'll get any fruit this year.
25:01And asparagus?
25:02This is your asparagus, yeah.
25:03We can't touch these really as a crop for two years, John,
25:07which is a real shame,
25:08because you see these lovely little asparagus come up.
25:11I might be the wrong side of the grass by time this is ready to eat.
25:15No, no you won't.
25:16But you'll be perfectly compostable, John.
25:19It appeals to my Scottish nature that we get something for free.
25:23And these are my favourites,
25:26blueberry pink lemonade,
25:28which has a slightly citrusy taste.
25:31Am I allowed to try one?
25:32Yeah, see if they're right.
25:33Leave some for me, John.
25:35They're coming off easily.
25:39That's very nice.
25:40Yeah.
25:40And this has all worked out quite well, hasn't it?
25:42It has.
25:43Well, Prue always winces when we come up with these little ideas,
25:47but I think she's very happy now.
25:49Good.
25:49So, happiness all round.
25:51Good.
25:51Off we go.
25:52Thank you very much.
25:54Well, I won't be opening my own fruit and veg stall any time soon,
25:59but we're getting there.
26:02The veg garden was the very first section that we developed.
26:07What have you got, Graham?
26:08What have you got going on?
26:09OK, so we've got some courgettes that are doing rather nicely now.
26:14We've got some squash coming on.
26:16These won't be ready till sort of mid-September.
26:19We've got some parsnips here,
26:20and the aubergines are really starting to get going.
26:23Aubergine's very exciting.
26:25Yeah.
26:25I like that.
26:25And carrots.
26:28Would you like to take back some garlic and some chives with you as well
26:31to add to that collection?
26:34I can certainly get some soups going with that lot,
26:37and the shallots and garlic look to be drying out nicely too.
26:42Shall I load you up with some...
26:44Shall we grab a...
26:45Oh.
26:47Here we go.
26:48Let's take some shallots back.
26:51And some garlic.
26:55Are these all home-grade?
26:57Yeah.
26:57That's very good.
27:00Well, this should earn me deep appreciation.
27:04Absolutely.
27:05Actually, thinking about it, don't hold your breath.
27:08You have a yummy tea, though, John.
27:10I think you and I will be having a yummy tea, Philippa.
27:14John might be dining alone in the doghouse.
27:21Earlier, when I was cooking with Sophie,
27:24I touched on a little hack for pre-cooking veg,
27:27and it's a handy little tip that I'm more than happy to share.
27:37You know, when you're having a dinner party,
27:39one of the things that's always worrying is you think,
27:42oh, I've got to do the green veg at the very last minute.
27:45Well, you don't.
27:47You can cheat.
27:48This will save you stress
27:50when the whole family descend for Sunday roast, too.
27:53I'm going to cook a variety of green veg
27:56and then reheat it in the microwave at the last minute,
27:59and it works brilliantly.
28:01So I've got beans and broccoli.
28:03That's going into boiling salted water.
28:06So that's had about two or three minutes boiling away.
28:10I'm going to add the courgettes.
28:13Give it another couple of minutes.
28:16So now I'm putting the frozen peas in,
28:18which all we need to do with them
28:20is really bring them back to the boil.
28:22And then we're there.
28:24So we're back to a simmer.
28:27So I think that'll do.
28:28And then we're going to blanch them.
28:30And what we're going to do
28:31is put the veg into cold water.
28:34Now, you need to really get the veg cold fast
28:36because that's what keeps it bright green.
28:40Take the thickest thing in there.
28:42Make sure it's cold in the middle.
28:46Delicious, by the way.
28:48And then drain it.
28:49I don't necessarily recommend you have to drain it in your hands,
28:53but it's just convenient because we're not at the sink.
28:56And then put a few blobs of butter all over it.
29:03You can do this hours before the guests arrive.
29:06I mean, you could even do it the day before,
29:08but I think the later you can do it, the better.
29:11I'd put a little bit of salt on it
29:13and, you know, I like a bit of coarse black pepper.
29:17I like to put a bit of cling film over the top
29:21because, and it honestly, it'll only take a minute,
29:24minute and a half, perhaps in the microwave.
29:27So that's ready-prepped green veg in advance.
29:33Just saves a lot of trouble.
29:42My food hero today is a woman who learned to cook
29:46at the age of 10 for her family
29:48and brought the flavours of her upbringing
29:51on the border of North Korea to a town in South Wales.
