Episodes

  • Broadcaster Amol Rajan cooks a Paneer Curry

    Broadcaster Amol Rajan cooks a Paneer Curry
    Jun 18 2025
    To kick off the new series of 5 O' Clock Apron Podcast with Good Food Claire cooks with the giant of the airwaves, Amol Rajan. Amol is one of Radio 4’s Today program presenters, he also hosts BBC2’s legendary TV quiz show University Challenge. Amol Rajan Interviews on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds platform Amol interviewing momentous public figures from Bill Gates to Greta Thunberg to Sir Ian McKellen amongst others. Amol is a busy man with x4 children under 9 years of age, he’s up early to host the Today program and home late recording University Challenge, to make things easier, Claire and Amol meet at Good Food HQ in Hammersmith to record the episode. Amol arrives on his bike (of course he does!) and apologises to Claire for not arriving as is more customary, suited and booted. If you follow Amol on his social media and on TV, you’ll know this man is a snappy dresser! Claire brings along some of her spice collection from home and Amol sets about teaching Claire his recipe for Paneer Curry and, apart from the stove top tripping a couple of times during the recording, the pair chop and chat like no tomorrow. Cricket, Cooking for Kids, Amol’s upbringing in south London, previous careers, hereditary diabetes and how to chop onions, speedily! Can Amol cook? Of course he can, he’s Amol Rajan! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    47 mins
  • 5 O'Clock Apron: Introducing Series 4!

    5 O'Clock Apron: Introducing Series 4!
    Jun 14 2025
    Chef and food writer Claire Thomson is back with a brand-new series of the 5 O’Clock Apron podcast with Good Food! In this series, Claire invites another incredible line-up of guests into the kitchen - from a comedian to a Royal Ballet dancer, a waste and recycling worker to a rugby player - and many more. Together they cook favourite home recipes while sharing stories, laughter, and the odd kitchen mishap. Episodes drop weekly from 18th June. Follow now and join Claire for some delicious kitchen companionship! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    1 min
  • Mackerel and 'Cat's Whiskers' Sauce with Fish Merchant Robin Turner

    Mackerel and 'Cat's Whiskers' Sauce with Fish Merchant Robin Turner
    Jul 31 2024
    In this episode of 5 O’Clock Apron Podcast Claire cooks with fish merchant Robin Turner. Robin’s family have been involved in the Cornish fishing industry for 5 generations and what Robin doesn’t know about fish isn’t worth knowing. Learn how to select the freshest fish, how fish change with the seasons, and what Claire will need to do if she wants to catch a mackerel. The podcast is recorded on the beach at Mousehole, near the South West Coastal Path, and attracts the attention of passers-by intrigued to see the pair cooking such delicious food in the sunshine on a camping gas stove. Robin cooks an old and locally famous dish of Mackerel with 'Cat’s Whiskers' sauce. Intrigued? We certainly were! This podcast is a brilliant listen for anyone heading to the seaside this summer, and for those who want to know more about fabulous local Cornish produce. Thank you Robin for sharing your colossal knowledge of fish. Recipe: Serves 2 2 mackerel filleted 200mls double cream 1 heaped tsp mustard powder 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar Salt and pepper, to taste Splash of oil, to cook the fish Robin served this with some pink peppercorn and kombucha pickled radishes Baguette or some boiled potatoes, to serve Get a good pan hot over a high to moderate heat. Add the mackerel fillets skin side down, giving them a gentle press to stop them curling up - see reel. Cook for around 2 - 3 minutes then flip and cook 30 secs to 1 minute on other side (depending on thickness of fillets). In a separate saucepan, add the mustard powder and vinegar and mix together, over a low heat add the cream and season well with salt and pepper to taste, warm through and serve the Cat’s Whiskers Sauce alongside the fried mackerel immediately. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    39 mins
  • Mackerel and Tabbouleh with RNLI Lifeguard Gavin Philpotts

