Â鶹Éç

Last weekend Matt Tebbutt answered your questions with Theo Randall and Ken Hom - hope you enjoy the clip. This coming weekend I'm back in the Saturday Kitchen studio and ready for questions. Ask away!

Ìý

Ìý

Here's a summary of the questions answered in the video clip:

marcecath: I am thinking of making pickled pears, but I've never tasted them. Can you tell me what they are like and some tips on pickling them?

Ken Hom: I would use pears that are not too ripe and do it like pickling cucumbers.
Theo Randall: There’s a great recipe called , for which you can use pear. Slice pears that are slightly unripe, put them in sugar syrup, reduce it by half until the pear is cooked, then you put a bit of mustard seed oil in. It’s the most amazing condiment to go with cheese.

sarah: I have tons of sorrel growing in my garden. I've tried eating it in salads but it is very bitter. Do you have any other ideas for what I can use it for other than guinea pig feed?

Ken Hom: I do a tart with egg and crème fraîche which is really good. I also blanch the sorrel and squeeze out all the juice to make it less bitter.
Theo Randall: Crème fraîche is the perfect accompaniment for sorrel. I always love a soup with lentils, crème fraîche and sorrel, maybe with a little spinach for colour as it can go a bit brown. It has a lovely lemony flavour to it, it’s very fresh.

oldchef: Myself and my daughter have only just started cooking. We are making some fresh pasta, I'd like know what is the better method, by hand or food processor?

Theo Randall: If you’ve got big arms, like yours (to Matt), I’d make it by hand, but a machine is the easiest way of doing it. A fail-safe recipe is to use really good quality organic eggs, preferably Italian because their chickens are fed on corn and carrots, which gives the eggs a good colour. I’d use 10 egg yolks to 500g tipo ‘00’ flour and 100g semolina flour. Don’t use water, olive oil or salt.

Here's a clip showing you how to roll pasta dough using a pasta machine.

Bairdy: ÌýI've been wanting to cook roast goose. Do you have any good tricks you use when roasting geese?

Ken Hom: I do it like Peking duck, which means first pour boiling water over the skin and let it dry, then pour soy sauce and honey over the skin and let it dry, before roasting. Then you’ll have a super crispy skin, like Peking duck.
Matt Tebbutt: Sounds delicious.
Theo Randall: Sounds really good.

camillathebadgerminx: I tried to make toffee apples but it went totally wrong, do you have a recipe and some tips on making good toffee apples please?

Ken Hom: When making toffee apples, be careful not to get the caramel too hot, don’t you think?

Theo Randall: If you put an apple into very hot caramel, the skin will split and the moisture will come out, meaning the caramel won’t stick. Make the caramel first, allow it to cool for a few minutes, then dip the apples in.

Matt Tebbutt was the guest presenter of Â鶹Éç One's Saturday Kitchen on 25 September. Chefs Theo Randall and Ken Hom joined him in the studio.

Ìý

It's getting to that time of year again when the evenings are all about curling up on the sofa with a comforting bowl of something hot. It’s also when slow cookers are retrieved from the back of the cupboard, dusted down and put to good use. Ìý

So what to cook in your slow cooker? They really come into their own when cooking cheap cuts of meat: think shoulder of pork, lamb neck and chicken thighs, the liquid in the pot becomes steam, condenses on the lid and drops back into the pot, creating deliciously moist and tender meat. A long, slow cooking time is also perfect for cooking dried lentils or beans.

The downside? Well, they might not be as in terms of energy as people think and without the direct heat to get some caramelisation going on, food can sometimes come out a bit, well, bland. You can overcome this by using plenty of aromatics for flavour: onions, garlic and hardier herbs such as rosemary, thyme and bay leaves, then finish off a dish with fresh herbs such as parsley.Ìý Try draining off the liquid for a stew and thickening it on the hob with a little flour.ÌýHead over to for lots more tips. There's also a wealth of advice on the Â鶹Éç Food messageboard.

To adapt a recipe for a slow cooker, you’ll need to lengthen the cooking time (check the manufacturer's guidelines on your slow cooker) and generally add a little less liquid. ÌýBelow are some of our favourite slow cooker recipes:

Scotch broth
Simply tip all the ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on high for 6-8 hours (or until the barley is soft) for this cheap and cheerful Scotch broth.

