Desert Island Dishes

My guest today is Thomasina Miers In 2005 Thomasina was the first winner of the revamped masterchef. She is now a Chef and food writer. She is also the owner of Wahaca, the seriously successful chain of Mexican restaurants. She has written 7 books to date, has a regular column in The Guardian, has opened another restaurant called DF MEXICO. In total she employs around 1500 people, she has three young children and is basically super -woman! Desert Island Dish Dauphinoise potatoes with steak, the café de paris butter from the restaurant 6 portland road and a bitter leaf with vinaigrette Pudding: loads of cheese and biscuits and chocolate Luxury item: olive oil Thank you for listening! Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review. Thank you! Margie @madebymargie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Rosie Birkett Rosie is a food writer, food stylist and author. She has written 3 cookbooks and has been writing about chefs, restaurants, and food since 2008. Rosie’s recipes and food styling have appeared on the cover of BBC Good Food Magazine Olive Magazine, and been featured in The Telegraph, Red magazine , Grazia, In Style and Guardian Cook. Of her brilliant book : a lot on her plate – it was said by none other than Michel Roux Jr: “In a culinary world full of froths, foams and smears this is a book for those that love real food. It s a breath of fresh air and a feast for the eyes, full of mouth-watering recipes to excite the palate and take you to a gastronomic heaven. “ Rosie genuinely makes delicious food and her passion is clear. I love the breadth of her food, meaning she is equally as happy with a bacon sandwich as she is with the best spaghetti vongole Venice has to offer. There’s nothing faddy about her food, it’s just honest, delicious grub. That’s not to say it doesn’t look fantastic, because it does. Rosie’s food styling is gorgeous and makes you want to dive head first into everything she posts safe in the knowledge it will taste as good as it looks. Desert Island Dish: Fish and chips with a chip butty on the side Luxury item: Cyril the whippet Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Simon Rimmer Simon is probably best known as the co-presenter of Channel 4's Sunday Brunch. Simon has presented a whole host of different TV programmes over the years, and he’s also written five very successful books and he regularly writes for food magazines. He is a chef/owner of nine restaurants in the north west of England and one in Dubai. Many people may not know that Simon has a degree in fashion and textile design and actually used to be a textile designer and ceramic decorator. *Desert Island Dish: Glass of Billecart-Salmon Rose to start before moving on to Kingfisher lager Indian banquet: To start: tandoori fish, tandoori lamb chops, plain naan, samosas, onion bhajis, Main course: chicken tikka masala, saag lamb, prawn madras, pilau rice, poppadoms, Pudding: Ras Malai Luxury item: limitless supply of books* Don’t forget to head to www.desertislanddishes.co for the recipe I’ve created inspired by Simon’s choice of Desert Island Dishes.And you can find me on Instagram @madebymargie and twitter too but it’s a lot doing both isn’t it? So mainly instagam I will see you next week, thanks for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's guest is Ed Kimber You may well know him by his pen name: The Boy Who Bakes. Ed Won the first ever season of GBBO Way back in 2010. He has gone on to do all manner of exciting things since then. He’s written 3 cookery books, he’s worked in the pastry section at Le Manoir under Raymond Blanc and has created recipes for dozens of the countries best loved magazines. He’s taught cooking to the masses, he’s gone on various tv shows….he’s done the lot. He is a man of many talents, he’s a baker, a writer and it turns out, he is basically a candlestick maker. He also incidentally makes the best macarons in town. There is nothing Ed doesn’t know about baking and I learnt a lot in this episode. We find out about Japan’s baking scene which as it turns out is pretty happening and about Ed’d love of travelling and how he gets inspiration for all his cooking. We also discover what exactly happens when you win The Great British Bake Off and find out how you make it as a freelance baker and food writer. In this episode Ed gives us his take on the GBBO’s move to Channel 4 and we find out what he really thinks of Pru. *Desert Island Dish: * Main course: Dipping ramen –cold noodles with amazing dipping saucePudding: Apple crumble *Luxury: Phone filled with music and podcasts * Thank you so much for listening. Don’t forget if you haven’t subscribed yet well then you must, and don’t forget to rate and review as it helps others to find the podcast and that is always a good thing. In honour of Ed, I’ve created a delicious scone recipe which is up on