    Mackerel and Tabbouleh with RNLI Lifeguard Gavin Philpotts
    Jul 24 2024
    In this episode of 5 O’Clock Apron Podcast Claire cooks with RNLI lifeguard Gavin Philpotts. The podcast is recorded in the sand dunes above Sennen Beach, just below the lifeguard hut. With the sun shining bright and the lifeguard’s radios in bleeping distance, Claire and Gavin carve a space to cook with a lifeguard rescue board as their work surface. Claire arrives with some mackerel bought that morning in Newlyn and the pair get busy preparing a tabbouleh to go alongside, Gavin also contributes some roasted beets which he brought from home that morning. With the iconic 90’s TV series Baywatch as Claire’s reference for all things lifeguard, coupled with the countless lifeguards Claire and her family spot on Cornish beaches each summer, meeting and cooking alongside Gavin was a real highlight. We talk saving lives, long distance swimming, rip currents, weever fish and where lifeguards go in the wintertime. Huge thanks to RNLI for covering Gavin as he cooked with us, after all lifesaving can never stop, for whatever the reason, my podcast included. Find out more about the RNLI and Sennen beach here: Sennen Beach - RNLI Lifeguarded Beach in Cornwall Follow Claire at 5 O' Clock apron on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/5oclockapron Make this recipe. It is the very essence of summertime in Cornwall via The Levant. Serves 2 2 mackerel, filleted 2 tbsp olive oil to fry and 3 -4 tbsp olive oil for the dressing 50g bulgar wheat, soaked in boiling water for 15 mins then drained 1 cucumber, diced small 4 spring onions 1/2 - 1 green or red chilli, finely diced 1/2 red onion, finely diced Around 20 cherry tomatoes, diced small 1 clove garlic, finely grated Big bunch of mint Big bunch of pulses Fruit, any or all, I’m using in season 3 ripe apricots, diced small 1 lemon, 1/2 juiced, 1/2 cut into quarters to serve 1 - 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses 1/2 - 1 tsp dijon mustard (Gavin’s inclusion) Pinch of ground cumin Pinch of ground cinnamon Beetroots, roasted with salt in tin foil until soft, chopped into quarters Seasoned yoghurt, to serve Method; Make the tabbouleh first. Get all the salad ingredients in a bowl and make the dressing by mixing together the mustard, pomegranate, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Dress the tabbouleh and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. Get a good pan hot over a moderate - hot heat. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil and heat until just shimmering. Add the mackerel fillets skin side down, giving them a gentle press to stop them curling up. Cook for around 2 - 3 minutes then flip and cook 30 secs to 1 minute on other side (depending on thickness of fillets). Serve the fried mackerel with the tabbouleh, roasted beets and seasoned yogurt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    34 mins
  • 'Protective' Potato Salad with Witch Emma Griffin