We love Jamie Oliver’s beef stew finished off with a sprinkle of lemon zest and rosemary.Ìý

Boston baked beans
These Boston baked beans from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall are great on toast. Boil the soaked beans for 10 minutes, then add them to the slow cooker with the remaining ingredients and cook on high for 6-8 hours.

Ham hocks are cheap as chips to buy and delicious when braised in the slow-cooker. This recipe finishes them in the oven with a sticky glaze. Serve with mounds of mashed potato.

Lamb curry
This curry is bursting with flavour and if you slow-cook the lamb you'll make it meltingly tender.

Mulled wine
If you're having a party this Christmas, try making mulled wine in the slow-cooker. Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker, switch it on, and it will keep at the perfect temperature all night.

For comfort food heaven, try this no-fuss rice pudding. Grease the slow cooker with a little butter, add all of the ingredients and stir together, then cook on high for 2-3 hours.

Chocolate fondue
Perfect for Halloween parties – the slow cooker will keep your chocolate silkily smooth. Make the sugar syrup in a saucepan then add it to the slow cooker with the chocolate and golden syrup. Cook on high until the chocolate has melted and formed a smooth sauce.

Chicken stock
For a super easy chicken stock, chuck all the ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on high for eight hours.

Get more tips on cooking food on a budget.

What do you cook in your slow cooker? What are your tips for getting the most out of one?

Rachel Manley works on the Â鶹Éç Food website.

After a cracking final of the Great British Bake OffÌýthis week, I hope the series inspired you to get baking. From soggy bottom bread to sourdough 'starters', here are my answers to your cooking questions from the Â鶹Éç Food messageboard.Ìý

springbok7: "I need advice on baking bread. Every time I bake a loaf and cut it open, the bottom (3-4mm on the inside) seems doughy and the rest is fine. What am I doing wrong?"

When proving bread, it is essential to prove it for the optimum time. Once the dough has doubled in size, touch it lightly and see how quickly it bounces back. If it quickly jumps back, that’s a good indication that the bread is fully proved. If the bread has a doughy consistency at the bottom, it needs about another 10 minutes proving time.

PamelaWhite: "After seeing your scones, I convinced my wife to make some. They looked brilliant, but left a taste of bicarbonate of soda after eating. Have you any clues to what may have gone wrong?"

My recipe contains only baking powder. You may have put too much in, so next time be careful!

Ìý

irishcountry-cousin: "In your recipe for scones, you use strong flour. Why is this important? What do you think it brings to the recipe?"

The strong flour brings strength to the recipe (that is more protein) and therefore more of a rise in the oven. The downside is it can be overworked very easily, so be careful and don’t knead it, ‘chaff’ it (fold it) gently.

Dennispc: "The usual advice for scones follows that of bakers like Dan Lepard and Richard Whittington, 'the quicker and lighter you are the better' (quote from Baking with Passion), yet you advise chaffing the mix quite vigorously. The other piece of advice is to get the scones into the oven quickly after mixing. Though Richard Bertinet in 'Dough' says that after mixing together, 'flour the top and bottom of the dough, cover with a tea towel and rest in a cool place for 15 minutes'. Stephen Franz says 'shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate overnight' after mixing. As someone who struggles to get scones to a nice height, can you clarify?"

With scones you need to chaff (or gently fold) the mixture. This is necessary to bring the ingredients together without over-mixing. If using a mixer, use your dough hook and mix on a slow speed. I often also put my cut scones in the fridge for 15-30 minutes. This not only rests them, but gives a flat-sided and flat-topped scone. Chaffing is not kneading, but aerating the mixture. Do not pummel it so that all the air is flattened.

irishcountry-cousin: "In the Great British Bake Off, there was a requirement to use suet in a pudding. As suet is now made from vegetable fat and not animal fat, which had great flavour, why encourage its use?"

The main reason to use vegetarian suet is for vegetarian diets - otherwise I would use animal fat suet.

puddinglady: "What must I do to ensure that there is not a watery layer at the bottom of my baked egg custard?"

Use good-quality eggs in your egg custard (that is eggs with plenty of yolk).Ìý When making an egg custard, if you find that the custard has ballooned over the top then when you bring it out of the oven, place the tray onto a cold surface.Ìý

cooksalot: "Do you have a really foolproof recipe for soda bread? Should it be baked in a tin? I know it has to be eaten fresh - can you freeze any leftovers?"

