Lorraine's Fast, Fresh and Easy Food episode 4
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00:00I'm Lorraine Pascal and this is all about fast, fresh and easy food.
00:08Delicious meals don't have to take a long time to make and for me, cooking from fresh
00:12ingredients is the way to go.
00:17Great food can be fast and delicious with these effortless recipes and a few simple
00:21shortcuts.
00:23Follow my tips and hopefully you'll never want to reach for a ready-made meal again.
00:32Making quick, tasty food for everyday meals and last-minute entertaining, it can all be so easy.
00:52Tonight's show is all about baking.
01:05For me, baking isn't just about gorgeous cakes and bakes but also about puddings and joints
01:13of meat that are very quick to prepare and just need a little bit of time in the oven.
01:17Here's what's coming up.
01:22A sweet and sticky banana upside-down cake.
01:29A one-pound wonder.
01:31Slow-baked, fast-prepped leg of lamb.
01:36Tasty little jam and lemon-coloured tarts.
01:42Scrumptious baked Asian barbecued chicken wings.
01:46Oven-roasted rum-punched fruit.
01:50Quick-cooked strawberry mini cakes.
01:53When you want to have your cake and eat it now.
01:58And I pick up a few secrets to making fast, fresh food at one of London's coolest street food markets.
02:10But first, a simple loaf with a crunchy crust that I call my crackletop bread.
02:18Okay, so it starts with some strong white bread flour.
02:24And then a smidgen of strong wholemeal flour, just to give it a slightly nutty taste.
02:31Now I don't put too much of this in because otherwise the loaf can become really heavy.
02:38And then salt. You need a lot of salt. Salt is so important in bread.
02:44There's a difference between a good loaf and a bad loaf.
02:48So much of the flavour comes from the salt.
02:53And then yeast. One sachet.
02:56And then make a little hole in the centre.
03:00And then water.
03:05And this is warm water because it really boosts the yeast.
03:10Now what I'm looking for is this wonderfully soft, smooth ball of dough.
03:15Let's see now.
03:18See it's soft. It's squidgy. It's not really hard.
03:23And it's not too sticky.
03:26And you just have to knead it for ten minutes by hand.
03:30And you do want quite a lovely soft loaf because when it rises in the oven it will be beautiful and soft and pillowy.
03:40Form into a neat round shape. Then cover with oiled cling film.
03:44And leave to rise for around half an hour.
03:50Right, now for the crackle topping. And it couldn't be simpler.
03:56Teaspoon, roughly, of caster sugar.
04:00And a teaspoon of oil.
04:04A big tablespoon of rice flour.
04:09Just do it.
04:11A tablespoon of water.
04:14And a pinch of yeast.
04:17So you make this paste.
04:20And what you do is you spread this on the bread once it's risen.
04:24And then bake it off in the oven.
04:26And then the top will crackle beautifully.
04:29Okay, so this has been proving for about 45 minutes.
04:32And it hasn't doubled in size. It's kind of grown about 50 or 60 percent.
04:37So I'll just put this on top.
04:42And then I'll just pop this into the oven.
04:50Right, this goes in for about 25 to 30 minutes at 200 degrees.
05:05The best way to serve a loaf that looks this good is just whole at the table.
05:17Mmm.
05:19I think the thing I love most about baking is that transformation that happens in the oven.
05:24You know, you put in some bread or a cake, go away and do something else.
05:28And you come back, pull it out, and it's just transformed.
05:34And that's the beauty of baking.
05:38With a few simple ingredients and just a little know-how, you can make something really special.
05:50Like this next dish that takes minutes to make and only half an hour to bake.
05:55My rum punch roast fruits.
06:00Quarter two ripe pears and remove their core and place into a large roasting tin.
06:07Halve four ripe peaches and add along with four quartered figs.
06:12Drizzle over 250 ml of dark rum.
06:19Add three tablespoons of soft light brown sugar.
06:25And half a split vanilla pod.
06:29Add a cinnamon stick and a couple of rosemary sprigs.
06:37And the zest and juice of one orange.
06:47Bake for 30 minutes at 200 degrees C.
07:01Mix 250 ml of creme fraiche with 50 grams of icing sugar and the seeds of half a vanilla pod.
07:10Serve the vanilla cream with the deliciously soft and sticky fruits.
07:34Now this next dish doesn't require any fancy ingredients.
07:38Just some everyday store cupboard items and a little bit of time in the oven and you've got a delicious meal.
07:45So I'm going to start with about eight chicken wings and drumsticks there.
07:49Slide those in.
07:51And some artichoke.
