Live webchat with top TV chef James Martin - Thurs 25 Oct 3.30-4.30pm

bababa

Hello James

I have just been given one of your slow cookers. I'm delighted but a novice - what tips can you give me for using it (or any other model of course)? Are there principles that one must adhere to?

The definition of slow cooking would be minimum prep, maximum flavour. To start with, do something with chicken mushrooms tomatoes and tarragon with onions, gently cooked for an hour and then move on to other dishes.

rosiemus

Hello James can you recommend me a pudding that you can bung in the oven for ages but that isn't a milk pud (school put me off those forever) Thank you

Christmas pudding is just around the corner - there's your prime example. Because of its texture it requires a long time cooking.

Steamed puddings are a great emphasis of slow cooking and how good does a treacle sponge taste??

sofasogood

Hi James, do you have to be careful about what you eat, being on television and all? Your food looks so yummy I think I would be the size of a house if I got the chance to eat it. <thinks username should really be greedypants>

I passed caring. I'm 40 years old - I've worked in kitchens all my life. I feel now, I should be able to sit back and enjoy something to eat that somebody else has cooked, without worrying about how many carbohydrates it's got.

GrannyBusy

Hello James
Am I allowed two questions?

Any tips on an easy way to convert slow cooker recipes to use in an Aga?

Also what was your favourite dance on Strictly?
Thanks

The waltz or foxtrot - for that or ballroom, being tall helped! I hated Latin! Ballroom was fine. They put you in these disgusting costumes!

Agas are the perfect slow cooker. Open up the top, you lose all the heat, and it takes 12 hours to heat up again! On the farm, I think the dog enjoyed the Aga more than my mum did cooking on it! Just don't bother making meringues in them.

wastrel

How did you get into writing about cars? (We prefer you to that other bloke, the one with the annoying opinions about everything else)

I started collecting cars, and that led to a journalist interviewing me about my dessert book, and he wanted to know what all the garages were. That's how I started!

CharlieMouseWillDo

Hi James, What size slow cooker would you recommend to feed two adults and a toddler?

Standard slow cooker size - any will do. But generally they won't be too small, otherwise they can dry out. You need it a decent size, because generally all your veg etc, is all cooked in together.

glassortwo

james is it correct you should not put fresh herbs in a slow cooker?

I hope you have brought a nice cake with you for the GNHQ girls.

Not really, you can do what you want – the idea of fresh herbs is generally, they can go in either halfway through or at the end. But hard herbs such as thyme rosemary and sage go in at the start.

closetgran

I had confit lamb at a party last weekend and very nice it was too. What does confit actually mean and how do you do it?

Confit means slow cooking in fat or oil. The traditional way is to salt it first with a light coating of sea salt for a few hours, and then slowly cook in at 80-90 degrees in duck fat or oil. The most traditional thing to confit is duck leg as it softens the meat as it cooks.

oldflame

Eeek, I just read your answer about cooking beef in cling film. Is that SAFE? Aren't there hideous chemicals that are turning all the fish in the sea female or something? And delaying the menopause (or perhaps bringing it on early, can't remember)?

It's your personal choice, but we do it all the time in the kitchen! Don't get confused between clingfilm and foodwrap! Big difference!

Thanks for watching Saturday Kitchen! For those of you that don’t watch – I was that fat bloke from Strictly come Dancing in 2006!!

Hope you enjoy the book – it’s been a pleasure to write and a long time coming. Tune in Sat for Dawn French, and then my mum’s heartthrob Alfie Boe is on in a couple of weeks!