Original subtitles

So, Jo, did you know I have a Japanese-inspired restaurant

in London? Oh, I did not.

Yeah, yeah. Well, I am going to London,

so, I might have to go and check it out.

Please. We'll look after you for sure.

Nice.

But I'm gonna do one of my signature dishes today from the restaurant,

which is a tuna sashimi,

which I absolutely love.

One of my favourite ways to eat tuna.

Well, I am going to be Italian-inspired

because when I'm in an Italian restaurant

there is one dish that I find it very hard to go past,

and that is the seafood spaghetti.

I absolutely love it.

And I'm going to give you the easy-to-do at-home version.

I think we overdo seafood spaghetti sometimes,

so, I think you're going to enjoy the simplicity of my seafood spaghetti.

(THEME MUSIC PLAYS)

If you're looking for a really quick, you know, midweek meal,

honestly, seafood pasta is brilliant because it is so, so fast.

The best tip I ever got from an Italian nonna

was to make sure that your water for cooking your pasta...

Look at me making my mess with the salt.

(BOTH LAUGH)

But make sure that your water tastes like seawater.

That's what it should be like.

Now, I love this pasta. It's beautiful.

Isn't it gorgeous? Yeah.

It's slow-dried. It's actually a little bit lower in gluten.

And the way that it's made, because it's that slow process,

one, I think makes it feel more like authentic pasta...

Would you agree, Mike? Well, it looks it.

You can tell the difference just from the look, you know?

It's that darker colour. It's not bright yellow.

Yeah. It looks authentic.

And that roughness actually means it holds on to the sauce a lot better.

So, I'm going to pop that into my boiling water.

It will take a little bit longer

than some of those, you know, fast supermarket pastas.

It's really not going to take very long at all.

Anything in life worth having is worth waiting for.

Exactly. Exactly. What do you want me to do, Jo?

And then I would love you to chop up my red onion.

Mm-hm. Just nice and fine slices.

So, I'm going to leave my seafood...

The other thing is, don't cut it up

too small.

I'm going to put it into nice, big chunks.

And then

I'm going to cook the fish first.

Then I'm going to cook the prawns.

And lastly I'm going to do the squid.

So, extra-virgin olive oil

goes into my hot pan.

I'm just going to fry off these little fish pieces

until they're just cooked.

And I'm using a mixture of white and oily fish.

So, you're getting those omega-3s.

More of those in the oily fish.

All fish and seafood is high in protein.

OK. That's good.

And I might get you to slice that up for me.

No problem. Can I do that?

Do you want it in rings or down the middle?

I want it in rings, I think. Thank you.

And I have just used frozen fish here because it's so convenient.

I've got it in my freezer all the time.

It cooks up really nicely for a dish like this.

It's portion-controlled, so, you take out exactly what you want.

And that's actually a big part.

It's not just about having sustainable seafood

but it's about also limiting food waste.

And that's the most important thing

we can do as consumers

to lower the environmental footprint of our diet

is to actually lower the amount of food that you're wasting.

So, it's just a really clever

way of doing that.

Then I'm going to pop my prawns in.

Prawns only take literally seconds.

The minute they turn pink, pull them out.

And the squid is going to go in last.

So, squid, again, will cook really, really quickly.

You literally just want to fry it in the pan and that's it.

Prawns are really high in lots of different nutrients.

I think we think prawns are a bit naughty. I don't know why.

Not at all. No!

Especially when you saute them or, like, beautiful grilled prawns.

They're just great.

Fabulous source of protein.

You're getting some minerals and nutrients in there,

they do have some iodine, they've even got a few little omega-3 fats.

So, you know, they're a great addition.

I'm going to pop them out the pan.

That was some very loud chopping. Was I loud?

(LAUGHS)

Sorry. (LAUGHS) No, no, that was good.

It was expert chopping by Mike.

You can always tell a chef, a proper chef.

OK, so, my squid is going in.

And then literally, once I get this out the pan,

we're going to do the same thing with the veggies.

OK.

So, see how quick that is?

And pull the squid out of the pan. I'm just going to set that aside.

Do you remember squid rings? Oh!

Oh, that makes me think of family holidays in Mallorca.

(LAUGHS) Breaded squid rings.

100%.

That was like the sort of an '80s and '90s dish,

wasn't it?

OK, so, a little more olive oil is going into the pan

and I'm going to saute my veggies.