Yes you can freeze it. Wrap it in cling film and freeze. Here’s .

Ìý

dustydora: "Please could you give us a recipe for bread using a ? I read that you like to bake with starters/leavens but your recipe for a cob contains quite a lot of yeast!"

The recipe doesn’t contain that much yeast, and if you have a problem with yeast you will have a problem with sourdough as this contains yeast too. To make a starter, use organic apples, flour and water: 500g of flour to two chopped apples and 250ml of water. Mix together and leave sealed in a container for four days. Throw half away and feed the dough with another 200g of flour and 80ml of water, repeat this every three days (throwing half away and adding 200g flour and 80ml of water) until the dough starts to bubble after two days. It should take no more than two weeks to establish a starter.

mari_ila: "I wondered if you can give me a recipe for a professional sponge cake so that I can make a celebration cake/wedding cake like the ones you can order from bakeries. What would be the best soft cream icing to use to decorate it so that it looks and tastes professional?"

Try using Mary Berry’s Victoria sponge recipe. You can put it in any size tin, round or square, just change the quantities. I think shop-bought white roll out icing would give it a professional look.

Breadmaking expert Paul Hollywood appeared on Â鶹Éç Two's The Great British Bake Off, part of the Get Baking campaign. Get all the recipes from The Great British Bake Off.

James is joined by Madhur Jaffery and Bill Granger to discuss tips on cookie making, why butter is better and how to season without salt. This coming Saturday Matt Tebbutt is presenting Saturday Kitchen - do ask him any questions in time for the show.

Ìý

Here's a summary of the questions answered in the video clip:

meemsbradley: How do I stop my cookies merging in to one big lump of gloop? They start off in nice little circles but always merge on the baking tray. What am I doing wrong?

Bill Granger: I think they often spread because the mixture is too warm.
James Martin: That could be good a good thing because you’ll have a big massive one!
Bill Granger: Yeah a giant cookie! Roll the mixture into little balls and pop it into the fridge before you cook it. That will keep them in a nice shape. Or roll a log, refrigerate it and slice biscuits off.
James Martin: The thing about cookie dough is that it keeps well in the fridge so you can actually cut it all up, roll it into little balls and bake them as and when you want.
Madhur Jaffrey: And don’t put it too close together, obviously.

John Shropshire: You always seem to favour butter over low-fat spreads - why is this please?

James Martin: I’m not going to answer that because I know the answer!
Madhur Jaffrey: It’s the taste, the flavour. It’s a hundred times better than anything else you could put on it.
Bill Granger: To me, it’s so much better to use a natural product. Just have a bit less. If you’re worried about the fat content, just have half the amount.
James Martin: You can use oils - rapeseed oil and stuff like that - but if it’s stuff that should have butter in it, like puff pastry and things like that…
Bill Granger: Or put a bit at the end. Don’t cook with it; then you’ll get the flavour without using as much.

Julie: One of my favourite desserts is crème brulée. Do you have any ideas for a bit of a twist to the basic recipe?

ÌýMadhur Jaffrey: I grind cardamom and put that in the mix. At the end you can put a few mangos on the outside. You could put a little mango purée in too; push it in with a syringe.
James Martin: I think crème brulée needs strong flavours. Coffee, ginger, passion fruit…
Bill Granger: Even coconut. Substitute a little of your regular cream with coconut cream and you get a slight coconut flavour.

ChilliGillie: This year for the first time I have grown tomatoes and am absolutely delighted with the abundance I now have. I have already made lots of concentrated tomato sauce which I have frozen ready for adding to many recipes. I have also made some tomato and chilli relish/chutney. Do you have any recipes for different chutneys including tomatoes that I can make now and store until nearer Christmas to eat with cold meats and cheeses?

Madhur Jaffrey: I have an abundance of tomatoes too.
James Martin: Would you use green tomatoes?
Madhur Jaffrey: No ripe red tomatoes. Put them in the blender, blend them, strain to make a purée. In your pan, put a little oil, fennel seeds, cumin seeds and put all your chilli in – chilli powder – and a little grated ginger. Cook it down and you have wonderful chilli chutney.

kathryn: Please can you recommend a seasoning that I can use instead of salt? I just cannot cope with it in my food.

