Thandie on bbc2 4th June 2008

A Taste of My Life Wednesday 04 June
6:30pm - 7:00pm
BBC2
Thandie Newton
Nigel Slater hosts a biographical chat show exploring the lives and loves of celebrities through their experiences of food. Hollywood actress Thandie Newton is pleasantly surprised with messages from her mum and dad, who make her native Cornish pasty, and her best friend who rustles up Oysters Rockefeller. Comic actor Ben Miller challenges Thandie and Nigel to make pancakes and an American.

Pistachio ice cream pistachio
Thandie Newton
by Thandie Newton
from Taste of My Life

Serves 4

Preparation time less than 30 mins

Cooking time 10 to 30 mins
Vegetarian Quick Recipe


Ingredients
125g/4½oz unsalted pistachio nuts, out of their shells (weight shown is without shells)
75g/3oz caster sugar
3 free-range egg yolks
500ml/17fl oz double cream

Method
1. Place half of the pistachios into a food processor with half of the sugar and blend until very fine.
2. Roughly chop the remaining pistachios with a sharp knife on a secure chopping board.
3. Whisk the egg yolks with the other half of the sugar in a large, heatproof mixing bowl, until thick and creamy.
4. Place the cream and the finely ground pistachio and sugar mixture into a heavy-based pan over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Immediately remove from the heat and pour the mixture onto the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return the pistachio custard to the pan and stir over a low heat until the mixture thickens.
5. Remove from the heat and place into a large bowl of iced water to quickly cool, then refrigerate for at least one hour.
6. Churn the pistachio custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
7. Fold in the hand-chopped pistachios and transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container with a lid. Cover and freeze until required.

Scallops with hazelnut butter scallop
Nigel Slater
by Nigel Slater
from Taste of My Life

Serves 2

Preparation time less than 30 mins

Cooking time less than 10 mins
Quick Recipe


Ingredients
6 scallops, in their shells
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
3 garlic cloves
2 shallots
55g/2oz butter, softened
1 lemon, juice only
2 tbsp ground hazelnuts
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Open the scallops and rinse away any grit. Discard the top half of the shell (the half without the scallop attached). Cut the tendon that holds the scallop flesh to the shell, but leave the flesh in place. Place the scallop in its shell on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining scallops.
2. Chop the coriander, garlic and shallots. Add to the softened butter and stir in the lemon juice and ground hazelnuts.
3. Mix in a very little crushed sea salt and pepper.
4. Place equal amounts of the butter and hazelnut mixture onto the scallop shells.
5. Place under a grill at its highest setting and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the scallop is sizzling and just cooked through. Take great care not to overcook the scallops.

Goat stew with cabbage and peanut butter other
Thandie Newton
by Thandie Newton
from Taste of My Life

Serves 4

Preparation time 30 mins to 1 hour

Cooking time over 2 hours



Ingredients
1kg/2lb 5½oz goat meat cut into 2.5cm/1in pieces
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp vegetable oil
25g/1oz butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped
2 tsp tomato purée
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp ginger powder
pinch cayenne pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
450ml/15fl oz lamb or beef stock
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the cabbage
1 medium cabbage, shredded
salt
3-4 tbsp (or to taste) peanut butter
To serve
200g/7oz millet, cooked according to packet instructions

Method
1. Season the goat meat with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat the oil and butter in a deep, heavy-based pan. Add the goat meat and fry, stirring occasionally, until browned all over.
2. Add the onions and garlic and fry over a medium heat until the onions are translucent.
3. Add the tomato purée, cloves, ginger and cayenne pepper and fry for one minute, stirring constantly.
4. Add the lemon juice, lamb or beef stock, thyme and bay leaf and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 1½-2 hours, or until the meat is tender.
5. For the cabbage, place the cabbage into a bowl and cover with cold salted water for half an hour.
6. Drain off all but a few tablespoons of the cabbage soaking water and transfer the cabbage to a pan over a medium heat. Cover with a lid and steam the cabbage until tender.
7. Drain the cabbage, then return to the pan. Add the peanut butter and stir into the cabbage.
8. To serve, place the cabbage and the goat stew into separate serving bowls. Serve with millet - roll the millet into a ball in your hand and dip into the goat stew.

Creme brulee with rhubarb rhubarb
Thandie Newton
by Thandie Newton
from Taste of My Life

Serves 4

Preparation time less than 30 mins

Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour
Vegetarian


Ingredients
For the rhubarb
450g/1lb rhubarb stalks, trimmed, cut into pieces
1 tbsp clear honey
1 orange, juice only
For the crème brulée
400ml/14fl oz whole milk
150ml/5fl oz single cream
40g/1½oz caster sugar
4 free-range egg yolks
1 vanilla pod, split
100g/3½oz demerara or icing sugar for topping

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. For the rhubarb, place the rhubarb pieces into a shallow baking dish. Squeeze over the orange juice and drizzle with honey.
3. Place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes, occasionally basting the fruit with the cooking juices.
4. Once the rhubarb is tender, spoon equal quantities into the bottom of four small heatproof dishes or ramekins and set aside.
5. For the crème brûlée, place the milk and cream into a pan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil then remove from the heat.
6. Place the sugar and egg yolks into a clean bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.
7. Gradually add the milk and cream mixture stirring well. Strain the custard back into the pan and add the vanilla pod. Stir over a very low heat until the custard thickens, then remove from the heat and remove the vanilla pod (you can rinse and dry it for use in other recipes).
8. Pour equal amounts of the custard over the rhubarb in the ramekins and leave to go completely cold.
9. Two or three hours before serving, sprinkle the top of each crème brûlée with the demerara sugar or icing sugar so they are each evenly and completely covered with a layer of sugar.
10. Place the dishes under a hot grill or heat with a cook's blowtorch until golden-brown and melted.
11. Allow the tops to cool, then place in the fridge to chill until ready to serve.

In what could be considered a desperate bid to look relevant, actress Thandie Newton admitted she had a romance with Brad Pitt, even though in her words "it was a long time ago". Newton appeared in "Mission Impossible II" and "Crash" and was talking about her time with Pitt in the BBC2 show "A Taste Of My Life". She said her greatest achievement was giving birth to her children.

When asked to comment on this revelation, Jennifer Aniston could only be heard grinding her teeth. When Angelina Jolie was told, she offered Thandie her personal number and said "she can pop over any time".

Brad Pitt is becoming more like Woodstock every year. 500,000 people attended Woodstock but probably 10 million claimed they were actually there. Same with Pitt.