07:53About kind of six squidges of this balsamic.
07:57Soy sauce.
07:58Drizzle that in there.
08:00And this is a real easy after work meal.
08:04Very little preparation involved.
08:06And then the all important Chinese five spice.
08:09I need about two tablespoons of this and this is packed with flavour.
08:12Cloves, star anise, fennel, cinnamon, ginger.
08:16Beautiful.
08:17A bit of honey to sweeten.
08:20And then herbs.
08:22So I've got thyme here.
08:26And then garlic.
08:30Salt and pepper, of course.
08:35You don't need too much because the soy sauce is really quite salty.
08:39And then stir it together.
08:43A little drizzle of oil.
08:46And then this, because it's been baked, goes in the roasting tin.
08:53Just slide it in there.
08:55All those lovely flavours all mixing together.
09:04And then into the oven to bake.
09:14Now for the slaw.
09:17Slice the red cabbage.
09:23Chop a red onion.
09:26And a red chilli.
09:28A handful of raisins.
09:31A teaspoon of mustard powder.
09:33Honey.
09:36Natural yoghurt.
09:40The juice of one lime.
09:43A bit of salt and pepper.
09:50And I've just mixed up some sweet corn and coriander with plain boiled rice for another simple side dish.
09:58Right.
09:59This is ready.
10:01Mmm.
10:03Baked barbecue chicken with a little bit of coriander on top.
10:09And I just love to serve this with my red cabbage slaw and my sweet corn and coriander rice.
10:14Yummy.
10:22I find it so satisfying to make something from scratch.
10:32And you just can't beat the wonderful aromas of freshly baked food.
10:43You know, I'm all for cutting culinary corners when you're in a rush with, for instance, shop-bought pastry.
10:48But with my pastry, you just bung it all in the food processor, blitz it and it's ready to go.
10:53It's super quick.
10:54And I'm using it to make my little dummy tart with brown sugar pastry.
11:03Now this is a basic sweet pastry recipe.
11:06Only I'm using brown sugar to give it a lovely butterscotch flavour.
11:11Mix plain flour with a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar.
11:15Measure out half the amount of butter to plain flour.
11:19One egg.
11:21And some salt.
11:24Blitz.
11:32Gather the mixture into a ball.
11:36And then place in the fridge to firm up for around 30 minutes.
11:43Then, using a rolling pin, roll the pastry onto a floured surface.
11:49Cut out 12 circles of pastry.
11:55Place in the holes of a greased muffin tin.
12:01Prick the pastry with a fork to stop it from puffing up during cooking.
12:06Spoon in a dollop of jam or lemon curd.
12:10Then sit a pastry star on top of each tart.
12:37Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees until crisp and golden brown.
12:49Then leave to cool slightly before eating as the jam inside will be piping hot.
12:59A cup of tea, jam tart, and I'm just about sorted.
13:12I'm really excited by Britain's thriving street food scene.
13:18There seems to be something for everyone, from hot meals to sweet treats.
13:26And lots of gorgeous baked goodies.
13:32And it kind of reminds me of when I first started.
13:34I used to get up really early in the morning, bake the cakes,
13:37and deliver them to locations around London in my little van.
13:40But today, I'm here to see Marco and Fran.
13:45They're putting the food from their beloved homeland, Austria, on the map.
13:50And they're keen to taste different foods that they have on offer.
13:57Hello, Marco.
13:58Hello, Lorraine.
13:59How are you doing?
14:00Very good, how are you?
14:01I'm good, thanks.
14:02I'm just going to tie my hair back, health and safety.
14:04So, tell me what you've been doing.
14:06What's going on?
14:07Basically, it's the traditional taste of Austria.
14:10We have Wienerschnitzel, which I think everyone knows.
14:13We use English rare breed pork in breadcrumbs with lingonberries.
14:19Our signature dish, it's Speckknudel.
14:22Knudel is dumpling, Speck is cold smoked bacon.
14:26Speckknudel.
14:27Speckknudel, absolutely, very good.
14:30We make little balls of the bacon and encase it in a pastry dough
14:34and then serve it on sauerkraut.
14:37Inside, it's delicious.
14:38It is, very yummy.
14:40Now, I have obviously had my eye on this.
14:44Apple strudel.
14:45Strudel.
14:47This is what I've come here for,
14:49to learn the art of making Austria's classic baked pudding,
14:53strudel from a true master.
14:57If you just want to shoot over to Franz,
14:59he will show you how to do the pastry.
15:01Fantastic.
15:02All right.
15:03Thank you, see you in a minute.
