The Art of Creating a Perfect Banana Tart: A Family Affair

As I began preparing for our family dinner, I knew that creating a banana tart was going to be a challenge. But with my daughter by my side and some expert guidance from her, we were determined to make it happen. We started by making the pastry, which is notoriously difficult to work with. My daughter reminded me to keep the butter cold because she was going to stick the bananas in there. This allowed us to create a flaky and delicious crust that would hold everything together.

Next, we added some vanilla seeds pods to the butter, peppercorns, and sugar to give it an extra boost of flavor. The sprinkling of sugar over the butter was done carefully to ensure even distribution. We then wedged in the bananas, making sure they were secure so they wouldn't move around while caramelizing. This required a delicate touch to avoid crushing them.

My daughter took charge of thinning out the pastry to create a uniform thickness, which would allow us to clip it underneath without tearing it. She demonstrated her technique by pinching the ends to create a delicate fold, and I was impressed by her skill. As we lifted up the bananas and tucked them under the pastry, it became clear that this was going to be a task that required patience and finesse.

The caramelization of the banana tart is crucial, as it sets the tone for the entire dish. My daughter showed me how to create holes in the pastry with a spoon, which allowed steam to escape and prevented the pastry from becoming soggy. We then carefully poured the hot caramel over the bananas, watching as it set and transformed into a rich, golden-brown sauce.

As we turned the tart over onto a plate, our eyes widened in amazement at the sight before us. The pastry was flaky and crispy, the bananas were perfectly caramelized, and the whole thing was held together by the delicate folds of the pastry. It was a masterpiece, and we knew that it would be a hit with the family.

With the tart complete, we moved on to preparing the duck, which had been slow-cooking in the oven for 20 minutes. The result was crispy skin and tender meat, which my daughter declared "delicious." To accompany the duck, we whipped up a quick hoisin and cucumber salad, combining fresh ingredients with a sweet and tangy dressing.

The final touch was to add some extra flavor to the dish by dipping our pancakes in Megan's favorite black bean dipping sauce. This added an extra layer of depth and complexity to the meal, tying everything together nicely. As we sat down to enjoy our dinner, it was clear that this banana tart had been a labor of love – one that had brought us closer together as a family.

As I looked around at my loved ones, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. We had created something truly special together, using traditional techniques and fresh ingredients to produce a dish that was both delicious and visually stunning. And as we dug in, savoring the flavors and textures of our banana tart with crispy roast duck and hoisin salad, it became clear that this was an evening that would be remembered for years to come.

Years Later: A Look Back

As I sit here reflecting on that memorable family dinner, I realize just how much effort went into creating a meal that was truly special. My daughter and I had worked together seamlessly, each of us contributing our skills and expertise to produce a dish that exceeded expectations.

Looking back, I am reminded of the importance of collaboration and teamwork in the kitchen. By working together, we were able to create something truly remarkable – a banana tart that would be remembered for years to come. And as I think about my daughter's impressive culinary skills, I am filled with pride and gratitude for the gift she has given me.

The Banana Tart: A Family Tradition

As the years have passed since that memorable dinner, our family has continued to gather together to enjoy traditional meals like banana tarts. My daughter has become an accomplished cook in her own right, and she has taken on the role of passing down this beloved recipe to future generations.

Each time we gather around the table to share a meal, I am reminded of that special dinner when my daughter first learned how to make a banana tart. It's a tradition that continues to bring us closer together as a family, reminding us of the importance of love, laughter, and good food.