So, my red onion and capsicum.

I like to hold off on the garlic

a little bit. Yeah.

You know, you can destroy some of the compounds that are present in garlic.

But I also don't want the garlic to burn.

I kind of like that garlicky flavour,

whether that's the right cheffy thing to do or not.

Jo, however you want to do it is right for you.

(BOTH LAUGH) Good answer, Mike. Good answer.

And we want to saute this for a little bit longer

than we did with the fish

because I want that onion and capsicum

to be nice and soft.

As soon as the onion is starting to be translucent,

that's when

you're ready to go.

OK.

I think I can now start to add my garlic.

In that goes.

You can never have enough garlic, eh?

No!

So, add as much garlic as you like into the pan.

I'm going to do a little pinch of salt in there.

Now just push your veggies to one side,

and I'm going to throw in my wine.

I love that smell of you glassing the pan with the wine.

Isn't it beautiful? This's gonna be like a very almost,

you know, loose sauce, right?

Yeah. Do you know what?

A lot of marinara... So, I'm going to use some fresh cherry tomatoes.

A lot of marinaras have a quite rich, heavy tomato sauce.

I'm not a fan of that.

So, I like putting some tomatoes in, but just little half-cherry tomatoes

and I want them just softened through the pasta.

But, you know, this is the hero of the dish.

Yeah. I agree. So, don't want to overwhelm it.

Maybe you can get those... Jo, it's exactly how...

..some herbs for me. Of course I can.

It's exactly how I do my seafood pastas.

Oh, I'm going to take that as a compliment.

Yeah, I never use, like,

proper sauces or rich sauces.

Fresh tomatoes in there with the onions, the garlic, the wine.

That's all you need. Yeah. Beautiful.

OK. The lemon is going to be last.

That is looking really, really lovely.

I'm going to throw in my pasta.

I want a little bit of that pasta water.

It's just adding a little bit of the salt

but also that starch that's in

will just help to kind of

slightly thicken up my sauce.

Give that a stir in.

A good grind of black pepper.

My beautifully chopped green herbs.

And this was just a mixture

of oregano, some basil

and some parsley is going in.

Give that all a stir.

And then finally my seafood goes back into the pan

along with any juices on that plate.

I'm going to squeeze over some lemon juice.

I can turn off my heat now.

So, we are ready to plate up.

And that is another top tip is serve it straightaway

otherwise that seafood is going to keep cooking.

It's hot in here,

so, you want to serve it immediately.

And then I would do

an extra little cheeky drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

A couple of fresh herbs of my basil

on the top,

and that is better than anything

you're going to get in your local restaurant, I think.

And you've made it at home.

Looks absolutely delicious and smells stunning, Jo.

Well done. Yeah. Beautiful. Nice.

I love doing sashimi when I've got people coming over for dinner.

Do you know what I mean? Like, it's one of those dishes

which actually takes very little preparation

but looks super impressive when you serve.

So, it's an easy win with a dinner party.

Yeah. Totally agree.

But I think it's all this stuff that's going on...

Yeah. ..that people get confused about

because the sashimi itself is all about the grade that you buy, right?

100%. So, talk us through that.

Well, it's the quality of the fish, right?

So, sushi-A-grade tuna

is what you want when you're going to be eating it raw.

Go to a good fishmonger, get it in the morning.

And then it's just about...

You can get them to do the preparation

or you can experiment yourself.

And basically I do this sashimi...

I'm going to do it slightly differently

than maybe what you would traditionally see in a restaurant

or attempt at home. It's quite a thick slice.

Yeah, it is.

And I'm basically going to use two slices like that

and I'm going to cut it into a bar.

While I cut this,

can you make me the puree? Sure.

And we're going to use avocado, creme fraiche, fresh horseradish,

which I absolutely love.

Oh, me too. Looks like this.

You can grab it in a good food market.

And then a little bit of wasabi just for that heat

and, you know, punch that you expect from a sashimi.

Yeah, I love wasabi, horseradish, mustard.

Oh, you love it.

Beautiful. It's such a surprising heat.

And obviously I love fresh wasabi.

But I love the paste as well.

I've always got them in the cupboard.

And the powders as well, you know.

But it's such a distinctive heat

because it's not like a chilli hot, it's so different.

It's almost like a burn-your-nose off hot.

(BOTH LAUGH)

I don't know if I've ever seen wasabi...

Or I certainly haven't used it.

