Celebrity Masterchef winner Sophie Thompson Q&A

fmonson

What is your view on the popularity of baking sweet goodies given the increase in obesity and diabetes from too much sugar?

Re sweet things - I must admit I don’t have a very sweet tooth. I am a cheese, rather than a pudding girl! I think we all sort of know that cakes and sweets should be seen as treats really, and celebrated immensely, but best eaten in moderation.

Miriam

I would love to enter for Masterchef but honestly how hard is it really in the professional kitchen? I would be a bundle of nerves and so scared I would make a complete hash of everything.

If you would love to enter for Masterchef Miriam - DO it! Yes it is nerve wracking in a pro kitchen and all the rest… but a challenge is a wonderful thing and doesn’t half shake you up. You wouldn’t make a complete hash of everything I feel sure - surprise yourself!

ALLGOODTHYNGS

Would love to know- when you have some time and you're not cooking for others what would you choose to cook for yourself as a FAVOURITE, meal?

If I am cooking for myself I keep it ridiculously simple - I will do my dad’s fried cheese, or scrambled eggs and a kipper. If I cooked myself my favourite meal, it would be a cracking Lobster Thermidor!

Spidergran

My darling hubby and I eat homemade traditional food on a daily basis and would love to keep the handed-down recipes alive but it is so difficult to encourage the Grandchildren to eat this type of food as at home they have working parents with very little time who do not cook as a priority and rely on frozen fast foods most of the time. I feel the blandness of convenience food spoils their ability to taste properly and the excess suger added to foods that do not require sugar as an ingredient only confuses their tastebuds as they have sweet expectations of every food.My question is how can I get them to like and appreciate good food?

I think kids operate with food pretty much the same as the rest of us - if it smells and looks good and is served up with a smattering of joy and no strings attached - everyone’s laughing. My two boys have been reasonably open to things - though they can be very conservative sometimes, it’s quite funny! I think remain as relaxed as poss, and continue to give them the food you know and love and share it with them. Keep it simple, and fun too - stuff you can eat with your hands, things you can assemble yourself and make a bit of a mess with.

nannienet

Hi There
I would like to know what would you say is the best way to store home made cakes?
Many thanks Nannienet

I’m not the most cake-y girl in the world - and when we do have cakes it is usually for an occasion and they need no storing! That said, I have some very pretty old tins that do for a day or two, with some added grease proof in the lid, and also a large tupperware box which I store my very boozy Xmas cake in!

murphysmum

Well done Sophie on all your recent success. I'm keen to try out from your new book.

Meantime can you advise on an "equipment" problem?

We've just moved house and the kitchen in our new house was deliberately laid out to only have a gas hob! There is no oven or grill of any description.

Previous owner loathed oven-cleaning, and everybody I ask for advice simply falls about laughing in disbelief.

I so miss having my old electric fan oven, and use of a grill, but having just bought the house, we can't afford a new kitchen just yet.

I need an interim and versatile solution for cooking a regular sit down evening meal for four grown-ups.

What kit (if any) would you recommend Sophie as an economical and efficient stopgap - there's nowhere to slide in a stand alone cooker, although there is plenty free counter top, and hob has five gas rings.

I'd value your thoughts on what to do, and would love to hear back from you.

I love cooking in a wok on the hob - you can do a variety of stir fries and curries, chicken and fish dishes - they are also very cheap to buy in China Town. Slow stews in heavy bottomed pans? And gorgeous fish cakes in a big frying pan… Embrace your hob - I think it will embrace you back!

inishowen

What's the best way to cook roast beef? I like it well done but it's often tough. My daughter says put it in a casserole dish with an inch of water. Does this work? When we go out for Sunday lunch the beef is always tender and I wish I could achieve the same.

I cook beef very slowly and for rather a long time as I am not keen on very rare roast beef… I also cook it sitting in a lot of wine and herbs and loveliness which I think goes to help keeping it tender. I also think getting the best piece of beef you can stretch to is a help - happy meat tends to do the trick.

ghartfarm

Hi Sophie,
I love making bread the traditional way. How can I vary the crust, please?

Gill

I am sooo sorry but I am going to have to pass on this one. I am not really a bread baker… yet!

bumblebee

Congratulations, Sophie, on winning Celebrity Masterchef 2014, and on your exciting new book.

I'd like to ask you a few general questions, if I may ......

QUESTION ONE:- You've had a long and distinguished career performing in television, theatre, and cinema. How different, and how much of a challenge, was writing as compared to acting?
QUESTION TWO:- Do you have a personal favourite out of the recipes in your book? And an all-time favourite recipe ?
QUESTION THREE:- Reading the synopsis, your book appears to be a mix of your own recipes, as well as ones from your friends and family. Are they all original recipes, or a mixture of original and adapted?
... and finally ...
QUESTION FOUR:- How much of an 'honour' was it to win the 'Inside Soap Best Bitch Award'?

