Saturday Kitchen 27.6

(by Peter Richards MW)

While James was off reaching the spead of sound at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Rick Stein took the Saturday Kitchen helm. This saw me heading off to sunny Padstow for a bit of fun…

Wine for Angela Hartnett’s home-made ricotta with broad bean salad

• Finest Fiano 2013, Italy (from £5, Tesco)

Peter comments: it was a close call between this and a zingy Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (Mud House is currently good value at Tesco). The latter ramps up the crunchy vegetal flavours in the dish. But this Fiano is just great value, working seamlessly with the mouth-coating ricotta. ‘Delicious,’ said Angela, while Rick commented: ‘it goes so well: subtle’.  Here’s to the simple things in life!

Wine for Glynn Purnell’s roast duck breast with goat’s cheese curd, elderflower, peas and radishes

• Paul Mas Vignobles Marsanne 2014, France (£7.99, The Cooperative)

Peter comments: you might think a red would work best, as Glynn said in studio, duck is one of those meats, like lamb, that can work better with a white. So it proves here – largely because of the richness and sweetness of that curd with the elderflower cordial. Dry Riesling works well but this Marsanne makes a lovely match, sturdy enough for the savoury duck and accentuating the glorious sumery freshness of the peas and mint. A challenging one to get right so I was very glad when Glynn termed it, ‘perfect: I love it.’ ‘Really good match,’ added Rick.

Recipes, links and details

Here are my wines for the heaven and hell dishes for studio guest Arlene Philips, as cooked by Rick:

Spaghettini with lobster – Araldica Cortese 2014, Italy (from £5.99, Majestic)

Slow-cooked pork knuckle and onions – Araucaria Riesling Pinot Grigio 2014, Brazil (Marks & Spencer, £9)

Thanks to Rick, Angela, Glynn and Arlene. Thanks also to our intrepid wine VT crew Andy, Paul and Fiona, as well as all the team in the Cactus TV studios. Thanks also to Rick and his chefs for being such good sports – you can see the fun from the show via iplayer, and you can find the recipes on the BBC Food site.

Thanks to The Cooperative and Tesco, also to Susie for cooking the dishes (as ever) and of course to you for popping in here. Cheers!