www.desertislanddishes.co. Pop over there to have a look. That’s all for now, I will see you next week and in the meantime don’t forget to come and find me on instagram – I’m on there as @madebymargie x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Ben Ebbrell Ben is one quarter of the youtube cooking sensation that is sorted food. Sorted food are the world’s most influential social media cooking brand and have over 1.6 million YouTube subscribers and 11 million views a month. They have been dubbed the inbetweeners of food. Chef Ben is passionate about food and all the possibilities it offers. He is the trained chef of the group – having studied Culinary Arts Management at Birmingham University. Ben has cooked for the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gary Barlow…and even the Queen! Desert island dish: lobster mac and cheese *Luxury item: pack of cards* Hope you enjoy this one! And thank you so much for listening. Come and find me on instagram @madebymargie and for the recipes go to www.desertislanddishes.co x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Ben Branson Ben is the founder of Seedlip – Seedlip is a non-alcoholic spirit and it’s the first of its kind. Served in gorgeous clear bottles, with beautiful branding, with names such as Garden 108 and Spice 94, it has all the romance and allure of a gin. Except it is most definitely not gin. It’s beyond clever. Four years ago tee-totaller Ben started tinkering in his kitchen, buying a copper still and experimenting with herbal remedies. After hours of experimenting, Seedlip was born. The first 1,000 bottles sold out in just three weeks, the next 1,000 sold out within only three days and the next 1,000 in an incredible thirty minutes online. Pretty impressive stuff! Fast forwards to today and Seedlip’s success is the kind that most start ups can only dream of. They are stocked in Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, high-end bars including at The Savoy and in over 100 Michelin-starred restaurants including The Ledbury, The Fat Duck and far too many to even mention. Drinks giant Diageo even wanted in on the action and invested very early on in Seedlip’s journey.But behind every fairytale story is another more interesting saga of hard work and most entrepreneurs will tell you that there’s no such thing as an overnight success . Ben bottled and labelled the first 1,000 bottles himself. He’s on the road more than 240 days a year and it’s not uncommon for him to attend 20 events in 20 days.Ben is ridiculously talented and it’s just been amazing to see his success – so inspiring! He really does have the word peas tattooed onto his knuckles – what can he say, he really loves peas. Head to the website www.desertislanddishes to see a picture of Ben as I do always think its really nice to put a face to a voice – and you can see the recipe I’ve created in honour of Ben. Spoiler alert, there are peas. Desert Island Dish: His mums roast lamb with peas Luxury item: His dog Kiwi Thank you for listening, subscribing, rating and reviewing. Don’t forget to tell all your friends about Desert Island Dishes and I’ll see you next week x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Margie’s guest this week is Rhiannon Lambert. Rhiannon is a Nutriionist with her own clinic on Harley Street. ,She imparts evidence-based health advice to a whole range of different clients – from young women to new mums and professional athletees. A popular face across social media, newspaper and on TV as she has consulted behind the scenes on the Masterchef series. She also works alongside doctors to demonstrate the influence nutrition can have on illness and recovery. So basically, she knows an awful lot about nutrition and having a good relationship with food to say the least. Her debut book Re-Nourish has just come out which is very exciting and is packed full of great looking dishes. Before all this Rhiannon won Classic FM’s Singer of the Year competition at the age of seventeen and went on to perform with Alfie Boe later that same year. She trained at the Royal Academy of Music. And somehow she still manages, amidst everything else she does, she still finds time to sing! So basically she’s a woman of many talents. I really like Rhiannon’s approach to food. It’s not about cutting things out of your diet or doing anything crazy, it’s simply a case of a little of what you fancy. Moderation being the key, which is, I admit, sometimes harder than others. Crumble seems to be one of Rhiannon’s favourite dishes which I can completely get on board with. A great crumble is hard to beat, and I like her mum’s addition of the oats in the topping. I do this too and it’s delicious. It was also a relief to know that Rhiannon snacks. As someone who seems to spend her life perpetually grazing I was very happy to hear that such is Rhiannon’s love of snacking, that she keeps a spoon in