As I look back on that memorable evening, I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity to share in such a special moment with my loved ones. The banana tart remains one of our family's most treasured traditions, a testament to the power of collaboration and teamwork in the kitchen.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enfirst shop get the chicken stuffed and roasting now we all know you love chicken i do but we're gonna do it's a way that daddy used to eat it in paris okay now i'm gonna hold that up okay season inside please why is it yellow because it's a corn-fed chicken obviously he's corn and if you eat lots of corn turn yellow turn yellow now what are those chickpeas chickpeas yeah a little taste nice yeah we're gonna make them taste even better salt pepper in there as well please now chilies when you hear that noise is that made the seeds have come out let's try take off the tops we're going to add the chilis to the chickpeas in and then zest the lemon in there please you love your zest i love my zest you're absolutely right a little glug of olive oil come on holes don't worry about your nails now come on baby you can do it now time you peed off all those wonderful little butts see so as we stuff the chicken with the fresh thyme the chickpeas become sort of fat and juicy from all that wonderful flavor chickpea stuffing done next we're going to make the herb butter to flavor the skin now what's that tarragon what's this slightly vinegary yeah yeah a little bit anna cd yep so imagine that flavour going into the chicken that's going to be delicious now nice soft butter in with a tarragon is that lovely yeah now i want you gently to put your fingers through there and just so we get that butter under there but i need those small beautiful little hands ew what's wrong it's yucky come on holes nice well done i want you to get a nice handful of butter lift your hand up and push under good now see that there yeah you push it all the way down there and you let that slide and that's how you get all that wonderful yeah butter running down and the breasts stay nice and moist and like you yeah all those chickpeas in there nice your hands have never been so dirty have they no here we go good and push down come on okay now place my lemon in there right take your garlic shall wash my hands no not yet we lay the garlic onto the tray now onto the garlic salt pepper that keeps skin nice and crispy and then i'm just going to drizzle some olive oil that will stop the butter from burning and look at that please open them door thank you there she goes beautiful good job thank you really good nice to see holly get our hands to that door i think we all agree for dessert it's an incredible but easy hazelnut meringue tower guaranteed to wow your mates start with the basic meringue separate four egg whites and whisk gradually add caster sugar until the mix forms stiff glossy peaks gently fold in ground and chopped hazelnuts a trick we use in the restaurants is to use the mix to stick baking sheets down which makes them easy to spread and stops the sheets blowing around top meringues with more finely chopped hazelnuts and bake for 25 minutes and the trick to stop them cracking is to turn the oven off and let them cool inside for the filling melt dark chocolate in a bowl over simmering water and slightly cool whip the cream until it forms soft peaks and gently fold in three quarters of the melted chocolate until combined build your tower with alternate layers of chocolate cream and meringue finally drizzle over the remaining melted chocolate to decorate a simple yet luxurious dessert your friends will love but be warned they'll all want second helpings the chicken's in the oven and the desserts sorted now for a big easy green salad so let's start off with one nice tablespoon dijon dijon dijon a nice little squeeze of honey love honey good a little splash of aged balsamic and this is your favorite this one isn't it i just like the it has a nice sweetness but then it has a bitterness to it too nice thanks to virgin why do we have to use a whisk not just a spoon the purpose of using a whisk is so it can emulsify and more importantly you're bringing all the ingredients together taste it's so yummy that is delicious isn't it a good tip to loosen any vinaigrette and give it a lighter taste is add a spot of water now the juice of a lemon squeeze the lemon in nice now use some butter lettuce start placing the salad around the outside this one is a la la rosso okay so we'll put that one on the inside we're still making a nice flower and you put your heart in there oh it's just like a flower that's exactly what i'm trying to do a nice beautiful flower now from there you crisscross your avocado what does crisscrossing do instead of just exciting i'll show you now you put your spoon in there and look that's so cool got all these nice little bits i want you to sprinkle those little bits in here i'm telling you that first dinner you cook for your boyfriend it's gonna be extraordinary that romantic dinner the roast chicken the beautiful salad okay yeah to the way your father taught you and how nice will that be all three of us sat down and eating at the same time very nice you gonna do that with megan all of you all of you and i'd read the chicken okay now look at this beauty that looks amazing doesn't it right so a little bit of salad drizzle drip drip drip nice what i'm going to do now is squeeze all that garlic how soft and beautiful it is smells amazing the lemon that we stuffed inside the chicken roasted what we do now is just squeeze all that through look at that nice garlic puree i'll tip all my chickpeas in there from there some of your vinegar in now you crush them and because they're still nice and hot they absorb all that wonderful garlic and lemon puree the rich delicious creamy vinaigrette the chilis i can guarantee you young lady