    'Protective' Potato Salad with Witch Emma Griffin
    Jul 17 2024
    In this episode of 5 O’Clock Apron Podcast Claire cooks with the Cornish Witch Emma Griffin. The podcast is recorded in a magical shed at the bottom of Emma’s garden, next door to a graveyard. Alongside Emma is her witches' companion, or familiar, her dog, Walter. Claire and Emma are cooking a ‘Protective’ Potato Salad with chicken and bacon on a camping stove and space is tight, what with the broomsticks and the cauldron, so Emma’s husband Steve kindly boils potatoes in the kitchen. Emma’s witchcraft is boundlessly positive and together Claire and Emma talk good vs evil, recipes as spells, failed gangsters, sea witches and building towers of yumminess. Claire has never met, not least cooked with a witch before, so the learning curve is a steep and ridiculously joy-filled one. The podcast ends with Claire happy in her newfound kitchen witchery and Emma’s recipe is a brilliant example of just how similar the disciplines of witchcraft and cookery really are. Thank you Emma, we’ll be back! Follow Claire at 5 O' Clock apron on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/5oclockapron Follow Emma on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/emmagriffinwitch/ If you have enjoyed this podcast it would be an immense help if you could rate, subscribe or leave a review. Recipe: ‘Protective’ Potato Salad with ‘Secret’ Ingredient Chicken, Maple and Bacon. To feed x4 2 large chicken breasts, diced 6 rashers of streaky bacon 2 tbsp olive oil 600g small new potatoes Soft lettuce, I used large butterhead 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced Dressing: 2 tbsp mayonnaise 1 tbsp thick greek yogurt 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp maple syrup 1 heaped tsp dijon mustard Juice of 1/2 lemon Salt and Pepper, to taste Secret Ingredient info: Emma used @nandosuk medium chicken seasoning powder, and it was great, Emma is a witch and I’m a chef, so I made my own and this is what I used; 1 heaped tsp unsmoked paprika 1/4 tsp medium heat chilli powder 1 heaped tsp dried oregano 1 heaped tsp ground cumin 1 heaped tsp ground coriander Few shakes of smoked paprika 2 cloves garlic, finely grated 2 tbsp olive oil Zest of 1/2 lemon Lots of black pepper and salt, to taste Boil the potatoes until soft. Drain & keep warm. Marinade chicken in olive oil & the secret ingredients, or do as Emma does & use @nandosuk chicken seasoning powder. Leave for 30 mins, or less. Cook bacon in a pan over a moderate heat in a dry pan until crisping up, remove from pan, leaving fat behind in pan to cook chicken. Add a splash more olive oil to pan & cook chicken pieces over moderate heat until fully cooked through. Remove from heat & rest. Meanwhile, make dressing, mix mayonnaise, yoghurt, lemon juice, maple syrup, balsamic & mustard together & season well with salt & pepper. Dress warm potatoes with salad dressing & add the spring onions. Arrange lettuce on a serving plate & pile on with warm, dressed new potatoes. Add chicken & break up the bacon pieces to serve. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    36 mins
  • Date and Tomato Tagine with Wildlife Cameraman Hamza Yassin

    Date and Tomato Tagine with Wildlife Cameraman Hamza Yassin
    Jul 10 2024

    In this episode of 5 O’Clock Apron Podcast Claire cooks with the wildlife cameraman, TV presenter, author and winner of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, Hamza Yassin. The podcast is recorded in a tent at The Hay Literary Festival. Hamza is there to talk about his latest book ‘Be a Birder’ and Claire was there to cook a date and tomato tagine with him after he finished his long and busy day. Hamza is an extraordinary guest to cook alongside, gracious and charming, he’s a once in a lifetime, next-generation David Attenborough type contender. The world and all it’s wildlife salute you Hamza. Claire and Hamza talk Sudanese food, the perils of having your grandmother marry you off each time you return home, silent food to eat in a hide, pet monkeys, how bird spotting is really like Pokemon, rugby, Scotland and Pop-Eye The Sailor Man.



    Hamza’s book, 'Be a Birder' is available here.

    https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk/titles/hamza-yassin/be-a-birder/9781856755108/


    Follow Claire at 5 O' Clock apron on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/5oclockapron


    If you have enjoyed this podcast it would be an immense help if you could rate, subscribe or leave a review.



    Recipe:


    TOMATO, DATE + CHICKPEA TAGINE


    2 onions, finely sliced or chopped

    4 garlic, finely chopped

    Olive oil, 2 - 3 tbsp

    2 tsp ground cumin

    2 tsp ground coriander

    1 tsp ground ginger

    1 large cinnamon stick

    Salt and pepper, to taste

    700g chickpeas, I used @boldbeanco

    400g polpa (chopped) tomatoes

    40g dates

    1/2 preserved lemon, finely chopped

    Couscous, cooked as per packet instructions, to serve

    Harissa, to serve

    Coriander, roughly chopped, to serve


    In a heavy bottomed saucepan with a lid (or use a tagine dish) heat the oil over a moderate heat and cook the onions until golden brown (around 10 mins), add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes more. Blitz the tomatoes with the dates. Add the ground spices and the cinnamon stick to the onions and garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the tomatoes and dates, rinse out the container in which you blended them with around 80mls of water, add that to the pan. Add the chickpeas (I didn’t bother draining them). Season the mix with salt and plenty of black pepper. Lid on and cook over a moderate / low heat on the stove top, or in the oven, at 180C for around 25 - 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, check the seasoning, remembering the preserved lemon is salty, add the preserved lemon and stir well. Prepare the couscous as per instructions on packet (or do as I do in the reel, and toast the couscous in a dry pan until nutty shade of brown before carefully adding the boiling water and lemon juice). Serve the tagine with the couscous, coriander and harissa.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show more Show less
    39 mins
  • Red Wine Risotto with Respiratory Consultant Anna Bibby