Bill Granger: Spices? A little bit of soy, mirin… Japanese flavours.
James Martin: I think people are put off by salt because they hear a lot in the press. Personally I think it’s down to the table salt. You know the fine crystals? The tendency is if you use Maldon or a Cornish sea salt - any good sea salt - it’s stronger than normal salt with a better flavour. So you use less of it.
Madhur Jaffrey: And sprinkle it at the end so it’s sitting on the top and your tongue tastes it and it takes away that need for salt.
James Martin: Obviously we need salt in our diet, but not too much.
Bill Granger: And if you’re eating fresh food, you’re not getting processed food and that’s an important thing.

James Martin is the presenter of Â鶹Éç One's Saturday Kitchen. Chefs Madhur Jaffrey and Bill Granger joined him in the studio on Saturday 18 September.

Ìý

The team behind E20, EastEnder’s new spinoff series recently sent us a recipe penned by party-loving Naz from the show. Naz gets some help from Tamwar who works at his family's Masala Masood takeaway business – those of the !

You’ll see Naz’s recipe is a particularly personal one for coq au vin (AKA not-chicken-in-a-bucket) and it got us wondering about famous food moments from the series...

Well first up, Jean Slater’s sausage surprise is so legendary, there’s even a . One fan has posted her version of the recipe onto the . I wonder if that’s what inspired this recipe by top chef Peter Gordon!

It’s all about the retro food for the old-time ‘Enders. Ian Beale loves his fish and chips of course and he hasn’t (as featured on E20), while Dot’s keen on Battenburg cake.

What about the time Sonia wanted to make ‘something special’ for Martin? Chicken in a shop-bought sauce. Harry Hill . And who can forget the liquid lunch enjoyed by ?

Eastenders actors have graced the screens of some of our favourite food programmes too. (Annie Palmer) impressed the judges of Celebrity MasterChef enough to win in 2007, while (Big Mo) eschewed posh nosh and made a thoroughly English meal for .

Stuff you’ll need

• a tablespoon of butter
• 1 chopped onion
• a couple of garlic cloves
• 6 or 7 slices of chopped bacon (Halal fake bacon for me)
• sum thyme (I reckon about an hour)
• like 2 handfuls of chopped mushrooms (not the magic kind)
• 2 chopped carrots
• ½ a bottle of red wine, preferably not box wine
• a tablespoon of port (no idea what that is)
• 200ml of chicken stock
• 6 cheeky Halal chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• a tablespoon of flour

Preppin’ & cookin’ (totes time should be like an hour max)

Get yourself a nice big pan and whack it on the stove. Shove in the butter, the garlic and the onions, check your wearing waterproof mascara cos them onions make you proper cry. Stick the heat on medium and cook until onions are see through. Stick in the chopped up bacon and smell that yummy baconey goodness.

When the bacon’s cooked (don’t even think about nibbling a bit), put in the chicken for the last minute or two. Whack in the liquor and simmer until a bit reduced – like 5 mins. Then add the mushrooms and the carrot just before you put in the chicken stock.

When it starts bubbling away, turn the heat down so that it’s all just simmering nicely for about 30 mins.
Whatevs you do, check the middle of the chicken to see if it’s cooked through. Don’t wanna go poisoning your man.

Season with salt and pepper. I like things a bit spicy so I drench it in pepper, but taste it. If the sauce ain’t thick like Fatboy, then mix a spoon of flour with a few spoons of water until it’s a paste and pour in, stirring as you go. After a few minutes of stirring on the heat the sauce should be thick. Serve. Simples.

Naz’s coq au vin recipe appears in EastEnders: E20 episode 5 which goes out tonight at 8pm.

Ramona Andrews is the host of the Â鶹Éç Food Q&A blog and messageboard.

We have an abundance of vegetables and spices in India, so we’ve worked out ingenious ways to use any number of spices to cook our vegetables - techniques that have developed over centuries. We cook each vegetable in thousands of ways, depending on the region. Here are some things to keep in mind when cooking Indian vegetable dishes:

• Curries can be quick. India has recipes galore that can be made in a hurry.Ìý Heat a little oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, whole dried red chillies and a few curry leaves. Then add whatever vegetables you have, say green beans with a dash of water. Once the beans are cooked, remove from the heat and stir-in grated fresh coconut (which you can buy frozen) and just enough yoghurt to moisten.
• Make a basic . Cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli powder are essential. You’ll also need ginger, garlic and onions, plus green coriander. Keep your spices whole and they will last much longer as once ground, they slowly lose their potency. This is particularly true of coriander seeds - once you grind them, they last no longer than a month. However cumin lasts much longer.