that they are the best the finest the most delicious chickpeas you've ever tasted go on then it's yummy right in now little drizzle extra virgin olive oil over them beautifully done on chickpeas and that is a roast chicken fit for a kingdom this looks really yummy let me pass the salad out please and i'll carve the chicken whole roast chicken stuffed with chickpeas so with a big green salad it's always a winner with your buddies work mates or family megan you gonna help with the duck danny your favorite yes it is now how's your boyfriend right i'm going come on that woke you up didn't it so what do you love most about duck the dipping sauce the dipping sauce i love that let's get the duck in the oven first let's get a bit of salt in there please then some pepper thank you some spring onion garlic and ginger now why do you think we pour that in there to season it and flavor it how come you put them in hole like that and not smaller it's going inside i'm not using it for sauce or anything so it's just gonna make it really nice star anise sorry so what happens as the duck roasts on the outside it creates this really nice perfume aroma inside tuck that in there to get it spicy rub all that chinese fire spice yeah over almost like you're massaging good so make sure you get it all in even the little wings you know underneath there just like i used to do to you my bath i used to wash your little handys i know those days are long gone i know i know i know i should die that is seriously spicy with the duck there's generally quite a lot of fat there yeah so we're gonna put it on this little bench okay and that goes there by slowly roasting it okay it's gonna get nice and crisp on the outside all that fat is gonna render inside the breast so therefore it's gonna get all nice and juicy yeah right ducks in three and a half hours at 160 degrees celsius your favorite part you said was the dipping sauce why is it your favorite part i think it really adds to the dark it makes it really tasty seen as is your favorite no you can make it i'm gonna do nothing okay daddy's gonna put his feet up so uh first off the garlic there's one good girl watch your fingers please always do good nice oh you're fast huh watch your fingers i am watch your fingers slide slow down please 14. all right that's enough right a little teaspoon of olive oil in a few years time i'll be teaching you how to drive as well as cook how exciting is that you know in a car scary okay garlic in crispy duck is traditionally served with hoisin sauce but my brood love the additional big bold punch of black beans nice megan and i add soy sauce and lastly for that classic chinese sweet and sour element brown rice vinegar and honey are you happy with the flavour i'm really happy you can taste everything in there dipping sauce done duck's in the oven let's start the dessert the most amazing tata tan are those pink peppercorns they are pink peppercorns they're really good they don't taste anything like black peppercorns quite sweet aren't they they're really sweet very fruity the pink peppercorns give it the sweetness the black peppercorns give the heat now what is that baby vanilla this is one of the easiest desserts in the world to make but one of the most delicious it's a sort of take on the classic apple or pear to tan but when you caramelize those bananas with the peppercorns and the vanilla i bet that tastes amazing oh my goodness incredible okay i'm gonna make the caramel start off with the coal pen first and you just press that butter in there how come do you do it like that and not let it just melt naturally because i want the butter to stay cold because i'm gonna stick the bananas in there okay and then we'll make the caramel and caramelize the bananas at the same time so in goes those vanilla vanilla seeds pods in there as well okay peppercorns done yeah well done good girl sprinkle them over that butter just naturally naturally yeah nice and then look just very carefully sprinkle sugar over that you're doing them all the same size roughly the same size wedge it into the butter well do you know what want the bananas really caramelised you just stuck them between if you cram them in like this okay it will stop them moving around nothing's moving nothing is okay it's all wedged in there spreading the peppercorns on top of the bananas so you've got that flavor in the caramel and the top and the bottom right puff pastry puff pastry is difficult and time consuming to make so i always buy ready made when i'm at home to get the best flavor and texture go for the all butter type and keep your pastry cold before using it this is where it gets really exciting you get your fingers you just pinch the ends so you thin the end if you do that for me very carefully have to be quick because the heat your fingers can melt the pastry how comes you do it dad because we get it nice and thin so we can clip it underneath now take a spoon and what we do is lift up that banana and tuck it underneath see little parcel like a parcel and see the thin bits of pastry yeah how easy it is to get it underneath yeah and that's why you thin them out you do it so quickly well because i have to be quick otherwise the pastry will melt notice how we're not using anything sharp so we're not would that cut the pastry that's right see how locked down that is gas on we'll start caramelizing that those three little holes are so important if we didn't put a hole in the pastry and it will cause a lot of steam so the pastry never cooks it just goes really soggy okay so really important the caramel is live now we're working the camel give a little shake how can you see the caramel through the pastry look what happens when it tilts oh yeah see all comes running down see yeah nicey now that pastry okay it's like clinging on to the bananas and so when we turn it upside down we've got this glove full of these caramelised bananas look at