James shows how anyone can impress their dinner party guests with some simple home-cooked recipes that look like restaurant dishes. He cooks a stylishly simple beef wellington, a show-stopping passion fruit delice, and a clever custard souffle using ready-made custard as a cheat.
Historian Ivan Day looks at macedoine jelly, a Victorian dessert with the real wow factor. Norwegian artisan producer Ole Hansen explains how his family’s passion for perfect smoked salmon led him to start his London-based business.
James Martin recipes:
Teriyaki mushroom risotto with red mullet and lime leaf foam
Jazz up a mushroom risotto with a fried fillet of red mullet and some Japanese flavours.
Cinnamon madeleines with winter caramel sauce
Delight your guests with a cinnamon twist on the usual dainty madeleine, served with aniseed flavoured caramel.
Tarragon stuffed crown of lamb with duchess potatoes
It might be a 70s throwback, but it’s no less delicious for it. If you want the full effect but don’t have the white caps for the bone ends you can use foil instead.
Method
For the duchess potatoes, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
Bake the potatoes in the oven for about 1-1¼ hours, or until tender when pierced by a knife.
For the tarragon stuffed crown of lamb, put the onion in a food processor and pulse until very finely chopped.
Heat a frying pan until warm, add the butter and onions and gently fry for a few minutes.
Add the mushrooms to the food processor and blend to a really fine purée, then add them to the frying pan. Turn the heat up to high and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until all the moisture from the mushrooms has been driven off.
Tip into a bowl with the tarragon, breadcrumbs and mince. Season generously with salt and black pepper.
Rub some butter over a sheet of aluminium foil. Place the foil on an oven tray, buttered side up.
Tie the two racks of lamb together to form a circle and place onto the buttered foil. Spoon the stuffing into the centre, packing down well. Place in the oven (set to 200C/400F/Gas 6) for 50-60 minutes then remove and rest for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, for the duchess potatoes, remove the potatoes from the oven and, when cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and pass it through a fine sieve into a bowl.
Beat to a smooth and fluffy purée then add the butter and egg yolks. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon into a piping bag then pipe little pyramids onto a baking tray and place in the oven for 5-10 minutes, or until golden-brown.
To serve, carve the lamb and serve with the duchess potatoes.
Lemon tart
The classic lemon tart served with a glazed top and a dollop of crème fraîche.
