On The Hob

Welcome to our weekly look at new cookery programs on British TV.  For the week of 23rd March – 29th March 2009.  Here we look at new Cookery programs on Terrestrial and Freeview TV (No repeats are listed).

Monday 23rd March 2009

Taste The Nation ITV1 17:00 to 18:00 (1 hour long)

Nick Hancock hosts the cookery show that pits county against county in a nationwide cook-off amongst amateurs coached by celebrity chefs. Today, Perthshire takes on Leicestershire and Rutland in an incredibly close competition. The judges must decide which of the mouth-watering offerings, including roast loin of Perthshire lamb, prosciutto wrapped saddle of rabbit, and plum bread and butter pudding with spiced pink champagne sorbet, is the worthy winner.

Click here to go to ITV’s Taste the Nation website, catch up on the program with the ITV player, find out more about the chef’s and judges and download the recipes.

Tuesday 24th March 2009

Taste The Nation ITV1 17:00 to 18:00 (1 hour long)

Nick Hancock hosts the county vs county cookery competition, in which amateurs are mentored by celebrity chefs. Today Cheshire competes with Wiltshire, and the menus include an exciting mix of traditional fare like Cheshire cheese and apple cake and ham hock cakes, alongside more contemporary dishes such as venison carpaccio and burnt custard with poached pears. Will everything go to plan for our amateurs?

Click here to go to ITV’s Taste the Nation website, catch up on the program with the ITV player, find out more about the chef’s and judges and download the recipes.

Heston’s Roman Feast Channel 4 21:00 to 22:00 (1 hour long)

Heston Blumenthal is on a mission to use myth, science and history to create the greatest feasts ever known. Ancient Roman cuisine meant theatrical, devious and orgasmic food. The Romans had few boundaries and unusual appetites, eating everything from flamingos to parrot tongues and jellyfish.

Click here to go to Channel 4′s All about Heston’s Feasts website, read his blog, get the reciepes and more

Wednesday 25th March 2009

Gastronuts BBC 1 16:05 to 16:35 (30 minutes long)

Can We Eat The Same Food As Animals?.
Food fanatic Stefan Gates and his intrepid Gastronuts go on wild culinary adventures to discover the truth about how we eat, what we eat and where it comes from. Stefan and the Gastronuts find out what animals from dogs to lions, and penguins to pythons eat in their diet. They try their hands at eating the same things, sampling the fare of dogs, penguins and the king of the jungle.

Taste The Nation ITV1 17:00 to 18:00 (1 hour long)

County takes on county in the cookery competition where amateur chefs are tutored by celebrity captains. Today, it is Surrey v Suffolk, and regional ingredients feature strongly in dishes like Tillingbourne trout and Suffolk cure bacon. But judges Henrietta Greene, Richard Johnson and William Sitwell are divided. Nick Hancock hosts.

Click here to go to ITV’s Taste the Nation website, catch up on the program with the ITV player, find out more about the chef’s and judges and download the recipes.

Thursday 26th March 2009

Taste The Nation ITV1 17:00 to 18:00 (1 hour long)

Nick Hancock presents the cookery competition which pits county against county, each captained by a celebrity chef. Today is the last chance this week to reach Friday’s cook off, and Graham Tinsley leads Carmarthenshire against Rosemary Shrager’s Northumberland team. Tempting the judge’s taste buds will be a cheese souffle, Northumberland lamb, and a cream liqueur chocolate tart.

Click here to go to ITV’s Taste the Nation website, catch up on the program with the ITV player, find out more about the chef’s and judges and download the recipes.

Friday 27th March 2009

Taste The Nation ITV1 17:00 to 18:00 (1 hour long)

Nick Hancock presents the cookery competition that pits county against county, each captained by a celebrity chef. We reach another Friday gourmet feast as the week’s eight teams are whittled down to four. Today the amateur chefs must come up with their own recipes, and the judges are replaced by a team of inspectors. The menus feature hare, loin of pork, wild duck and venison. Only two counties will go through to the next round.