that wow it looks lucky look a locky look a locky ah look at likey got it now baby is your birthday soon 15. i've just worked out i'm my 50th you're 18. perfect we should do a joint party yeah love it 12 2 4 for the old ones twelve lunches time till four for the old one so they can go to sleep megan we'll go on later come on perfect this is where i get excited now look at the color of that caramel so tilt the pan again see how dark it is now yeah wow it's going a lot darker now it didn't take long didn't take long at all that's nearly ready for the oven but before i put that in i'll get the duck out wow how's the duck doing crispy wow and delicious how crispy that is it's really crispy that's what happens when it slow cooks so 20 minutes for the duck to rest and 20 minutes in the oven 190 to 200 degrees for our banana tartar tan time to knock up a quick hoisin and cucumber salad to put in our crispy duck pancakes for the dressing combine hoisin sauce rice wine vinegar soy sauce a dash of sesame oil and to give it that zingy asian punch some freshly grated root ginger for the salad trim and cut spring onions into very fine matchsticks peel a whole cucumber into long thin ribbons and shred in a couple of baby gem lettuces season and toss this fresh crunchy salad in the sweet yummy hoisin dressing a combination that never fails to get the kids eating their greens wow look at that so see now where that pastry is caramelizing the caramel so dark and just a little tip gas back on and that will release it because if you tip it and it's still sticking then some of your bananas will stick yeah so now see when it starts spinning around like that moving around and here we are the moment of truth when you know your daddy is the best chef in the world ready yep wow the vanilla how delicious you look at that amazing smells really good as well right start to stand out done crispy dipping sauce cucumber salad ready so if you take them and your dipping sauce take them over thank you i'll take the duck don't drop it promise oh okay my ultimate big and bold dinner of crispy roast duck with pancakes with a hoisin dressed salad and some extra oomph from megan's favorite black bean dipping sauce youfirst shop get the chicken stuffed and roasting now we all know you love chicken i do but we're gonna do it's a way that daddy used to eat it in paris okay now i'm gonna hold that up okay season inside please why is it yellow because it's a corn-fed chicken obviously he's corn and if you eat lots of corn turn yellow turn yellow now what are those chickpeas chickpeas yeah a little taste nice yeah we're gonna make them taste even better salt pepper in there as well please now chilies when you hear that noise is that made the seeds have come out let's try take off the tops we're going to add the chilis to the chickpeas in and then zest the lemon in there please you love your zest i love my zest you're absolutely right a little glug of olive oil come on holes don't worry about your nails now come on baby you can do it now time you peed off all those wonderful little butts see so as we stuff the chicken with the fresh thyme the chickpeas become sort of fat and juicy from all that wonderful flavor chickpea stuffing done next we're going to make the herb butter to flavor the skin now what's that tarragon what's this slightly vinegary yeah yeah a little bit anna cd yep so imagine that flavour going into the chicken that's going to be delicious now nice soft butter in with a tarragon is that lovely yeah now i want you gently to put your fingers through there and just so we get that butter under there but i need those small beautiful little hands ew what's wrong it's yucky come on holes nice well done i want you to get a nice handful of butter lift your hand up and push under good now see that there yeah you push it all the way down there and you let that slide and that's how you get all that wonderful yeah butter running down and the breasts stay nice and moist and like you yeah all those chickpeas in there nice your hands have never been so dirty have they no here we go good and push down come on okay now place my lemon in there right take your garlic shall wash my hands no not yet we lay the garlic onto the tray now onto the garlic salt pepper that keeps skin nice and crispy and then i'm just going to drizzle some olive oil that will stop the butter from burning and look at that please open them door thank you there she goes beautiful good job thank you really good nice to see holly get our hands to that door i think we all agree for dessert it's an incredible but easy hazelnut meringue tower guaranteed to wow your mates start with the basic meringue separate four egg whites and whisk gradually add caster sugar until the mix forms stiff glossy peaks gently fold in ground and chopped hazelnuts a trick we use in the restaurants is to use the mix to stick baking sheets down which makes them easy to spread and stops the sheets blowing around top meringues with more finely chopped hazelnuts and bake for 25 minutes and the trick to stop them cracking is to turn the oven off and let them cool inside for the filling melt dark chocolate in a bowl over simmering water and slightly cool whip the cream until it forms soft peaks and gently fold in three quarters of the melted chocolate until combined build your tower with alternate layers of chocolate cream and meringue finally drizzle over the remaining melted chocolate to decorate a simple yet luxurious dessert your friends will love but be warned they'll all want second helpings the chicken's in the oven and the desserts sorted now for a big easy green salad so let's start off with one nice tablespoon dijon dijon dijon a nice little squeeze of honey love honey good a little splash of aged balsamic and this is your favorite this one isn't it i just like the it has a nice sweetness but then it has a bitterness to it too nice thanks