15:04Thank you, see you in a minute.
15:05Hey there.
15:06Hello.
15:07How are you doing?
15:08How are you doing?
15:09Franz has pre-made the dough for the all-important wafer-thin pastry.
15:13So it's had time to rest before we roll it out.
15:16And what's in this dough, then?
15:17So you've got strong white flour.
15:18Strong white flour.
15:19I've got one egg yolk in there, for that amount.
15:22Tiny shot of vinegar, just helps it to stretch.
15:25Strengthen the gluten.
15:26And then a little bit of oil.
15:29Now, the challenging part,
15:31slowly stretching the dough without making too many holes in it.
15:36In Austria, you have to know how to do this
15:38before you can actually get married.
15:40Slowly pull it outwards and just fold it over the edges.
15:43You need to be able to read your newspaper through this.
15:46Fantastic, look at that.
15:48So paper-thin.
15:49Don't worry about the little holes.
15:51We're going to make the most traditional one, obviously,
15:53which is the apple strudel.
15:54OK.
15:55And that's literally my grandma's recipe.
16:00Franz drizzled clarified butter all over the pastry.
16:05Then adds breadcrumbs.
16:08And the apples cooked in sugar and cinnamon.
16:12The only thing I changed to my grandma's recipe...
16:15Yeah?
16:16..is raisins.
16:17Ah, OK.
16:18But I soaked my raisins for three days in rum.
16:21I've just got this waft of alcohol.
16:28With all the ingredients in, it's time to roll.
16:31Now you're going to see why we put it on a tablecloth.
16:34Yeah.
16:35Because as the pastry is so thin,
16:37you would not be able to remove it from a normal table.
16:39It would just stick, wouldn't it?
16:41So we just lift up the sheet.
16:42Yeah.
16:44And then slowly...
16:46Slowly roll.
16:49There you go.
16:50And then you just pull your sheet back again
16:53and just keep rolling till the end.
16:55There you go.
16:56And that's it, then.
16:57Does it take long to cook this?
16:59I bake it at 175 degrees for 45 minutes.
17:02Thank you, that was really good to see.
17:04Welcome.
17:05OK, so that's the making of the strudel.
17:08Street markets are great places to sample food
17:11from all over the world.
17:16And it's not all about savoury dishes, as these boys have proven.
17:21Simple sweets and brilliant baking goes down a storm too.
17:35Mmm.
17:36Now, I really do love making cakes.
17:38Big ones, small ones, fancy ones.
17:40And at the moment, I'm really into this upside-down one
17:43called my dolce and banana cake.
17:46And it's sticky and gingery and just plain yummy.
17:49And I really hope that you like it.
17:58First, make the caramel.
18:01Mix soft brown sugar into melted butter.
18:08Grease and line a square tin with parchment paper.
18:11This will make it easier to remove the cake later.
18:15For the sponge, combine softened butter...
18:20..soft, light brown sugar...
18:26..and a pinch of salt.
18:31Four eggs.
18:35Wholemeal flour.
18:38Vanilla extract.
18:41Self-raising flour.
18:44Baking powder.
18:47Ground ginger.
18:49Ground cinnamon.
18:53Treacle.
18:55And a pinch of salt.
19:01MUSIC CONTINUES
19:05Add some toasted pecans.
19:08Slice two bananas, arranged on top of the caramel.
19:13Drizzle over the apple brandy.
19:17Spread the cake mix evenly in the tin.
19:21And bake for about 45 minutes at 180 degrees.
19:26Leave to cool for around ten minutes, and there you have it.
19:30A very delicious dolce and banana upside-down cake.
19:43I love baking pastries and cakes, as the results are so rewarding.
19:49But one of the simplest and most pleasing things to bake
19:52is a big joint of meat...
19:55..that you can just bung in the oven and leave for hours.
20:01Here's my slow-roast, fast-prep leg of lamb.
20:06OK, I've got this beautiful piece of meat here.
20:09Half leg of lamb.
20:11So lots of salt and pepper.
20:16And then...
20:19..into the pot. Like that.
20:23So I've got these herbs.
20:25Rosemary, bay and sage.
20:27I'm going to throw in about two branches of rosemary.
20:31And then two bay leaves.
20:34And then sage.
20:36Garlic.
20:38I'm just going to use my hand to break it into cloves.
20:42And I'm not going to bother chopping them, just bash them...
20:46..so that the flavours release nicely as it cooks.
20:50Now, the only bit of chopping for the lamb are the onions.
20:55So I've got two red onions and I just want to chop them into quarters.