Ìý

• Follow some easy rules of regional Indian cooking. South Indians use curry leaves, mustard seeds, whole chillies, coconut or sometimes yoghurt. North Indian cooking features cumin seeds, asafoetida (which is wonderful with vegetables), fennel seeds and mustard seeds.
• Make the most of pulses: Use whole beans, split peas and lentils. Rice with lentils is called , and is like a dried pilaf or a wet porridge (This is where the word ‘’ comes from.)
• Add Indian spices to British dishes: Broccoli, potatoes or green beans are delicious with cumin seeds and chilli powder. Serve these as side dishes with a traditional British meal. Make Indian-style mushrooms and serve them on toast.
• Be inventive: We don’t make curry paste to a standard recipe in India because you want every dish to be different. A basic mix could beÌý made up of fried onion, garlic and ginger, ground with cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder, or you could experiment with whatever you like.
• Try tamarind paste. I suggest you look for the Thai one. Add it as a souring agent to dhal, split peas or stews. You can also make chutneys out of it using raisins, sliced bananas, spices, sugar and salt. In India we always have chutneys and relishes on the table.
• Use coconut milk or yoghurt to make a creamy curry. Season vegetables with spices, cook them lightly and add some seasoned yoghurt or crème fraîche, just a tiny amount.

Ìý

When I first went to Northern Ireland about 12 years ago to report for The Food Programme the contrast with the Republic was stark. Down south quality food production was high on the political agenda: there was an open-arms welcome for food entrepreneurs at the in Dublin, quickly followed by grants, soft loans and practical support.

In the North the farmers I met told me how depressing it was to deal with Whitehall via Stormont. Unless you were big and industrial, aspiring food producers were just a pain for the bureaucrats. So, in the Republic quality food - made by small and artisan producers - became a big draw for tourists and great for high-value exports. In the North commodities for the mass market - milk powder and intensively reared pork, chicken and beef - continued to be the mainstays of farming.

Now it’s all change up North. When I went to the province earlier this summer the contrast with my first visit couldn’t have been more amazing.Ìý High quality food has finally been identified by the NI Assembly in their strategy as . And it’s working.Ìý

Thinking about packed lunch consumes a great part of my working day: remembering to pack one in the first place, working out the optimum time to tuck in and then thinking about the next day's lunch... So where can I find inspiration? As the weather changes, soup is a comforting lunch option. Make it in large quantities in advance and freeze it - beans are particularly useful for bulking it out if necessary. And you can normally buy a fresh bread roll just before lunch. There was talk about pattypan squash on the messageboard recently, this might do the trick. There's also .

Leftovers are definitely the way to go. Make a little extra the night before and set aside tomorrow's serving before it gets nabbed - you'll find that dishes like curries and casseroles actually improve the next day. Love Food Hate Waste has some great .

Any robust salad that can stand the wait is perfect for preparing the night before. Couscous, noodle or pasta salad will fill you up nicely. Add extras like some cheese or hummus or sliced vegetable sticks to keep your interest after a few days! Get your tastebuds going with a peek at .

Welcome to this week's Saturday Kitchen Q&A. Thanks again for all your questions - do keep 'em coming in time for this week's show!

Here's a summary of the questions answered in the video clip:

Jacquie: I'm a great fan of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, but I always have problems with my beef. I've bought a piece of top rump from a local supermarket (on offer!) in the hope that it will turn out good this time. I can never seem to get it the right sort of pinkness and tender. Please help a Yorkshire ex-pat!

James Martin: Top rump is not the greatest thing to go for.
Glynn Purnell: I think it's the wrong cut really for roasting if you want a nice pink roast and you want to cut it nice and thin. I would use top rump for grilled steaks to be honest with you, and serve it with salad.
James Martin: So that's a 'no' to the cut then.
Kenny Atkinson: You're best paying a little bit extra and getting striploin or sirloin. It makes a much better roast.
James Martin: Or a nice rib joint. Well, she is from Yorkshire - she likes a good bargain! Sorry about that!