her handbag just in case she needs to eat a yoghurt. This sounds like a very sensible use of a handbag and may even entice me back to using a bag rather than just my pockets which is a habit I seem to have gotten into lately for reasons I can’t really explain. Her mum sounds like a fantastic cook and her childhood was filled with spaghetti bolognaise, crumbles, shepherds pies and even the occasional stir fry. All very normal and delicious sounding. I like the sound of her favourite sandwich being the pear, gorgonzola and roasted peppers – that sounds lovely or she also talked of sardines on toast which is a simple but delicious sounding choice. I don’t think sardines get enough air time, they are really good for you, and taste great! I’m going to have to look up what a Taiwanese porridge consists of as it sounds like it would be right up my street and I might even experiment with the scrambled tofu which sounds interesting! Anyone who serves two puddings at a dinner party sounds like someone I would get on with. And I only hope it’s not an either or situation and one might be allowed to have both. Desert Island Dish Sunday roast with all the trimmings. Cauliflower cheese, stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, red cabbage, roast potatoes…etc etc Luxury item: water bottle (and a hair brush) Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review as it really does help to give the show a little boost. Check out the other episodes and loads of recipe ideas over at www.desertislanddishes.co. And you can find me on instagram @madebymargie Thanks for listening x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Margie’s guest today is Daisy Buchanan Daisy is quite simply a word wizard. She’s a writer, an author, and a journalist. Her writing covers everything from arts, entertainment, and women's issues. She contributes to a whole host of publications including Esquire, Grazia, the Guardian, Look magazine, Marie Claire and the telegraph to name literally just a few! Daisy was Grazia Magazine’s resident agony aunt, winning Dating Journalist of the Year Daisy has written 3 books including the hugely successful How To Be a Grown Up and she’s “One of the Funniest Women On Twitter” according to the Huffington Post. This is a delicious episode packed full of so many great ideas and things to try out. Roasting broccoli in the same way you would roast potatoes but with lots of garlic and chilli sounds heavenly and definitely something I am going to be making. As do the brussell sprouts, they sound fab. Dinner parties at Daisy’s sound like a very delicious affair and is something I definitely need to try and wangle an invite to that’s for sure. We find out just how fundamentally life changing a toasted cheese sandwich really is and how many miles you are willing to move in order to be near a really great one. Importantly Daisy uncovers the difference between a roux and a béchamel…thank god I knew the answer to that one or my cheffy crednetials would have flown out of the window. There is talk of chilli chorizo mac and cheese and that is a phrase that has stayed with me, so I know what I will be cooking this weekend. Yum. You can’t go wrong with mac and cheese, in any way, shape or form and I like the sound of this addition very much. I thought she was very romantic choosing a dish her husband makes as her final dish before being cast off to the desert island…although we may have to work on the name…as “my husbands eggs” doesn’t have quite the right ring to it and probably isn’t something I would be in a rush to order. Although the eggs do sound delicious and are something I will be adding to my repertoire of eggs to be sure. Please tell me that we two are not alone in our love of plane food? I was worried to admit this secret love, but I can hide it no longer. I’m Margie and I enjoy plane food, especially the instant smash. Please tell me you like it too? Daisy is a delight and her food sounds fantastic. You can tell when someone talks about food just how important it is to them, and in the words of Daisy, “nourishment isn’t just about nutritional value, but finding the true joy in food and losing ourselves to sensory overload.” Desert Island Dish: Her husbands eggs (a scramble with pancetta, onion, sliced potatoes and whatever the fridge profers) Luxury Item: Perfume – specifically Chanel Coromandel And Collection of Anthony Powell – “Dance to the Music of Time” books Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review the podcast as it really does help to give me a little boost and helps others to find the podcast which is brilliant. Head to www.desertislanddishes.co to find the recipe inspired by today's episode. And you can find me on Instagram @madebymargie. See you there x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Mark Hix. Renowned chef and restaurateur, Mark is widely recognised as the reviver of