29:58Pontyprede is a market town
30:00that once supported the coal industry
30:02in the surrounding valleys.
30:04It has a famous bridge, a beautiful park,
30:07and is becoming well-known for a thriving local restaurant.
30:11Janet Wei was brought up in northeast China
30:14and she's had a love affair with homemade food
30:17since her childhood.
30:20So I started cooking for the whole family
30:21when I was 10 years old.
30:24I think I loved food since I was young.
30:26Because I have to be a little bit creative
30:28and make it nice and, yeah,
30:31make everyone to enjoy the meal.
30:33Janet has travelled the world
30:35but has now settled in Pontyprede with her family.
30:39I met my husband in the Middle East.
30:40We were both really young.
30:42And my daughter, our daughter was born there.
30:45And my husband's whole family speak Welsh.
30:47He was in Welsh school throughout until the university.
30:51So when our daughter is four years old,
30:55he suggests, like, we need to go back to UK, to Wales,
30:59because I want her to have Welsh education.
31:03But Janet was craving the food from her particular region
31:06near the Korean border.
31:08I just arrived this country in 2017, I remember.
31:12Back then I found it very hard, especially in Pontyprede.
31:16There's no authentic Chinese or Asian food around.
31:21So I was like, oh, it's always my dream to be a chef.
31:25So I just have a go then.
31:29Seeing an appetite in her friends
31:30for more authentic Chinese food,
31:33Janet spotted a gap in the market.
31:35So I started a little market stall
31:38inside Pontyprede Indoor Market.
31:41And eventually I got quite good reviews
31:43and the word of mouth.
31:46I started seeing a lot of articles about my stall
31:50from lots of food bloggers.
31:52And eventually, like, I got customers
31:55from everywhere, the stuff from there.
31:59Market stall became restaurant,
32:02with Janet fully renovating an old cafe in the town
32:05and business is now booming.
32:08The restaurant specializes in dishes
32:10from the Yanbian area of China.
32:13For Janet, the challenge is showing people
32:16that her food is not the usual Chinese takeaway
32:19that we Brits are used to.
32:22Because the food I cook is authentic,
32:25you know, how I grew up with those food.
32:27And people don't know,
32:28customers don't understand the name.
32:30I have to explain to them
32:31and basically encourage them to try it.
32:34It's hard for me to telling people
32:38this is different, this is not the takeaway.
32:40You know, I don't have chicken balls,
32:41I don't have chips, I don't do chips
32:44because we don't eat chips in China.
32:47Yeah.
32:49But chips is for local, you know,
32:51but British is a big thing.
32:53Instead, you're more likely to see great dishes
32:56such as Korean beef or bian bian noodles.
33:01Bindimba, I mean mixed rice,
33:02it's very similar to sushi rice,
33:04but we added a black rice
33:06and also the sticky rice
33:08to get more texture and more flavor.
33:10And helping, we have different vegetables
33:13and the beef we pre-marinate already,
33:16fried egg on hull.
33:17And then the crispy seaweed
33:20added more flavor to the whole dish.
33:22And then we have the bindimba sauce,
33:25which we do it in the restaurant, a house made.
33:28Helping Janet oversee the kitchen is Prani.
33:32I call her auntie because she's really brilliant.
33:35Brilliant. Thank you.
33:38And she's from Thailand.
33:40And in the beginning she said,
33:41Jan, am I not able to do this job
33:42because you cook Chinese?
33:44I said, no, I think you'll be fine
33:46because if you can do Thai,
33:47you definitely can do here.
33:49And she's been brilliant since day one.
33:52So we do some, well done, beautiful.
33:55And for that I'm really, really lucky
33:56to have all my stuff.
34:00Honestly, this job is not about money, you know,
34:03it's about the thing I'm really, really enjoying to do.
34:07I really love cooking, yeah.
34:09And going by the reviews,
34:11customers love Janet's cooking too.
34:13Absolutely wonderful food.
34:15I'm a bit of a Janet stalker.
34:17I've been here three times in two months.
34:20I've absolutely enjoyed it.
34:21It's really nice, really tasty.
34:24And not one chip or chicken bowl in sight.
34:28The people of Ponteprith have been converted.
34:33Still to come,
34:34it's a case of carry-on up the kitchen
34:37as John helps me make a grapefruit and treacle tart.
34:41I'm very aware it's got a loose bottom.