Thank you for your congratulations, Masterchef was great fun and most unexpected.

a. I found writing really very challenging! It made my head strain with effort! But I am surrounded in my life by wonderful writers and they inspired me. The children’s story I am working on was/is the hardest, but I love it too. Once you have found the characters they start to speak for themselves.
b. Sorry to be such a bore but I don’t really have favourites!
c. All the recipes in the book, as you say, come from me, family and friends and are, as all recipes tend to be I think, a mix of original and adapted.
d. Great honour to be a Best Bitch! Again a very unexpected pleasure to have been a part of making such a disliked and troubled character!

Bellroyd

I appreciate that your Dad is called Eric and of course it's not unusual to name a child after it's father. However, is there some mischief in you to call your other child Ernie? If so, have you thought ahead to what any third child might be called? Maybe Des?

Which of your 'easy' recipes would you recommend to a keen but sadly untalented baker to guarantee to Bring Me Sunshine?

We came to the name Ernie as we wondered about the name Eric, so no mischief as such, just word association really… and the love of the name as soon as we thought of it!

I’d have never thought of Des, I think I’d prefer Tommy, but no third child expected alas. The easy sweet recipe for non-baker… Uncle James' Bavarian Orange Pie!

jonnyald

are there any good recipes using mouldy bread/?

My recipe for mouldy bread - compost heap!

LuckyFour

How do I make my chocolate cake moist, it always seems a bit dry? Could I add syrup in place of some of the sugar. Would this work?

Oooh, I fear baking isn’t my strongest point. I tend to plump for the chocolate brownie as they are moister than a sponge and more popular in my house - there is a very simple three choc brownie recipe in my book. It has a thumbs up from my eldest…an accolade indeed.

jimorourke

We go out to one of the chain restaurants that sells carvery but the yorkshires are huge and completely tasteless.

I would like to know how to make perfect yorkshire to go with a roast beef?

Oh crikey the perfect Yorkshire! It’s an elusive creature… Sometimes mine work sometimes they don’t - that’s helpful! I keep it simple:

-sizzling fat in the patty pans (preferably beef dripping)
- your Yorkshire mix of plain flour, eggs, milk and water - quantities variable depending on numbers, but any Yorkshire recipe can be doubled or tripled. (I make mine very salty and peppery!)
-Then a good hot oven, and a hopeful song in your heart!

Vidubo

Well done, Sophie. Now, my q. The gas oven failed yesterday and it will take time to replace it. Two fresh, 1.6k herb-fed chickens were too big for my slow cookers. I grabbed a large, stainless stock pot for this emergency, froze one chicken, and cooked the other on a bed of quartered carrots, celery, onions and thyme. A half bottle of white wine followed to keep moisture in. However, although I saved it from burning at the 3-hour point, the vegetables were too darkly browned for the light white wine/thyme gravy I wanted. I removed the (beautifully-cooked) chicken and washed the carcasse, chucking out the over-cooked vegetables. Some of yesterday's chicken will be served warmed up, today, with Turkish walnut sauce and salad. The rest cooked overnight in the slow cooker and has become a splendid stock. As I plan to do this again next weekend with the second, now frozen chicken - and oven-top cooking seems a good compromise against 7+ hours in a slow cooker - what would you suggest for hob-top cooking? A different recipe would also be welcome. NB Organic Bone stock is strongly recommended for those with bone density problems.

There is a Ginger and Orange Chicken recipe in my book - this would work well on the hob too. There is also a peanutty chicken recipe that is a happy hob one. You don’t sound like you need much help in the cooking dept! Good luck with the gas men!

GeminiJen

Hello Sophie
How many cookery books do you own....how often do you use them..and do you have a favourite?

I own approx 35-40 cook books - I use them lots, in bouts! In terms of favourites…see the above answer!

Leah50

Do you have a favourite recipe that you wish you'd included in your book....but didn't?

The simple answer is NO! I don’t believe I do… I’m rubbish at favourites and all the top ones made it in!

rockgran25

I always have a glut of green tomatoes at the end of the summer and I have tried several green tomato chutney recipes over the years with limited success, do you have any other ways of using green tomatoes.

Oooh a glut of green toms! I love a green tomato too! Why not try a green tomato curry with coconut milk and a heap of herbs and spice, or make a fresh Salsa to go with some fish cakes or seared tuna?

grandMattie

I have a surplus of beetroot grown by DH. I loathe the "Enlgish" pickled beet. Are there any other means of preserving them, without the over-vinegared stuff?

Re a Beetroot surplus, lucky you! I love beetroot and often roast it with all the other veg on a Sunday – it’s gorgeous with horse radish. An alternative I have tried is an old WI recipe:

1.3 kg beetroot cooked
450g onions chopped
1.1 litres vinegar
450g chopped golden raisins
450g peeled and chopped cooking apples
3 tbsps ground ginger
1 tsp Salt
800g Granulated Sugar

-Peel and cut beets and cut into cubes (mash if you prefer a smoother chutney)

-Put the onion in a large pan with a little of the vinegar, and cook for a few minutes to soften

-Add the raisins and the apple and continue to cook until quite pulpy

-Add the beets, ginger, salt and half the remaining vinegar - continue to simmer until thick again.

-Stir in the sugar and the last of the vinegar, cooking until reduced again.

-Pot in cooled sterilised jars and store for approx a month and a half before using.