modern British cuisine and is famous for his focus on a straightforward interpretation of British cooking. He is without a doubt one of London’s most eminent restauranteurs. Mark launched his first restaurant – Hix Oyster & Chop House in Farringdon, in 2008, after having spent 17 years as chef director at Caprice Holdings. He followed the opening of his first restaurant with Hix at Browns hotel, Hix Soho and the chicken and steak restaurants, Tramshed in Shoreditch and Hixter Bankside. In February 2016, Mark teamed up with artist Damien Hirst to open Pharmacy 2 at the Newport Street Gallery in Vauxhall. Somehow amongst all of that Mark has written 10 cookbooks, he has a weekly food column and Mark hosts an annual food festival in Lyme Regis, Food Rocks to showcase the best producers and suppliers in Dorset and nearby. It’s been said about Mark by none other than Tracey Emin, “What’s amazing about his success is how nice he is.’ This is an exciting episode with one of the most famous chefs and restauranteurs in London. We find out about the dishes that have shaped Mark’s life, his business highs and even some lows. We discover he has an usual love of ceramic jugs and we find out which restaurant in the world he likes so much he wishes it were his. I hope you’ve had a great week, and over indulged suitably. Hope fully this episode can bridge the gap if you are need of a bit of alone time away from the family and you can sneak off or just put your headphones in your ears there and then. If you have a spare moment do subscribe, leave a 5 * rating and a review as it really does give the show a little boost and helps me to keep bringing it to you each week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Tommy Clarke, Tommy is a world renowned photographer specialising in stunning aerial shots taken all over the world. Tommy grew up on the south coast of England in Dorset and spent nearly every childhood holiday by the beach. This led to, in his own words, a deep interest of the interaction between water and land and how people connect with that location. However it was when he was living in Australia that he first took to the skies and shot aerial photographs of Bondi Beach with stunning results. Since then Tommy has travelled the world as a photographer shooting everywhere from Iceland, to St Tropez and Mexico. This year was a big one for Tommy with Sell-out exhibitions, his own gallery opening in London and a swimwear collection for M&S. I just love hearing how these amazing people got to where they are today – and I think its really inspiring and encouraging to hear that there isn’t just one way. The road is often winding – there are ups and downs, but if you love what you do and work hard – you find what you are meant to do and it works out in the end. In a little corrections corner just before you hear todays episode – I should point out a super soaker is a water pistol – and far from a Christmas sandwich. Having watched friends about 9 hundred million times and declaring to my boyfriend just the other day it would possibly be my Mastermind topic – I am hanging my head in SHAME that I couldn’t think of the moist maker. Such a good episode of friends – Ross gets sacked when he goes into a complete fury when someone steals his Christmas sandwich from the fridge….but I mean who wouldn’t get cross about that? I love that the Christmas sandwich is Tommy’s favourite sandwich. So apt for this time of year and not remotely on purpose, although perhaps I should pretend it was! I love that roast chicken plays another starring role in someone’s childhood growing up – and I love the tradition his family had of coming together over Sunday lunch to catch up on the week and find out what everyone had been up to. The best meal he’s ever had sounds impossibly dreamy. Staying in a beach hut down near Christ Church – he went fishing with his dad, wading off shore with the sea up to their knees and beers in their pockets. They caught sea bass and then went back to the beach to barbecue them. The setting sounds perfect, as the Sun was going down and music was playing. He describes it as perfection. And it sounds gorgeous. And a far flung cry from cold and frosty London! Sounds like we all need to be hankering for an invite to a dinner party round at Tommy’s as he says he whips up a great beef Wellington. Although don’t hold out for pudding as he will probably be too exhausted by the effort of the beef to muster up much strength to provide a pudding. Although I’ve never heard anyone complain about a Gu chocolate pudding. Desert Island Dish: Surf and Turf – specifically steak and lobster*luxury: fishing rod * Check out www.desertislanddishes.co for the recipe inspired by Tommy’s choice of Desert Island Dishes. Thank you for listening, subscribing and leaving a review! See you next week! Margie x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.