Catch up TV

Series 1: 2. Be the Boss

Last time, Tom Kerridge got his gang of Fresh Start families cooking more meals from scratch at home. Now it is step two and he is encouraging his families to be more organised. Tom's pubs have been awarded Michelin stars, a success which owes as much to meticulous planning as it does to amazing food. Can Tom's professional tips transform the gang into menu maestros and kitchen bosses?\n\nTom wants the families to follow his three rules to bossing the kitchen. One: plan their meals ahead. Two: shop from a list. Three: instead of reheating shop-bought ready meals, batch cook their own and learn some quick and easy recipes. Neil Johnson is a decorator and his wife Beckie runs their home office. The Johnsons juggle the demands of work with a busy family life and have fallen into an all-too-familiar convenience food habit. Despite managing a successful family business, managing their kitchen is more of a challenge. Tom visits Neil and Beckie at home to help them get to grips with their menu planning. Using a roll of wallpaper and the Fresh Start recipe folder, he shows them that they can plan their meals efficiently.\n\nThe gang need recipes to suit their busy lifestyles, like Tom's salt cod and saffron fishcakes. These can be made in advance and cooked as and when they are needed. The cod is salt cured to extract water and leave room for more flavour to get in. Tom also explains how using the dry flesh of baked potatoes will help stop the fishcakes become soggy.\n\nNow Tom's gang have mastered planning, the second thing they need to do to is shop sensibly. Tom asks all his families to list all the ingredients they need for a week's worth of home-cooked family meals and when they go shopping, they must stick to the list. To measure what impact this has on spending, he also asks them keep their receipts. Another great way of saving money and bossing the kitchen is use up ingredients you already have at home. And Tom's nutty and fruity granola is a great recipe for a store cupboard clear-out. He mixes his favourite seeds and nuts into rolled oats and binds them together with warm maple syrup and runny honey, flavoured with vanilla extract. The mix is then toasted in the oven until crunchy for a nutritious and delicious homemade breakfast cereal.\n\nNow they have nailed menu planning and smart shopping, the third thing Tom's gang need to get their heads around is batch cooking. Steph and Mike O'Connor are stuck in a cycle of cooking two dinners every night - one for them and one for the kids. Learning to batch cook meals like Tom's Italian turkey meatballs will make Mike's dream of cooking only one supper a day come true. A freezer full of homemade ready meals will be a game changer for the O'Connor family.\n\nTom's extended family have come over for lunch and he is cooking his butternut squash and chickpea curry. It is another great recipe to batch cook and freeze but he doesn't expect any leftovers today. Helping him in the kitchen are his two nieces Ava and Eta, and the recipe gets the thumbs up from the relatives. A family feast needs a pudding and Tom's chocolate mousse is quick to make, tastes incredible and has a surprise ingredient - avocado. Tom simply blitzes all the ingredients together in a blender and tops each serving with nuts and grated dark chocolate. The mousse is on the table in minutes and tastes amazing.\n\nSince Tom's visit, the Johnson family have been all over their planning and batch cooking. Now he wants to show them how to save time with quick-fire recipes like a classic spaghetti puttanesca which beats any pasta sauce from a jar hands-down. Tom invites them to his kitchen to learn how to make this easy weekday supper which includes a side order of garlic bread. Tom has asked his gang to keep track of their spending and the results are impressive. By being organised with their planning, shopping and cooking, the families have not only cut their food spending, they have transformed family mealtimes.

Source: BBC 2