Lucy: My son wanted to grow cucumbers, so now I'm overrun with them. Please could you tell me a good recipe for pickling or preserving them?

Kenny Atkinson: I would chop them up, get a little bit of salt on them and get rid of any excess water by letting them drain in a colander. Add some nice sweet white wine vinegar and leave them to marinate.
James Martin: Sometimes I put peppercorns in.
Glynn Purnell: A few spices too. Fenugreek is good with it, or some of the more unusual seeds.
James Martin: What about doing something like gherkins?
Glynn Purnell: Yes that would be nice. Do it with malt vinegar, a bit of muscovado or other brown sugar with a few spices and then just let them marinate. Stick them on Jacquie's steak!

Francesco1sun: How long can I safely store dried ingredients like lentils and split peas? I love to use these, but as I live alone I don't use large quantities.
Kenny Atkinson: You're best off getting a Kilner jar from a supermarket. You can get sealed bags as well. I wouldn't keep them for anything longer than three months to be honest.
Glynn Purnell: Kilner jars are nice if you've got a nice big kitchen and you can have them all on a rack and they look good as well.
James Martin: The key is not to leave them for too long.
Glynn Purnell: I would say three to six months.
James Martin: If you're going to put them in Kilner jars for presentation purposes, I would take the sell by date off the packet and sellotape it underneath.

Lavoisier2: When you want to coat or dip something (like sablé biscuit) in chocolate, do you need to use a specific type of chocolate, or perhaps add cocoa butter to thin it? Because whenever I try to temper chocolate, the resulting 'liquid' is always far too thick, and so is the coating I end up with.

Kenny Atkinson: You need to go for a dark chocolate, a really bitter chocolate. Tempering is a tricky thing to do.
Glynn Purnell: If you want to temper stuff and get the right temperature, you get, say, 100g of chocolate, melt it down so it gets quite hot and have 100g of cold, chopped chocolate. Pour it in, take it off the heat. By the time it's melted it should be about the right sort of temperature.
James Martin: With tempering, what we're talking about is that when you heat chocolate, the fat separates from the chocolate. To get that back (if you're creating Easter eggs or stuff like that) and you want a nice shiny texture to your chocolate, you have to heat it up and cool it down to exact temperatures and then heat it back up again.
Glynn Purnell: Otherwise it becomes a matt colour.
James Martin: And you get streaky lines in it. Like when your bar of chocolate's been in the glove box of the car for too long!
Glynn Purnell: They call it blooming.
James Martin: I think you're just making that up!

James Martin is the presenter of Â鶹Éç One's Saturday Kitchen. Chefs Glynn Purnell and Kenny Atkinson joined him in the studio on Saturday 11 September.

I've been bought far too many gadgets over the years that have collected dust in the cupboard. Melon ballers, unusual-shaped tins, ice cream makers and masses of microplane graters to name a few...

You need to be smart about what you spend your money on. Only buy tins and equipment that you're going to use - if you never make a 12" (30cm) flan, don't have a 12" tin; if you like making loaf cakes, get loaf tins. There's no set collection of tin shapes and sizes that every cake maker should have. Wait until you've found recipes that you like the sound of and buy the appropriate sized tin before investing. I have just a small selection of baking equipment that I keep in the kitchen...

My essentials:

• Hand-held mixer

• Silicone spatula

• Good-quality solid (and appropriate) cake tins

• Stack of mixing bowls that fit into each other

• Measuring spoons and measuring jugs

• Wooden spoons for stirring hot mixtures

• Baking parchment, foil and cling film

Ìý

I think it's an enormous help to have a . They cost anything from £15 upwards and are well worth it as they save a huge amount of time. OK, a wooden spoon will do, but if you plan to spend a lot of time baking, you'll thank me! I always use the : you take the baking fat straight from the refrigerator, put everything in the bowl and beat it with an electric mixer until it holds together, then put it in the right tin. Easy.

I like a good spatula to scrape the bowls, so there's little waste. Avoid using a metal one as it just won't work as well as silicone or rubber. You don't necessarily need a large metal spoon for folding flour into a mixture - just use the spatula for this.... you'll have less washing up!

It's important to use the right sized tin for the amount of mixture. It's no good looking at a recipe and thinking I haven't got that tin so I'll use one a bit smaller or bigger - it'll be disastrous.