to virgin why do we have to use a whisk not just a spoon the purpose of using a whisk is so it can emulsify and more importantly you're bringing all the ingredients together taste it's so yummy that is delicious isn't it a good tip to loosen any vinaigrette and give it a lighter taste is add a spot of water now the juice of a lemon squeeze the lemon in nice now use some butter lettuce start placing the salad around the outside this one is a la la rosso okay so we'll put that one on the inside we're still making a nice flower and you put your heart in there oh it's just like a flower that's exactly what i'm trying to do a nice beautiful flower now from there you crisscross your avocado what does crisscrossing do instead of just exciting i'll show you now you put your spoon in there and look that's so cool got all these nice little bits i want you to sprinkle those little bits in here i'm telling you that first dinner you cook for your boyfriend it's gonna be extraordinary that romantic dinner the roast chicken the beautiful salad okay yeah to the way your father taught you and how nice will that be all three of us sat down and eating at the same time very nice you gonna do that with megan all of you all of you and i'd read the chicken okay now look at this beauty that looks amazing doesn't it right so a little bit of salad drizzle drip drip drip nice what i'm going to do now is squeeze all that garlic how soft and beautiful it is smells amazing the lemon that we stuffed inside the chicken roasted what we do now is just squeeze all that through look at that nice garlic puree i'll tip all my chickpeas in there from there some of your vinegar in now you crush them and because they're still nice and hot they absorb all that wonderful garlic and lemon puree the rich delicious creamy vinaigrette the chilis i can guarantee you young lady that they are the best the finest the most delicious chickpeas you've ever tasted go on then it's yummy right in now little drizzle extra virgin olive oil over them beautifully done on chickpeas and that is a roast chicken fit for a kingdom this looks really yummy let me pass the salad out please and i'll carve the chicken whole roast chicken stuffed with chickpeas so with a big green salad it's always a winner with your buddies work mates or family megan you gonna help with the duck danny your favorite yes it is now how's your boyfriend right i'm going come on that woke you up didn't it so what do you love most about duck the dipping sauce the dipping sauce i love that let's get the duck in the oven first let's get a bit of salt in there please then some pepper thank you some spring onion garlic and ginger now why do you think we pour that in there to season it and flavor it how come you put them in hole like that and not smaller it's going inside i'm not using it for sauce or anything so it's just gonna make it really nice star anise sorry so what happens as the duck roasts on the outside it creates this really nice perfume aroma inside tuck that in there to get it spicy rub all that chinese fire spice yeah over almost like you're massaging good so make sure you get it all in even the little wings you know underneath there just like i used to do to you my bath i used to wash your little handys i know those days are long gone i know i know i know i should die that is seriously spicy with the duck there's generally quite a lot of fat there yeah so we're gonna put it on this little bench okay and that goes there by slowly roasting it okay it's gonna get nice and crisp on the outside all that fat is gonna render inside the breast so therefore it's gonna get all nice and juicy yeah right ducks in three and a half hours at 160 degrees celsius your favorite part you said was the dipping sauce why is it your favorite part i think it really adds to the dark it makes it really tasty seen as is your favorite no you can make it i'm gonna do nothing okay daddy's gonna put his feet up so uh first off the garlic there's one good girl watch your fingers please always do good nice oh you're fast huh watch your fingers i am watch your fingers slide slow down please 14. all right that's enough right a little teaspoon of olive oil in a few years time i'll be teaching you how to drive as well as cook how exciting is that you know in a car scary okay garlic in crispy duck is traditionally served with hoisin sauce but my brood love the additional big bold punch of black beans nice megan and i add soy sauce and lastly for that classic chinese sweet and sour element brown rice vinegar and honey are you happy with the flavour i'm really happy you can taste everything in there dipping sauce done duck's in the oven let's start the dessert the most amazing tata tan are those pink peppercorns they are pink peppercorns they're really good they don't taste anything like black peppercorns quite sweet aren't they they're really sweet very fruity the pink peppercorns give it the sweetness the black peppercorns give the heat now what is that baby vanilla this is one of the easiest desserts in the world to make but one of the most delicious it's a sort of take on the classic apple or pear to tan but when you caramelize those bananas with the peppercorns and the vanilla i bet that tastes amazing oh my goodness incredible okay i'm gonna make the caramel start off with the coal pen first and you just press that butter in there how come do you do it like that and not let it just melt naturally because i want the butter to stay cold because i'm gonna stick the bananas in there okay and then we'll make the caramel and caramelize the bananas at the same time so in goes those vanilla vanilla seeds pods in there as well okay peppercorns done yeah well done good girl sprinkle them over that butter just naturally naturally yeah nice and then look just very carefully sprinkle sugar over that you're doing them all the same size roughly the same size wedge