Love Food Champion tests the Chefs on Ready Steady Cook!

Emily Bennison, Love Food Champion from Yorkshire challenged Chefs Paul Rankin and Garrey Dawson at the recording of the Ready Steady Cook programme to be aired on May 16th, BBC2 at 4.30pm.

With a bag of leftovers she challenged the celebrity chefs to produce interesting and tasty meals. The bag contained – half a loaf of bread, half a lettuce, half a grapefruit, a few mushrooms, a chunk of parmesan cheese, half a jar of passata, half a tin of chick peas, cooked salmon and cooked new potatoes.

The audience voted on their red tomato and green pepper key pads after hearing the ideas the chefs suggested for using the leftovers. But you will have to wait for the programme to air to find which chef took up the challenge!

Ainsley Harriott presents the programme in a very friendly and interactive way; he obviously enjoys his work and is also very passionate about food waste and the effect that waste food being put into landfill is affecting climate change.

From the ingredients Emily had given the chef, he produced
· Lettuce cups filled with chick peas, herbs and some cooked salmon in a delicious spicy dressing
· Omelette with fried potatoes
· Salad of salmon, grapefruit and finely sliced lettuce with herbs and a sweet and sour dressing
· Bread croutons mixed with the tomato sauce, mushrooms and cheese

Now the big moment, and as they say “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”. Emily was joined by two very well know celebrities (my lips are sealed until the 16th) who had been the contestants in the first part of the show, to taste the delicious dishes produced.

I have often wondered what happened to the food when the programme was over - now I know! Helen, Emma and I from the West Sussex Love Food group with Emily and her mum, retired to the studio restaurant to sample the dishes – they were great. The celebrities shared with us the meals they had cooked including the winning dishes. So, I can now assure everyone there is very, very little food waste following the Ready Steady Cook programme it is all far too scrumptious to leave!

Janice Langley