Saturday Kitchen 1.3

(by susie)

The official arrival of spring has been more welcome than ever this year so it was lovely to be able to celebrate it with some glorious food and wines on Saturday Kitchen.

Atul was certainly getting in the mood, too, with a beautiful dish and some very kind words to say about my wine choices. He wrote on twitter: ‘Brillliant wine selections today, loved all of them. You are amazing, your selections ROCK!’ Thanks, Atul! And Stephane was so moved he ended up kissing James…not something you can say every day about Saturday Kitchen.

Wine for Atul Kochhar’s Karara Aloo Chaat (potato chutney salad)

• Finest Alsace Pinot Gris 2012 (£7.99, Tesco)

Susie’s comments: Gorgeous dish, with lovely earthy flavours from the potato but also a fair bit of sweet richness from the chutney. As a result the wine needs to be undersated but also fairly rich and textured – Pinot Gris works perfectly (Riesling and Sauvignon are a bit too aromatic and tend to dominate). Or, if you’re a beer fan (and given this is street food) then why not try a nice IPA. Atul liked the wine: ‘Fantastic, spot on, fabulous, cracking,’ were his comments.

Wine for Stephane Reynaud’s Tablier de Sapeur (crumbled tripe)

• Jean Luc Colombo La Redonne Côtes du Rhône Blanc 2012 (£9.74, Waitrose)

Susie’s comments: not perhaps our usual table fare but always good to try something new and great to see Stephane’s commitment to the tripe cause. Not having a feel for the best wine to choose, we opened a whole range – but this delicious, classy, rounded white worked a treat. ‘Great cominbation,’ enthuses James, ‘and a bargain too.’

Clips, links and recipes

The actress Rachael Stirling was this week’s studio guest and her food heaven and hell dishes, as cooked by James Martin, were:

Miso halibut with teriyaki green vegetables – Eclipse Bio Bio Riesling 2012 (£7.99, M&S)

Passion fruit soufflé with passion fruit ice cream and lemon shortbread – Hermits Hill Botrytis Semillon 2009 (£7.99, M&S)

Many thanks to James, Atul, Stephane and Rachael – plus the brilliant team at Cactus and everyone who tuned in. My wine clips are as below. You can find the recipes from the show on the BBC Food site. Tune in next Saturday (15^th March) to see Peter in action serving Nigel Haworth and Paul Rankin some delicious wines. Cheers!