Click here to go to ITV’s Taste the Nation website, catch up on the program with the ITV player, find out more about the chef’s and judges and download the recipes.

Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA Channel 4 21:00 to 22:00 (1 hour long)

Black Pearl.
Gordon Ramsay visits a struggling seafood restaurant in Manhattan. The Black Pearl is hampered by debts, and the problems in the kitchen are multiplied by three different owners: Brian, David and Gregg, all of whom are trying to run things. The result is chaos and confusion, above all for the staff trying their best to make sense of it all.

Click here to go to Channel 4′s Kitchen Nightmares website, find the recipes and learn with Gordon’s training videos

Saturday 28th March 2009

Saturday Kitchen BBC 1 10:00 to 11:35 (1 hour and 35 minutes long)

James Martin presents another menu of mouth-watering recipes, great chefs and celebrity guests, including top chef Bryn Williams and West End musical star Lee Mead, who faces his food heaven and hell. Plus helpings of the Hairy Bikers, Rick Stein and Keith Floyd, another dramatic omelette challenge and more top wine choices from Olly Smith.

Click here for the Saturday Kitchen Website and fin out what’s cooking

Rachel Allen: Bake! BBC 1 11:35 to 12:00 (25 minutes long)

Recipes and cooking tips with Rachel Allen. Rachel makes a wonderfully rich baked cheesecake with blueberries, and visits virtuoso pastry chef Gerhard Jenne who shows her the spellbinding secrets behind his magic cakes. The cookery school students get to grips with choux pastry to make the ultimate teatime treat: eclairs.

Click here for the BBC’s Rachel Allen Bake Website, see whats coming up or rewatch episodes on the Iplayer

Sunday 29th March 2009

Come Dine with Me Channel 4 20:00 to 21:00 (1 hour long)

Four competitive cooks from Huddersfield take it in turns to host their idea of the perfect dinner party over four nights. When kitchen designer Neil Hemingway invites his prized pooch to sit at the table it puts hair salon owner Christine Wright, who hates dogs, off her food.

Click here for Channel 4′s Come Dine with me website.

Shop at the BBC Shop for all your favourite chef’s cookery books, dvds and more, or subscribe there to BBC Good Food and never be lost for Kitchen ideas.  Click here for the BBC Shop

Welcome to our weekly look at new cookery programs on British TV.  For the week of 16th March – 22nd March 2009.

Monday 16th March 2009

Taste The Nation ITV1 17:00 to 18:00 (1 hour long)

Nick Hancock presents a competitive cookery show, which pits amateur cooks from different counties against each other in culinary battle. The contestants are mentored by well-known chefs – Antony Worrall Thompson representing the Midlands, John Burton Race the South West teams, Ed Baines the South East, Rosemary Shrager helping those from the North East, Martin Blunos aiding the East of England cooks, Merrilees Parker guiding the teams from the North West, Nick Nairn coaching Scotland’s teams and Graham Tinsley tutoring the Welsh. Judging the dishes are Henrietta Green, William Sitwell and Richard Johnson. This first cook-off pits Cornwall against Nottinghamshire, and dishes include Cornish lobster and trout fishcake, with summery strawberry shortcake and Bakewell tart to follow.

Tuesday 17th March 2009

Taste The Nation ITV1  17:00 to 18:00 (1 hour long)

Nick Hancock hosts the competitive cookery show that pits amateur cooks from different counties against each other in a culinary battle. Today, Middlesex takes on Aberdeenshire, and judges Henrietta Green, William Sitwell and Richard Johnson must decide between the mouth-watering dishes prepared – Arbroath smokie, Aberdeen Angus steak, and Islington baked cheesecake made with home-grown ricotta.