it into the butter well do you know what want the bananas really caramelised you just stuck them between if you cram them in like this okay it will stop them moving around nothing's moving nothing is okay it's all wedged in there spreading the peppercorns on top of the bananas so you've got that flavor in the caramel and the top and the bottom right puff pastry puff pastry is difficult and time consuming to make so i always buy ready made when i'm at home to get the best flavor and texture go for the all butter type and keep your pastry cold before using it this is where it gets really exciting you get your fingers you just pinch the ends so you thin the end if you do that for me very carefully have to be quick because the heat your fingers can melt the pastry how comes you do it dad because we get it nice and thin so we can clip it underneath now take a spoon and what we do is lift up that banana and tuck it underneath see little parcel like a parcel and see the thin bits of pastry yeah how easy it is to get it underneath yeah and that's why you thin them out you do it so quickly well because i have to be quick otherwise the pastry will melt notice how we're not using anything sharp so we're not would that cut the pastry that's right see how locked down that is gas on we'll start caramelizing that those three little holes are so important if we didn't put a hole in the pastry and it will cause a lot of steam so the pastry never cooks it just goes really soggy okay so really important the caramel is live now we're working the camel give a little shake how can you see the caramel through the pastry look what happens when it tilts oh yeah see all comes running down see yeah nicey now that pastry okay it's like clinging on to the bananas and so when we turn it upside down we've got this glove full of these caramelised bananas look at that wow it looks lucky look a locky look a locky ah look at likey got it now baby is your birthday soon 15. i've just worked out i'm my 50th you're 18. perfect we should do a joint party yeah love it 12 2 4 for the old ones twelve lunches time till four for the old one so they can go to sleep megan we'll go on later come on perfect this is where i get excited now look at the color of that caramel so tilt the pan again see how dark it is now yeah wow it's going a lot darker now it didn't take long didn't take long at all that's nearly ready for the oven but before i put that in i'll get the duck out wow how's the duck doing crispy wow and delicious how crispy that is it's really crispy that's what happens when it slow cooks so 20 minutes for the duck to rest and 20 minutes in the oven 190 to 200 degrees for our banana tartar tan time to knock up a quick hoisin and cucumber salad to put in our crispy duck pancakes for the dressing combine hoisin sauce rice wine vinegar soy sauce a dash of sesame oil and to give it that zingy asian punch some freshly grated root ginger for the salad trim and cut spring onions into very fine matchsticks peel a whole cucumber into long thin ribbons and shred in a couple of baby gem lettuces season and toss this fresh crunchy salad in the sweet yummy hoisin dressing a combination that never fails to get the kids eating their greens wow look at that so see now where that pastry is caramelizing the caramel so dark and just a little tip gas back on and that will release it because if you tip it and it's still sticking then some of your bananas will stick yeah so now see when it starts spinning around like that moving around and here we are the moment of truth when you know your daddy is the best chef in the world ready yep wow the vanilla how delicious you look at that amazing smells really good as well right start to stand out done crispy dipping sauce cucumber salad ready so if you take them and your dipping sauce take them over thank you i'll take the duck don't drop it promise oh okay my ultimate big and bold dinner of crispy roast duck with pancakes with a hoisin dressed salad and some extra oomph from megan's favorite black bean dipping sauce youfirst shop get the chicken stuffed and roasting now we all know you love chicken i do but we're gonna do it's a way that daddy used to eat it in paris okay now i'm gonna hold that up okay season inside please why is it yellow because it's a corn-fed chicken obviously he's corn and if you eat lots of corn turn yellow turn yellow now what are those chickpeas chickpeas yeah a little taste nice yeah we're gonna make them taste even better salt pepper in there as well please now chilies when you hear that noise is that made the seeds have come out let's try take off the tops we're going to add the chilis to the chickpeas in and then zest the lemon in there please you love your zest i love my zest you're absolutely right a little glug of olive oil come on holes don't worry about your nails now come on baby you can do it now time you peed off all those wonderful little butts see so as we stuff the chicken with the fresh thyme the chickpeas become sort of fat and juicy from all that wonderful flavor chickpea stuffing done next we're going to make the herb butter to flavor the skin now what's that tarragon what's this slightly vinegary yeah yeah a little bit anna cd yep so imagine that flavour going into the chicken that's going to be delicious now nice soft butter in with a tarragon is that lovely yeah now i want you gently to put your fingers through there and just so we get that butter under there but i need those small beautiful little hands ew what's wrong it's yucky come on holes nice well done i want you to get a nice handful of butter lift your hand up and push under good now see that there yeah you push it all the way down there and you let that slide and that's how you get all that wonderful yeah butter running down and the breasts stay nice and moist and like you yeah all those chickpeas in there nice your hands have never been so