So, it looks a bit like the horseradish, right?

Yeah. It looks very similar. And then you just grate.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

The difference with fresh and the paste or the powders

is it doesn't retain its heat, so,

once you freshly grate wasabi,

it loses its heat after a couple of minutes max.

Which is why when you actually buy the paste or the powders,

they're always cut with horseradish

because that's where the heat actually comes from.

You get the wasabi flavour,

but the heat comes from the horseradish when it's not fresh.

So, I'm literally cutting the tuna

into little cubes,

and then I'm gonna plate it up in a way which is just a little fun.

So, I'm going to put this straight onto my plate now

to make it nice and easy before I make a dressing.

So, almost like

making a chess board in a sense.

This smells amazing, by the way.

Which one? The horseradish.

(LAUGHS)

Yum! It's so good. I love it, I love it.

I have to admit I love horseradish with my beef as well.

Yeah.

It's the Scottish in you coming out. It is.

(LAUGHS) I love fresh horseradish.

I can never make my mind up

whether I'm doing mustard or horseradish with my beef.

Oh, really?

Both. Why would you choose? Do both.

Oh! I didn't even think of that.

Why would you choose, Jo?

So, I'm going to make a very quick ponzu dressing now.

And here I've just got some dark soy

and some light soy,

some sesame oil

and yuzu juice,

which is one of my favourite citruses to cook with.

Like, it's almost in between...

I don't know, like a lemon and lime,

like, it's a Japanese citrus fruit.

It is delicious.

So, so good.

If you can't find yuzu, you can use lemon,

you know you can use orange, you could use a combination of them all.

And then a good dashi really brings this together.

Like, a good dashi, it's like...

Fish sauces that you can buy,

they're great, they give you that umami.

Dashi is another level up, you know.

So, I always use dashi rather than fish sauce

when I'm doing things like this.

And you can get that in Asian supermarkets, right?

Or good grocers. Yeah, you can buy it

in, like, the big supermarkets now as well.

But, yeah, good Asian suppliers - 100%.

Would you like to have a taste of this...

Love to. ..before I take it out of the mixer

in case you want to adjust?

Beautiful. Salt. Good?

Yeah. A little bit of salt. OK.

A little smoother in the blitz as well.

OK.

OK, so, with the ponzu, that's pretty much done now as well.

Like, it's that easy.

Give it a taste.

Mmm.

The sesame coming through, the nuttiness,

the citrus kick with that acidity, the salty umami.

It's beautiful!

Alright.

We're almost ready to plate.

I'll give this another blitz for you, Chef?

Yes, please.

(LAUGHS)

Looks good.

I love that gorgeous green colour,

like, the vibrancy from the avocado,

that wasabi as well.

OK. Beautiful.

We're gonna give this a bit of a mix, we're gonna put it in a piping bag

and we're gonna start plating up.

Alright. And then I'm basically going to fill these vacant spaces.

Ah!

Now I see what you mean by, like, a checkerboard.

Yeah.

And it's when we get to see

that beautiful puree.

I find piping so therapeutic.

I can see that it's kind of...

I don't do it often, but, it's kind of meditative, right?

That's it.

And then we're going to top it

with some beautiful nasturtium.

So pretty. I'm just going to go...

Oh, it's gorgeous.

And, like, nasturtium,

like, I love using it with food because it's really peppery.

Like, it's naturally peppery.

So, it's a good way to introduce pepper to the dish

without actually adding black pepper or white pepper.

Yeah. Which we use all the time.

Yeah.

It's much more gentle.

Then some ginger.

Now, I do love this,

when you get good sliced ginger.

It's beautiful, eh?

Not the horribly coloured stuff.

The real deal like that. No, nice and natural.

So, I'm just going to put a few strands.

Not too much because it's more of a cleanser.

Mm. You know?

You don't want it to overpower the dish.

So, there you have it.

My tuna sashimi

with wasabi creme fraiche,

avocado, pickled ginger, nasturtium

and a gorgeous ponzu dressing.

That is my kind of dish, Mike.

Mine too. It's really beautiful.

Fresh, vibrant. Lots of colour. Yeah.

You want to eat it with your eyes.

Gorgeous. Thank you.

Mega veg dhal -

definitely a recipe that I lived off for a period of my life,

and rightly so because it's full of the goodness.

So many veggies packed into this recipe

with lots of good sources of plant protein and fibre and healthy fats.