Make things that you have confidence in and that your family will like. It's worth spending a bit of money to buy fairly solid cake tins. If they're too flimsy, they'll warp. If you're making biscuits, buy a solid baking tray rather than a cheap one that will tip up on one side when it heats in the oven

is essential for lining tins. You may also find it called silicone paper or baking paper. This is not the same as greaseproof paper, which needs to be greased; baking parchment is non-stick.

It's not worth trying to save money by getting cheap kitchen equipment. If you spend a little more, your tins will last longer and you'll get many more delicious cakes to enjoy!

So cake-makers, tell us what equipment or utensils you couldn't live without and which gadgets aren't worth bothering with. Do you have any good tips for people making their first foray into the wonderful world of baking cakes?

Baking expert Mary Berry is appearing on Â鶹Éç Two's The Great British Bake Off, part of Children In Need's Get Baking campaign. Get all the recipes from The Great British Bake Off.

We tend to think that 'eating cheaply' means only eating cheap ingredients - pulses, pasta, grains, eggs - rarely eating meat and never having treats. It's not appetite-whetting stuff. With this mindset cooking and eating becomes a chore rather than a pleasure. But it doesn't have to be like this. With a bit of thought you can eat delicious food that doesn't cost a fortune, is kind to the planet and is a pleasure to prepare - a delight for seasoned cooks and .

Here are the key things you have to do:

• Make expensive ingredients - such as the Sunday roast - earn their place by .

• Balance eating more expensive foods at some meals by eating cheaper ones at others - there are lots of cheap cuts of meat (lamb shoulder, pork belly, pork cheeks, stewing meat) that will produce great dishes.

• - whatever is in season will always be cheaper and will taste better too. Strawberries in January taste of nothing, are expensive and don't make the best use of the world's resources. Make the best of ingredients when they are abundant - use summer apricots you've bought at a street market at the end of the day (when they are cheaper) to make jam which will bring the sun into your house in November; pickle cherries you've bought at a pick-your-own farm and eat them all year round with pâté and cheeses; turn a neighbour's surplus of cooking apples into chutney or apple jelly.

• Eat wild food - it's free. This doesn't mean becoming a funghi expert or buying a rifle. Anyone can pick blackberries, sloes, crabapples, damsons and wild garlic. Pheasant, even if someone else has shot it, is cheap at the height of the season and rabbit is cheap year round.

• Change your attitude to cooking - broaden the range of ingredients you use and plunder the home food of different cultures to find dishes that are exotic and delicious, but inexpensive. Be open-minded about pulses and grains. Grains in particular are positively chic and you don't have to stick to rice - there's also quinoa, bulgar wheat and faro.

• Conversely, there are staples we should spend more on. You can think about bread in this way. Good sourdough may cost more but it tastes better and lasts longer than a sorry pre-sliced loaf.

• Eat vegetable dishes as a main course - you don't have to have meat every day.

When I was growing up people took pleasure and pride in resourcefulness - it was enjoyable to look in the fridge, see a couple of things that needed to be used up and ponder what to do with them. Leftover roast beef went into a curry or a cottage pie. If we had roast chicken the carcass would be boiled to make stock for a comforting soup and the meat could be used, along with chopped leeks and some ham, to make a pie.

These days we tend to think in terms of 'one dish at one meal'. There isn't a 'flow' between meals. This isn't the case in other countries. The French call leftovers 'les restes' and pride themselves on using them. The Italians are simply brilliant with stale bread. They make little gnocchi with breadcrumbs, fried bacon and onion and serve them with melted butter. They sauté breadcrumbs with garlic, chopped anchovies, currants and pine nuts and scatter them over cooked cauliflower to make a main course which can be eaten on its own or tossed with pasta.

Shop carefully and open your mind to what it's possible to cook with the food you have bought. You will eat well and never feel you are 'going without'.

Do you have any tips about how to eat well without breaking the bank? Tell us any money-saving recipes from other cultures or give some suggestions that may be pertinent to your family.

Diana Henry is appearing on Woman's Hour on Monday 13 September to discuss how to cook well without breaking the bank.

Nigella Lawson has a new series coming out this autumn and we can't wait to see it! Opening the doors to her kitchen again, the Domestic Goddess whetted our appetites yesterday on Radio 5 live with Christian O'Connell. She talked about her 'man-proof' recipe for spaghetti with Marmite, parmesan and butter. OK, it sounds weird, but if Nigella likes it, I thought I'd give it a go.... And I can report back that the combination of salty, savoury ingredients works a treat. Why hadn't we thought of it before?