dirty have they no here we go good and push down come on okay now place my lemon in there right take your garlic shall wash my hands no not yet we lay the garlic onto the tray now onto the garlic salt pepper that keeps skin nice and crispy and then i'm just going to drizzle some olive oil that will stop the butter from burning and look at that please open them door thank you there she goes beautiful good job thank you really good nice to see holly get our hands to that door i think we all agree for dessert it's an incredible but easy hazelnut meringue tower guaranteed to wow your mates start with the basic meringue separate four egg whites and whisk gradually add caster sugar until the mix forms stiff glossy peaks gently fold in ground and chopped hazelnuts a trick we use in the restaurants is to use the mix to stick baking sheets down which makes them easy to spread and stops the sheets blowing around top meringues with more finely chopped hazelnuts and bake for 25 minutes and the trick to stop them cracking is to turn the oven off and let them cool inside for the filling melt dark chocolate in a bowl over simmering water and slightly cool whip the cream until it forms soft peaks and gently fold in three quarters of the melted chocolate until combined build your tower with alternate layers of chocolate cream and meringue finally drizzle over the remaining melted chocolate to decorate a simple yet luxurious dessert your friends will love but be warned they'll all want second helpings the chicken's in the oven and the desserts sorted now for a big easy green salad so let's start off with one nice tablespoon dijon dijon dijon a nice little squeeze of honey love honey good a little splash of aged balsamic and this is your favorite this one isn't it i just like the it has a nice sweetness but then it has a bitterness to it too nice thanks to virgin why do we have to use a whisk not just a spoon the purpose of using a whisk is so it can emulsify and more importantly you're bringing all the ingredients together taste it's so yummy that is delicious isn't it a good tip to loosen any vinaigrette and give it a lighter taste is add a spot of water now the juice of a lemon squeeze the lemon in nice now use some butter lettuce start placing the salad around the outside this one is a la la rosso okay so we'll put that one on the inside we're still making a nice flower and you put your heart in there oh it's just like a flower that's exactly what i'm trying to do a nice beautiful flower now from there you crisscross your avocado what does crisscrossing do instead of just exciting i'll show you now you put your spoon in there and look that's so cool got all these nice little bits i want you to sprinkle those little bits in here i'm telling you that first dinner you cook for your boyfriend it's gonna be extraordinary that romantic dinner the roast chicken the beautiful salad okay yeah to the way your father taught you and how nice will that be all three of us sat down and eating at the same time very nice you gonna do that with megan all of you all of you and i'd read the chicken okay now look at this beauty that looks amazing doesn't it right so a little bit of salad drizzle drip drip drip nice what i'm going to do now is squeeze all that garlic how soft and beautiful it is smells amazing the lemon that we stuffed inside the chicken roasted what we do now is just squeeze all that through look at that nice garlic puree i'll tip all my chickpeas in there from there some of your vinegar in now you crush them and because they're still nice and hot they absorb all that wonderful garlic and lemon puree the rich delicious creamy vinaigrette the chilis i can guarantee you young lady that they are the best the finest the most delicious chickpeas you've ever tasted go on then it's yummy right in now little drizzle extra virgin olive oil over them beautifully done on chickpeas and that is a roast chicken fit for a kingdom this looks really yummy let me pass the salad out please and i'll carve the chicken whole roast chicken stuffed with chickpeas so with a big green salad it's always a winner with your buddies work mates or family megan you gonna help with the duck danny your favorite yes it is now how's your boyfriend right i'm going come on that woke you up didn't it so what do you love most about duck the dipping sauce the dipping sauce i love that let's get the duck in the oven first let's get a bit of salt in there please then some pepper thank you some spring onion garlic and ginger now why do you think we pour that in there to season it and flavor it how come you put them in hole like that and not smaller it's going inside i'm not using it for sauce or anything so it's just gonna make it really nice star anise sorry so what happens as the duck roasts on the outside it creates this really nice perfume aroma inside tuck that in there to get it spicy rub all that chinese fire spice yeah over almost like you're massaging good so make sure you get it all in even the little wings you know underneath there just like i used to do to you my bath i used to wash your little handys i know those days are long gone i know i know i know i should die that is seriously spicy with the duck there's generally quite a lot of fat there yeah so we're gonna put it on this little bench okay and that goes there by slowly roasting it okay it's gonna get nice and crisp on the outside all that fat is gonna render inside the breast so therefore it's gonna get all nice and juicy yeah right ducks in three and a half hours at 160 degrees celsius your favorite part you said was the dipping sauce why is it your favorite part i think it really adds to the dark it makes it really tasty seen as is your favorite no you can make it i'm gonna do nothing okay daddy's gonna put his feet up so uh first off the garlic there's one good girl watch your fingers please always do good nice oh you're fast