It really is one of those ultimate meals that ticks so many boxes.

To kick it off let's get our veggies in the oven.

So, I've got a mix of cauliflower, zucchini

and I put Dutch carrots in on this one

because they'll all cook

at a similar rate.

So, we'll get them on a tray with some extra-virgin olive oil

or some coconut oil or avocado oil, whichever one you wish.

I like the extra-virgin olive oil for the roast veggies

because if you don't eat all of them in the dhal,

you know that you've got some good roast veggies to throw into salads

or other dishes throughout the rest of the week.

And they haven't been spiced or anything.

They're always a goodie to have on hand

just to make life and meal prep that little bit easier.

Then just pop it in the oven at 180 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.

So, now it's time to make our dhal.

This is a really easy dish,

but I think it's one maybe a lot of people

are a little bit unsure about starting on,

so, let's make it super simple for you.

Get some coconut oil into the pan.

The coconut oil in this part and this recipe is really important

because we get all those beautiful flavours of the coconut

going in there,

which complement so well with the Indian spices.

So, get our onion into the pan on about a medium heat.

Along with our garlic.

You could also add in

some fresh grated ginger at this point if you'd like,

but I'm just going to go with onion and garlic for today.

And our spices.

So, a beautiful hit of the golden turmeric,

one of my favourite anti-inflammatory spices.

Some ground cinnamon.

And remember that cinnamon also adds in that element of sweet,

so, it complements beautifully.

Some fenugreek seeds,

which, look, I know aren't necessarily

in everyone's spice cabinet,

so, they're OK to leave out if you don't have them.

But if you do, get them in there.

A pinch of chilli for me today

because I feel like warming things up.

Some ground cumin.

And some curry powder too.

About half to one teaspoon of the curry powder.

So, we'll let our onion, garlic and all of our spices

cook for around two to three minutes.

I've cut the onion quite small

so that it cooks more quickly

and so that when we introduce the lentils into the dish

it's a similar size and everything just cooks at the same rate.

OK. These are ready for the lentils.

So, I'm using a red split pea or lentil today

because they cook quickly.

There's lots of variations that you can make on dhal.

I just prefer this one because

of how quickly it cooks.

But you might have tried a more traditional moong dhal

or maybe none at all and this will be your first,

so, it'll be a good time, for sure.

Give it all a bit of a stir.

Then you add the coconut milk or cream.

Again, just use what's on hand in the pantry.

Make life easy for yourself.

And we'll need around two and three-quarter cups

to three cups of water.

I think probably one of the biggest mistakes people make

when it comes to making a dhal

is that they let it dry up too much,

and dhal is quite a loose dish,

it's meant to be

in between a curry consistency and almost like a thick soup.

That's the nature of it.

So, if you don't have enough water or liquid in there,

you will find that things will dry up

and you'll be eating something

that is not quite the dhal you're hoping for.

So, we'll bring that to a simmer

and we'll let that simmer for around 25 to 30 minutes.

We'll check on it throughout.

Add a little bit of salt and pepper if you like.

And then it'll come out in perfect time with our roasted veggies,

and we'll serve it all up with some rice.

The smells in this kitchen right now are epic.

I've cooked the rice. Only took a couple of minutes in the microwave.

It's a coconut basmati rice, so, it's absolutely perfect with a dhal.

But, to be honest, it's great to keep the other varieties in the cupboard

for when you're cooking at other times as well,

like the plain basmati too.

Then we'll get all of our roasted veggies in.

So many good veggies here.

Lots of colour,

so, it's making it a really vibrant dhal.

I'm pretty generous on my veggies

and it's a really easy way to up your veg intake in one meal.

Then we'll spoon over our dhal, which has been cooked to perfection.

Honestly, this is like fast food made healthy, right?

Everything was prepped really easily

with the microwave rice,

the dhal cooking quickly

and the veggies going in the oven.

It's the best way to eat fast on a budget and with good health.

I love the richness of colour in the dhal that's come from the turmeric.

Makes all of it pop out

and just screams good nutrition, lots of flavour

and the spices smell so great.

I'm going to finish off with some coriander.

That's totally up to you. I love coriander.

I think it works so well with these dishes.

And then some cashew nuts to finish.

And that, friends, is a veggie-packed dhal

full of good nutrition, full of flavour,

and it's like a little bit of a hug to your tummy too.

Captions by Red Bee Media