Watch this clip of Nigella telling Christian O'Connell how she discovered the combination:


Earlier this year Ken Hom shared a similar serendipity discovery on Saturday Kitchen with his pasta stir-fried with curry paste, which gave Ready Steady Cook's recipes a run for their money!

As for more conventional Nigella recipes - and speedy ones at that - try her Spicy scrambled eggs, Triple cheese and onion strata or Calabrian lamb cutlets. Get even more luscious recipes on or check out Nigella's recipes for Â鶹Éç Food.Ìý

In the meantime, tell us what other strange combination of ingredients you've discovered on the fly. What worked and what decidedly didn't?

Ramona Andrews is the host of the Â鶹Éç Food Q&A blog and messageboard.

Listen to the whole Nigella interview or download the Daily Bacon podcast.

Thanks for all your questions again on the Ask James thread on the Q&A messageboard. Here are this week's answers:


Here's a summary of the questions answered in the video clip.

LeCreusetFiend: I'd love to hear if James has any tasty ideas for using chicken or turkey mince. I'm looking to save pennies here and there, but find that plain substitution of turkey for beef or lamb mince in recipes leads to no flavour.

Adam Byatt: With a bit of chicken mince you could make a nice bolognese.
Sat Baines: Or something spicy, like a Thai or Indian dish. Or a kofta, perfect with yoghurt.
James Martin: Make it into little patties or cakes and pan fry it.
Adam Byatt: I have to say I'm not a big fan of turkey.
Sat Baines: I like turkey wing for roasting though.

zoomer44: I have a large harvest of sweetcorn and wanted to know how long to cook it before freezing, and how long will it last in the freezer?

Sat Baines: If you've got an abundance of sweetcorn, the best thing to do is trim it off and just freeze it raw and then cook it from frozen.
Adam Byatt: I would just cook as much of it as you can. Make a sweetcorn relish.
Sat Baines: Soup, this time of year. Perfect.
James Martin: I always think it's better just on the cob with butter. It doesn't need to be messed around with.
Adam Byatt: It makes a nice chowder. Strip the kernals off the corn - hold the corn up and strip them off with a knife, sweat the kernals with onions and make a lovely little clam chowder.
James Martin: Sweetcorn is really good with crab.

BasicCook: Is it true that milk (added to egg for omelettes) makes them 'rubbery' and that a teaspoon of water for every two (or was that four?) eggs makes them lighter?

James Martin: I don't do omelettes, so what do you think of this one boys?
Adam Byatt: I only make an omelette every three months when I come here!
Sat Baines (to James): I think you should do an omelette today! I've never put liquid in omelettes. Eggs, butter and seasoning. That's it.
James Martin: I think the secret in the lightness comes in how you cook it and that you need to serve it straightaway.
Adam Byatt: If you want it lighter, whisk the eggs a bit more before.

sueturnersmith: I have asked Mary Berry this, but if James and co can answer it, all well and good: I'm a good cook, but a lousy baker, but am trying to get to grips with pastry. I use my food processor, and use plain flour, a quarter butter, a quarter lard, and chilled water - just enough to bind the pastry together into a ball. I then chill the pastry for 20 minutes before rolling out. The problem is, when I roll the pastry out, it cracks badly round the edges, and even when I try and patch it up, it's never really a success. What am I doing wrong?

Sat Baines: If sounds like you're making it a bit too dry. You need a bit more moisture in there.
Adam Byatt: You need more fat and more water and you must rest the pastry longer.
James Martin: I think a lot of people make it too dry and then when it's placed in the fridge it becomes drier again.
Sat Baines: Also don't cut it until it's baked. Trim it afterwards.
James Martin: And if you are going to rest it in the fridge, allow it to come to room temperature before rolling it out.
Adam Byatt: Another thing is to roll it between cling film or paper.

James Martin is the presenter of Â鶹Éç One's Saturday Kitchen. Chefs Sat Bains and Adam Byatt joined him in the studio on Saturday 4 September.

Thanks for all your baking questions on the Q&A messageboard. I hope the answers below help! Do watch The Great British Bake Off next Tuesday evening.