Week 3 Your Cookalong food questions answered - week 3

Week 3 menu

Date Published:

13/10/2008

Our cookery expert answers all your questions about the menu for Cookalong Live - week 3.

Angel hair pasta (capellini) is a very fine spaghetti-like pasta that can be found in larger supermarkets and good Italian delis. If you don’t come across it, you could try using dried spaghetti, linguine or tagliatelle instead. But make sure you add a few minutes to the cooking time or almost fully cook the pasta before the show starts, then rinse in a colander under running water until cold and toss with a little oil to stop it sticking. You can reheat your pasta in a large pan of boiling water as Gordon starts to cook his capellini, so make sure you have one on the hob ready to go.

Good fishmongers sell white crabmeat in small packs, so give your local one a call and place an order. If you can’t get hold of fresh crabmeat, you could try using canned crabmeat instead. It doesn’t have as much flavour, but you should be able to find it down the canned fish aisle of larger supermarkets. Some supermarket fish counters also sell dressed crabs, so you could try there. Use the white meat for Gordon’s recipe and spread the brown on hot buttered toast fingers as a treat before the Cookalong begins – delicious!

Yes, certainly. Use around 350g thawed North Atlantic prawns and cook just long enough to thoroughly heat them – any longer and they could become tough.

Yes it is, but try the duck if you can because it tastes amazing! If you do decide on chicken, you’ll need to make sure the breasts are thoroughly cooked before you serve them. Use small boneless breasts with skin on and add a tablespoon of two of oil to the pan as they won’t have enough fat to fry without it. Use a non-stick pan and cook for 5 minutes skin-side down before turning. Cook for at least 3 minutes on the other side before deglazing – you can keep them in the pan if you like - and ensure they end up with a good five minutes simmering in the stock – adding a little extra stock if it reduces too far. The chicken should be fully cooked with no pink remaining.

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