Tom Kerridge’s Best Ever Dishes

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Overview

Double-Michelin starred chef, Tom Kerridge, creates his best ever versions of some of our favourite dishes, from tomato soup to treacle tart, roast lamb to rice pudding. Tom will shake up these classics, share his cooking tips and transform these well-known favourites from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Give the Kerridge twist to a simple lasagne and you’ll discover that every mouthful is a taste explosion. Put a special spin on a chocolate tart, and you’ll transform it into an exceptional, melt-in-the-mouth pudding.

As the most down-to-earth but high flying chef on the food scene, Tom Kerridge is known for his big flavours and beautifully crafted yet accessible food. He believes that the difference between a good dish and a great dish is flavour. It might be a surprising ingredient you’ve never tried in your favourite dish or simple tips to get the most out of those ingredients that will make all the difference.

In each episode Tom cooks five mouth-watering dishes including mains, sides and desserts ranging from roasts to salads, classic puddings, tarts and pies. He’ll even cook for a critical crowd in order to persuade them that his dishes are worth the extra effort and really are the best ever.

Tom also meets characters striving to do their best ever version of a dish, whether at a South London barbecue joint, or a Malaysian themed supper club, in an attempt to discover some of the secrets behind their own amazing dishes. Tom uses some of his discoveries in his own dishes to make them even better.

11 – 17 Nov: Episode  6 – Lush Lunches

Tom believes that we all deserve a proper lunch and he’s not talking about soggy sandwiches and a packet of crisps. In this episode Tom shows us some great recipes for livening up your lunches and making them proper lush. First up its tomato soup done properly – made with fresh tomatoes and thickened with bread. There’s his twist on a classic ham and mushroom pie and then he makes a crispy duck salad with an Asian style dressing that will blow any chicken Caesar out of the water.

He visits a steelworks in York to cook up the ultimate steak sandwich. The Pittsburgh black and blue steak was so named because the steelworkers would apparently cook their meat on the hot steel so it was black on the outside and blue on the inside. Tom wants to see if this really works cook and the hungry guys at the metal works certainly seem to think so as the steak sandwiches go down much better than their usual lunch options. For dessert Tom serves up a light muscovado cream topped with fruit that can be made up in advance and are perfect lunch time treat.

Episode 1 – Crowd pleasers:

In this episode, Tom’s serving up some great crowd pleasing dishes, perfect for sharing with mates at a party.  However, there are no canapes on this menu – Tom likes to make proper hearty food for his guests that you can eat in your hands, packed full of flavour. To start he transforms ordinary filled potato skins into extraordinary crispy stuffed skins filled with creamy Roquefort and salty pancetta.

Recipes:

Episode 2 – Takeaways:

In this episode, Tom creates dishes inspired by some of his favourite takeaway foods.  This is the kind of casual grab and go food that puts a smile on people’s faces. He starts with a puff pastry pizza that saves on making pizza dough and is topped with delicious crispy beef. He cooks an upmarket version of the classic post pub takeaway — the doner kebab. He swaps the usual lamb for duck, marinates it in Asian flavours and threads it on to lemongrass skewers for maximum flavour.

Recipes:

Episode 3 – Weekend Specials

This episode is all about dishes for the weekend – when you’ve got a bit more time to enjoy being in the kitchen and cook yourself something extra special to share with family and friends.

Tom turns an ordinary leg of lamb into an extraordinary dish by roasting it wrapped in branches of bay leaves to pack in extra flavour.  He wants to shake up our Sunday sides so is salt baking garlic and lemon before stirring it through some wilted greens – way better than boring boiled broccoli.

Recipes:

 

Episode 4 – Tasty Dinners

Tom believes that we should cook and eat good food no matter what day of the week it is.  So he’s got some incredible dishes up his sleeve that are quick to make without compromising on flavour.  These dishes are fuss free, like his lemon pepper chicken – a whole meal in one pan that saves on the washing up.  He shows us how to spice up traditional lamb chops by giving the Barnsley chop a North African twist and serving it with a courgette and feta salad with a rather unusual dressing.

He wants to bring an old retro dinner back into fashion – scampi and chips so shows us how to do a really tasty home made version with some fresh monkfish and a fantastic crispy batter.  And for pudding, there an easy mid-week option – a rice pudding that’s quite unlike any you’ll have tried before and it only takes half an hour to make.  These dishes should definitely persuade you to leave those ready meals on the shelves.

Recipes:

 

Episode 5 – Old Skool Favourites

In this episode, Tom cooks dishes based on some of his favourites from his childhood. These dishes bring back many happy memories, full of flavours that he loves and that he’s improved on over the years. Dishes like chicken kiev that he brings bang up to date showing us a fantastic home- made version that’s almost as easy to make as it is to get out of a packet. There’s a corn on the cob dish with a burnt onion sauce to liven up this often overlooked but delicious side dish.

Tom recreates his version of his mum’s sausage roast that he enjoyed growing up and visits a Gloucester old spot farm to find the best pork possible to use for his recipe. He cooks his version of a lasagne with a few twists you won’t have tried before that are guaranteed to pack in extra flavour. Lastly he visits his old school in an attempt to put an old fashioned pudding back on the menu. But how will his pineapple upside down cake go down with a group of hungry teenagers?

Recipes:

Episode 6 – Lush Lunches

Tom believes that we all deserve a proper lunch and he’s not talking about soggy sandwiches and a packet of crisps. In this episode Tom shows us some great recipes for livening up your lunches and making them proper lush. First up its tomato soup done properly – made with fresh tomatoes and thickened with bread. There’s his twist on a classic ham and mushroom pie and then he makes a crispy duck salad with an Asian style dressing that will blow any chicken Caesar out of the water.

He visits a steelworks in York to cook up the ultimate steak sandwich. The Pittsburgh black and blue steak was so named because the steelworkers would apparently cook their meat on the hot steel so it was black on the outside and blue on the inside. Tom wants to see if this really works cook and the hungry guys at the metal works certainly seem to think so as the steak sandwiches go down much better than their usual lunch options. For dessert Tom serves up a light muscovado cream topped with fruit that can be made up in advance and are perfect lunch time treat.