Heston’s Tudor Feast Channel 4 21:00 to 22:00

Heston Blumenthal is on a mission to use myth, science and history to create the greatest feasts ever known. The royal court of Henry VIII revelled in the most spectacular and sumptuous feasting British shores had ever known. Heston creates an extravagant, flamboyant and spectacular Tudor feast for a group of celebrity diners – singer Sophie Ellis Bextor, food critic Jay Rayner, TV presenter Alex Zane, hotelier Ruth Watson and Cilla Black – including frog blancmange, a mythical beast and bone marrow rice pudding.

Wednesday 18th March 2009

Gastronuts BBC 1 16:05 to 16:35 (30 minutes long)

What Would Happen If We Didn’t Fart?.
Food fanatic Stefan Gates and his intrepid Gastronuts go on wild culinary adventures to discover the truth about how we eat, what we eat and where it comes from. The Gastronuts cook up the world’s fartiest foods to find out what would happen if we tried to stop ourselves from parping. Stefan and the team also catch their trumps in a swimming pool and see what a whole week’s worth of stored up wind would do to the human body.

Taste The Nation ITV1 17:00 to 18:00 (1 hour long)

Nick Hancock hosts the competitive cookery show that pits amateur cooks from different counties – each mentored by well-known chefs – against each other. Today, Lancashire takes on North Yorkshire, and judges Henrietta Green, William Sitwell and Richard Johnson have a tough time deciding which of the dishes, including rib-eye of beef, Yorkshire lemon curd tart and Everton toffee ice cream, have the winning edge.

Thursday 19th March 2009

Taste The Nation ITV1 17:00 to 18:00 (1 hour long)

Nick Hancock hosts a competitive cookery show that pits amateur cooks from different counties – each mentored by well-known chefs – against each other. Glamorgan and Lincolnshire compete for the final spot in Friday’s second round, and the judges’ tastebuds are tested by dishes including prawn cocktail, sea bass with a Burry Estuary cockle dressing, Gower salt marsh lamb and Glamorgan honey ice cream.

Friday 20th March 2009

Taste The Nation ITV1 17:00 to 18:00 (1 hour long)

Nick Hancock presents the cookery competition pitting county against county each captained by a celebrity chef. All this week the teams have been battling to reach today’s Friday gourmet feast, and today the amateur chefs will not have the added advantage of preparing their chef captain’s recipes, but will have to come up with their own culinary ideas. To make things more interesting the judges take the day off, and a team of inspectors arrive – including a former director of the Michelin guides. Only two teams can go through to the next round.

Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA Channel 4 21:00 to 22:00 (1 hour long)

Handlebar.
Gordon takes on a time-warp at the Handlebar restaurant and lounge in Mount Sinai, New York. Co-owners Bill and Carolyn LeRoy have their heads stuck in the clouds, and their fond memories of the 1980s, and are completely in denial over the restaurant’s crumbling decor and their head chef’s lack of enthusiasm. Can Gordon force them to see sense, or will they close for good?

Saturday 21st March 2009

Saturday Kitchen BBC 1 10:00 to 11:35 (1 hour and 35 minutes long)

James Martin presents another menu of mouth-watering recipes, great chefs and celebrity guests. He is joined by top chefs Michael Caines and Lawrence Keogh, while pop legend Chris de Burgh faces his food heaven or hell. There are helpings of Celebrity MasterChef, Rick Stein and Keith Floyd, plus another dramatic omelette challenge and more top wine choices from Susie Atkins.

Rachel Allen: Bake! BBC 1 11:35 to 12:00 (25 minutes long)

Recipes and cooking tips. Rachel shows how to make a rich poppy seed cake, smothered with a vanilla buttercream icing. She meets Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar, renowned for his masterful use of spices, and he takes her on a culinary trip back to his childhood, baking some sweet treats his mum will be proud of. And Rachel teaches the cookery school students a great recipe for bagels, revealing the surprising fact that they get their dense chewiness from being poached first, then baked.

Sunday 22nd march 2009 – Just repeats