huh watch your fingers i am watch your fingers slide slow down please 14. all right that's enough right a little teaspoon of olive oil in a few years time i'll be teaching you how to drive as well as cook how exciting is that you know in a car scary okay garlic in crispy duck is traditionally served with hoisin sauce but my brood love the additional big bold punch of black beans nice megan and i add soy sauce and lastly for that classic chinese sweet and sour element brown rice vinegar and honey are you happy with the flavour i'm really happy you can taste everything in there dipping sauce done duck's in the oven let's start the dessert the most amazing tata tan are those pink peppercorns they are pink peppercorns they're really good they don't taste anything like black peppercorns quite sweet aren't they they're really sweet very fruity the pink peppercorns give it the sweetness the black peppercorns give the heat now what is that baby vanilla this is one of the easiest desserts in the world to make but one of the most delicious it's a sort of take on the classic apple or pear to tan but when you caramelize those bananas with the peppercorns and the vanilla i bet that tastes amazing oh my goodness incredible okay i'm gonna make the caramel start off with the coal pen first and you just press that butter in there how come do you do it like that and not let it just melt naturally because i want the butter to stay cold because i'm gonna stick the bananas in there okay and then we'll make the caramel and caramelize the bananas at the same time so in goes those vanilla vanilla seeds pods in there as well okay peppercorns done yeah well done good girl sprinkle them over that butter just naturally naturally yeah nice and then look just very carefully sprinkle sugar over that you're doing them all the same size roughly the same size wedge it into the butter well do you know what want the bananas really caramelised you just stuck them between if you cram them in like this okay it will stop them moving around nothing's moving nothing is okay it's all wedged in there spreading the peppercorns on top of the bananas so you've got that flavor in the caramel and the top and the bottom right puff pastry puff pastry is difficult and time consuming to make so i always buy ready made when i'm at home to get the best flavor and texture go for the all butter type and keep your pastry cold before using it this is where it gets really exciting you get your fingers you just pinch the ends so you thin the end if you do that for me very carefully have to be quick because the heat your fingers can melt the pastry how comes you do it dad because we get it nice and thin so we can clip it underneath now take a spoon and what we do is lift up that banana and tuck it underneath see little parcel like a parcel and see the thin bits of pastry yeah how easy it is to get it underneath yeah and that's why you thin them out you do it so quickly well because i have to be quick otherwise the pastry will melt notice how we're not using anything sharp so we're not would that cut the pastry that's right see how locked down that is gas on we'll start caramelizing that those three little holes are so important if we didn't put a hole in the pastry and it will cause a lot of steam so the pastry never cooks it just goes really soggy okay so really important the caramel is live now we're working the camel give a little shake how can you see the caramel through the pastry look what happens when it tilts oh yeah see all comes running down see yeah nicey now that pastry okay it's like clinging on to the bananas and so when we turn it upside down we've got this glove full of these caramelised bananas look at that wow it looks lucky look a locky look a locky ah look at likey got it now baby is your birthday soon 15. i've just worked out i'm my 50th you're 18. perfect we should do a joint party yeah love it 12 2 4 for the old ones twelve lunches time till four for the old one so they can go to sleep megan we'll go on later come on perfect this is where i get excited now look at the color of that caramel so tilt the pan again see how dark it is now yeah wow it's going a lot darker now it didn't take long didn't take long at all that's nearly ready for the oven but before i put that in i'll get the duck out wow how's the duck doing crispy wow and delicious how crispy that is it's really crispy that's what happens when it slow cooks so 20 minutes for the duck to rest and 20 minutes in the oven 190 to 200 degrees for our banana tartar tan time to knock up a quick hoisin and cucumber salad to put in our crispy duck pancakes for the dressing combine hoisin sauce rice wine vinegar soy sauce a dash of sesame oil and to give it that zingy asian punch some freshly grated root ginger for the salad trim and cut spring onions into very fine matchsticks peel a whole cucumber into long thin ribbons and shred in a couple of baby gem lettuces season and toss this fresh crunchy salad in the sweet yummy hoisin dressing a combination that never fails to get the kids eating their greens wow look at that so see now where that pastry is caramelizing the caramel so dark and just a little tip gas back on and that will release it because if you tip it and it's still sticking then some of your bananas will stick yeah so now see when it starts spinning around like that moving around and here we are the moment of truth when you know your daddy is the best chef in the world ready yep wow the vanilla how delicious you look at that amazing smells really good as well right start to stand out done crispy dipping sauce cucumber salad ready so if you take them and your dipping sauce take them over thank you i'll take the duck don't drop it promise oh okay my ultimate big and bold dinner of crispy roast duck with pancakes with a hoisin dressed salad and some extra oomph from megan's favorite black bean dipping sauce you\n"