21:06This is great for a Sunday roast, because there's such little prep involved.
21:13Good squidge of honey for some sweetness.
21:19And chardonnay.
21:21Now, I do love an Aussie chardonnay.
21:24I know it's a bit 1985, but I still like it.
21:26And it's great to cook with. Nice and oaky and woody.
21:30So I'm going to put about 500ml in here.
21:33About three quarters of a bottle.
21:37Pop the lid on.
21:41That goes into the oven...
21:44..for four hours at 150 degrees.
21:47And I know it sounds like ages, but that prep took, what, five minutes, if that?
21:53Now for the roasties.
22:05Halfway through cooking time, pop the spuds into the oven
22:08to cook for the last two hours.
22:23Four hours and everything is ready.
22:27Little patties.
22:30And the beautiful baked lamb.
22:38I just added some frozen peas to the dish ten minutes before the end of cooking time.
22:43And now, a little parsley to finish.
22:47This is ideal for lazy days,
22:50when you just want to throw something together and leave it to cook.
22:54A fuss-free roast.
23:13You just can't beat a great British strawberry.
23:16This sweet and juicy fruit looks as good as it tastes.
23:21And I love to use them in my baking
23:23to add a finishing flourish to my perfect little mini cakes.
23:31So people often say to me,
23:33I really love making cakes, but I don't have one of those fancy kitchen mixers at home.
23:37And I really want to learn how to make a cake by hand.
23:40So this recipe, my strawberry and cream mini cakes, is for you.
23:45And it starts with a wooden spoon, a bowl and some scales.
23:50And first, it's 250 grams of soft butter.
23:56And then 250 grams of caster sugar.
24:01And then I'm going to cream them together.
24:04Now, a lot of recipes say cream until light and fluffy.
24:08And it's very easy doing that with a mixer,
24:10but by hand, it's a little harder.
24:13Really smoosh it with the sugar to mix it all in.
24:20Right, that's just about ready.
24:23Nice and fluffy, a little bit lighter, and it's all combined.
24:27So I'm going to add the eggs now.
24:30So I'm going to add two at a time.
24:32If you add too many in one go, they don't blend nicely when you're doing it by hand.
24:36But the most important thing is to make sure that your eggs are room temperature.
24:40But just keep beating it really hard and it will come together.
24:48OK, so that's nice and smooth.
24:51And that's just what you want.
24:53And I'll add the other two eggs.
24:59And then beat it again, really hard.
25:02Really hard.
25:04It's the heat and the friction that will bring the mixture together and make it nice and smooth.
25:13Right, now the flour.
25:15250 grams of self-raising flour and a teaspoon of baking powder.
25:21Now, I just add baking powder, even though I'm using self-raising flour, just to give it an extra boost.
25:28Nice and smooth.
25:30Get right underneath it, if there's any stubborn bits of flour.
25:35And then it all combines nicely.
25:38And then, vanilla pod.
25:44Into the bowl, mix.
25:48You just need to check that your cake mix is of the right consistency.
25:52Because sometimes you might need to add just a tablespoon or so of milk or water.
25:56So to check, I put some on the end of my spoon.
26:00And then just shake once and it should just flop off like that.
26:05Now, finally, one pinch of salt, just to boost the flavour even more.
26:10Just a little bit.
26:13Couple of stirs.
26:15And now I'll fill my muffin cases.
26:18MUSIC
26:29Bake the cakes for 25 minutes at 180 degrees C.
26:37So, chocolate is melting, cakes are cooling, and now I'm going to get on with the cream.
26:42So I need 300 ml of double cream.
26:48There.
26:5050 grams of icing sugar.
26:53And then the seeds of vanilla pod.
26:58And I need to whisk everything together.
27:02Right.
27:03If you can make sure that your double cream is nice and cold, it will whisk up much more easily.
27:11Right, I'm almost ready to fill the cakes, but first I just need to cut them in half.
27:17MUSIC
27:20MUSIC
27:36For the finishing touch, pour the melted chocolate into a small piping bag.
27:41MUSIC
27:50MUSIC
27:56Well, I hope I've inspired you to get baking.
28:02Whether you fancy some meltingly tender roast lamb...
28:07..a gorgeous crunchy bread...
28:10..or some scrummy cakes and tarts,
28:13baking really can be surprisingly quick and easy to do.
28:17Then it's up to the oven to do all of the hard work.
28:22So, next time you want to put something extra special and impressive on the table,
28:26why not try baking? It really is that simple.
28:30Right, crew, anyone want a cake?
28:32CHEERING
28:34MUSIC
28:47MUSIC