Celebrity Best Home Cook episode 3: The search for the first ever Celebrity Best Home Cook continues, as queen of home cooking Dame Mary Berry, Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett and fresh produce expert Chris Bavin put the remaining eight talented celebrity home cooks through their paces. On hand to playfully encourage the cooks is Claudia Winkleman.
Day One’s Ultimate is all about having friends to stay over, as Mary Berry asks the celebrities to make their very best ultimate breakfast. The cooks must go all out to impress, and it’s tortillas at dawn as two celebrities engage in a Mexican stand-off, but will the quesadilla or the breakfast burrito win the day? Meanwhile romance is in the air for one celebrity as he tries to seduce the judges with an edible crossword. At the end of this round, each judge picks their favourite dish, but will a judges’ favourite be enough to save them from the dreaded Eliminator?
On Day Two, Chris picks an apple as the secret ingredient for his Rustle Up round, and the celebrities must think on their feet to produce a dish that will wow the judges. At the end of the round, the judges must then decide, taking both the Ultimate and the Rustle Up into account, who is safe and who needs to prove themselves by cooking again in Angela’s Eliminator.
Tasked with following another of Angela’s recipes in the Eliminator round, the celebrities asked to cook again have one last chance to save themselves and stay in the competition. The challenge is judged blind, so at the end of the round, the judges must agree which dish is their least favourite without knowing who has cooked it. The celebrity who has cooked the worst dish must then leave the competition.
In a shock exit, eight celebrities become seven.
Celebrity Best Home Cook episode 3 recipes:
Breakfast quesadillas
For a leisurely weekend brunch or a light meal any day of the week, these breakfast quesadillas are filled with bacon and scrambled eggs and served with colourful salsas, guacamole and refried beans.
Method:
- First make the salsas. For the tomato salsa, put the tomatoes in a bowl. Mix in the onion and jalapeños. Add the honey, lime juice, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and mix well. Add the coriander and set aside for 30 minutes. Make the mango salsa in the same way, in a separate bowl.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
- Heat a frying pan over a high heat and add a knob of butter. Cook the bacon for a few minutes until crisp. Remove from the heat and leave to cool a little.
- Whisk the eggs together with salt and pepper and a splash of milk. Melt a large knob of butter in a non-stick saucepan. Add the eggs and cook over a low heat, stirring until the eggs are softly scrambled. Remove from the heat.
- To assemble, melt a little more butter. Lay the tortillas on a board and lightly brush with the melted butter. Place a quarter of the bacon on one half of each tortilla. Top with the scrambled egg, and a couple of tablespoons of tomato salsa. Sprinkle on some chopped red onion, grated cheese and a little chopped coriander; don’t overfill.
- Fold over the tortilla to make a semicircle shape, brush the top with more melted butter and sprinkle over a pinch of cayenne pepper. Cut each tortilla in half and carefully place on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Leave to cool slightly and serve with the mango salsa, soured cream, guacamole, refried beans and any remaining tomato salsa.
Kitchari with kedgeree toppings
You could call this ‘a kitsch brekkie’: it’s a combination of Indian kitchari – a spicy dish of rice and split pulses – and kedgeree – the British version of the dish, with smoked fish and hard-boiled eggs. It would also make a brilliant midweek supper.
Method:
- Heat the ghee in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cumin seeds and fry for 8–10 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened.
- Add the ginger, chilli and tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in the turmeric and asafoetida and continue to cook, stirring, until the tomatoes have softened.
- Add the mung dal and rice and stir well. Pour in 1.7 litres/3 pints water and season well with salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and cover with a lid. Simmer gently for 25–30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beans are cooked and tender. Add more boiling water if necessary – the mixture should be quite wet.
- While the rice mixture is cooking, make the kedgeree toppings. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, lower in the eggs, reduce the heat and simmer for 6–7 minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water. Once cool enough to handle, peel and cut in half or quarters.
- Pour the milk into a wide pan and bring to a simmer. Add the smoked haddock and gently poach for 6–8 minutes, turning once, until the fish is cooked and begins to flake. Remove from the poaching liquid and, once cool enough to handle, flake into pieces, removing any bones.
- Serve the rice mixture in bowls. Top with the flaked haddock and the eggs. Scatter with coriander and serve with lemon wedges.