34:45You put grapefruit in the gin and tonic, didn't you?
34:48Well, I thought it complimented the tart.
34:51It did.
35:01At lunch before our wedding,
35:03John and I had oysters followed by treacle tart.
35:07He's not getting oysters today,
35:09but I'm going to put a quirky twist
35:12on what is a classic dessert.
35:14Today we are making treacle tart,
35:17which is probably the sweetest.
35:21It's one of your favourites, I know.
35:23I absolutely love it,
35:24but it is really, really sweet.
35:31I'm going to make the pastry,
35:33and I'm going to make it
35:33in this wonderful ancient machine of mine,
35:36which I've had for 50 years, I think,
35:40maybe even longer.
35:41And it still goes like a dream.
35:44And this is just ordinary pastry.
35:48That's plain flour,
35:51butter.
35:54And if we just whizz that up together,
36:01that would make plain shortcrust pastry,
36:04but I'm making it slightly richer
36:06by putting a couple of egg yolks in it.
36:08So basically, you put
36:11possibly a little water in it,
36:13but let's just see how it gets on.
36:18And you just whizz it away
36:19until it all gathers itself up into a ball.
36:25It's becoming a noisy thing in its old age.
36:30And that's it.
36:31And it's a lot easier than all that
36:34doing it by hand.
36:35And now,
36:37you put this to chill
36:40in a bit of plastic.
36:41Can you undo me a wee bit of that?
36:43A wee bit of this.
36:44So,
36:45I'm going to make it quite flat,
36:47because then
36:49it will chill quicker.
36:52That's nicely wrapped.
36:54Right.
36:54John's going to put that in the fridge,
36:56and while he's there,
36:57he's going to get out one
36:58that is already chilled,
36:59so you don't have to wait around.
37:01It's as hard as a discus.
37:03Good.
37:04If you chill the pastry
37:07before you bake it,
37:10it won't move.
37:11The pastry will stay
37:12exactly as you've done it.
37:15If you don't do that,
37:17it often shrinks out of shape.
37:20And that's a pain.
37:22So,
37:23a little bit of flour on there.
37:27And now,
37:27you want to roll it out.
37:30Go on, darling,
37:31you do it.
37:32Okay.
37:33All over.
37:34Yeah,
37:34I'm just trying to keep it round,
37:36but make it bigger than that.
37:43Okay,
37:43now let's measure it.
37:45Sorry.
37:46Whoops.
37:47Hang on,
37:47that's not quite round,
37:48is it?
37:48Do you see that's not round?
37:50So if you want to get it round again,
37:53you have to just push it all in.
37:56I need my round bit
37:58to be big enough
37:59to go up the sides.
38:00So that's about right,
38:01isn't it?
38:03So then we have to pick it up.
38:05And the easiest way to do that is to do that.
38:07And the easiest way to do that is to do that.
38:09I don't know.
38:11Like that.
38:14Treacle tart has been around since the late 1800s.
38:17That's when golden syrup was invented,
38:20and the main ingredients were the syrup and bread.
38:23so it was a simple thing to make and now we want to push it into the edges the
38:29great thing is to get that corners nice and thin you know it's very easy to end
38:35up with a very thick bottom and then you just pull off the edges like that and
38:44then that goes guess what back into the fridge to chill while I make the filling
38:54this is a pretty classic tricot art except that we're going to flavor it with grapefruit because
39:00I think a bit of grapefruit well I suppose you could use orange or lemon but grapefruit's probably
39:05the best grapefruit will just knock back that sweetness a bit so it won't be quite as sweet
39:10as one without the grapefruit you can leave the grapefruit out if you want a plain one
39:15so darling you're going to do the grapefruit can you grate that okay just taking the edge
39:22off yeah only the skin don't get any pith okay and goes in there straight in there yes
39:29straight in there chop it in half and squeeze the juice okay and add it so you get on with
39:34that okay and I'll make the rest of the filling which is three eggs a little bit of cream and
39:43some golden syrup grapefruit has a natural tartness acidity and slight bitterness that contrasts really
39:51nicely with the sweetness of the golden syrup I added the grapefruit I've always made prequel tart but
39:58there are lots of different treacle tart recipes it's an absolute old classic and one day I had some
40:05grapefruit around and so I put it on top of the treacle tart and it tasted rather good but then
40:11we
40:11developed it a bit further by putting just zest and juice in there as well now I'm just going to
40:18whisk
40:18whisk all this up together how are you getting on John that looks perfect so far so good
40:27make a good commie chef out of you in the end you know so when you've got that absolutely smooth
40:32no
40:33bits and pieces in it you put the breadcrumbs in
40:40do I boil this down yeah if you could boil that down until it's a couple of tablespoons
40:47about half how fast do you boil it well if you stand over it you can do it full toss
40:53so John is reducing that grapefruit juice and zest he's going to reduce the liquid by about half
41:00looks about four tablespoons at the moment and we want one to two really
41:05I'm keeping it moving because it's um in order for it not to burn smells good doesn't it yeah smells
41:12lovely okay I think you're done are we good let's have a look just let's see how little it is
41:17yeah
41:18that's fine okay straight in yeah straight in that's our filling right so we'll get the pastry
41:29lovely that's rock hard I can feel it yeah
41:34next the filling goes into the pastry and that goes into the oven at 170 degrees for about 40 to
41:4250
41:42minutes right now we're going to put some caramelized grapefruit segments on top of that
41:49prequel tart when it comes out and so in order to break the segments you need to cut the top
41:55of the
41:56grapefruit and then and then go all the way around
42:02does this scare you darling yeah just keep the knife so that it gets all the pith
42:10terrifying watching you do that well I'll tell you I'll do the other one another way because this this is
42:15the way I learned like this there is a safer way of cutting it which is how I recommend you
42:21do it at home
42:25you prefer that do you yes
42:32then to get the segments out you cut down just to one side of the pith take real care when
42:41doing
42:41this and then you lift the segment out great trick is not to squeeze the grapefruit or the
42:49orange as you're holding it if you squeeze it you lose all the juice down there
42:55right do you want to do the other one
42:59okay I'll rest my hand on the board yeah maybe rest your hand on the board
43:03okay
43:05that's good because you're not squeezing
43:08not as good as you
43:09no you'll get it's fine really good
43:13there's no force behind my
43:15no very so I you know even if I slipped I wouldn't cut myself
43:19because I think that's the trick is it's lots of action but not much pressure
43:25there's no pressure
43:27next carefully pat the segments dry with some kitchen roll before spacing them out on a baking tray
43:33you then need to add a sprinkling of sugar
43:36John you're handy with a blow torch
43:40so this is your job
43:42um okay
43:44when you use the blow torch
43:47watch it you do it
43:48okay
43:49you'll do it
43:50but what John will do is stay far away to begin with because if you go too close
43:56too soon you just blow all the sugar off
43:59so if you start up here so you melt the sugar before you really get it caramelized
44:04we're good to go
44:05we're good to go
44:08now yeah
44:11yeah that's nice you see the beginning to caramelize now
44:15I think there's something about men and fire
44:19I think that's fine
44:22the treacle tart having been in the oven for 50 minutes and cooled down is now ready to be decorated
44:29and then we're just going to arrange these on top
44:34and if it's me I'd put them on any old howl
44:37but as it's John he'll put them on in a perfect place
44:40do I put them on like your top normand you know going round
44:43all round yeah
44:46John's a dab hand at this sort of thing by now
44:49that's perfect
44:51I would serve that room temperature and with creme fraiche to go with it or vanilla ice cream
45:04I've really enjoyed all the dishes I made in my gospel kitchen and this one I'm going to enjoy outside
45:10with a nice G&T
45:15it's been a lovely day
45:16it's been good fun
45:17it has been good fun
45:19it's a huge piece of tart
45:22never mind
45:24I'm a big girl I can remember it
45:26I don't see these very often
45:29I know the whole thing I've never seen very often
45:32I've certainly never had treacle tart with gin and tonic
45:36that's very good
45:38and the pastry is perfect
45:42what's so good
45:43is the grapefruit stops the
45:47treacle being too sweet
45:49and I'll tell you what
45:51I think
45:52gin and tonic and treacle tart are a perfect combination
45:57you put grapefruit in the gin and tonic didn't you?
46:00well I thought it complimented the tart
46:02it does
46:03so it should be good
46:04you know I think this is a lovely way to end the day
46:08isn't it?
46:09perfect
46:09can we make a habit of this?
46:10gin gin
46:11gin gin
46:11gin
46:12gin
46:13gin
46:13gin
46:14gin
46:14gin
46:40Eric
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