    Red Wine Risotto with Respiratory Consultant Anna Bibby
    Jun 12 2024
    In this episode of The 5 O’ Clock Apron Podcast Claire cooks with NHS respiratory consultant and clinical academic Anna Bibby. Anna chooses to cook red wine risotto with chorizo, and as you hear in the recording, tongue firmly in cheek, Claire ends up apologising to both Italy and Spain. Apologies done and dusted, through their conversation we learn the different characteristics of carnaroli, vialone nano and arborio rice, the physiologically accurate way to stir love into a risotto, and Claire asks Do lung and kidney doctors ever enjoy eating offal? Claire lives around the corner and plays netball with Anna but before recording this episode had never been to her house or indeed seen Anna out of netball gear. There’s a bit of netball chat, because this is after all how the two know each other, both centre court players, WA and WD. Anna's laughter is infectious and her enthusiasm for colour coding the risotto to cook for this podcast is sure to make you smile, as all good cookery should. Recipe below. Follow Claire at 5 O' Clock apron on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/5oclockapron If you have enjoyed this podcast it would be an immense help if you could rate, subscribe or leave a review. Recipe Red Wine, Sausage & Sage Risotto* Enough for x2 generously *Anna’s version included chorizo, mushroom and black olive, I kept things a bit more simple, with Anna’s blessing. 1 onion, finely diced 3 garlic, finely chopped 2 tbsp good olive oil 200g risotto rice, ideally arborio, carnaroli or vialone nano 2 best quality sausages with little or no rusk, meat squeezed from casings 3 or 4 sage leaves Salt and pepper, to taste 150ml dry red wine Around 800ml of hot stock, chicken or veg, up to you, quantity will depend on the absorbency of the rice Some lemon juice, to taste Big knob of butter, to finish Lots of parmesan, to finish Cook the onions in a heavy bottomed sauce pan over a medium heat in the olive oil for around 8 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, sausage and sage and cook, breaking the sausage meat up as you do, for around 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes more until the outside of the rice grains turn translucent and the contents of the pan are making a snapping, sizzling sound. Add the red wine, mixing vigorously until all the liquid has been absorbed. Turn down the heat to medium / low and add the hot stock ladleful by ladleful, season to taste with salt and pepper and stir vigorously each time you add more stock until the liquid has been absorbed before you add the any more liquid. The more you stir, the creamier the risotto. Stirring all the while, start checking your rice after 12 mins of cook time, anywhere between 15 and 20 minutes, the rice grains should not be chalky, but still have a slight resistance in the centre, the rice will continue cooking as the pan rests before serving. Remove from heat when your rice is ready, you want the consistency to still be little soupy still, it will thicken up as the risotto rests. Add a squeeze of lemon juice, big knob of butter and plenty of parmesan. Stir well, put a lid on the pan and rest for at least 5 mins before serving. Serve each bowl topped with more parmesan and plenty of black pepper. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    41 mins
  • Qeema and Daal with Journalist Mishal Husain

    Qeema and Daal with Journalist Mishal Husain
    Jun 5 2024
    In this episode of The 5 O’ Clock Apron Podcast Claire cooks with journalist and icon of broadcasting, Mishal Husain. A reassuring voice to so many listeners on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Mishal cooked not 1 but 4 dishes, home-style Pakistani qeema*, daal*, raita and rice. All this was no mean feat given the 45 minutes from a standing start it took Mishal to cook and present the most beautiful lunch which Mishal and Claire then sat down to eat together. Listen in to hear Mishal discuss family recipes, feeding teenage boys and how to extend meals for unexpected guests, what broadcasters listen to on their day off, darning socks in the front of the TV and what leeway there is when recreating your mother and mother-in-law’s favourite recipes. This recording is an audio treat. Mishal’s book Broken Threads, a memoir of love and family resilience detailing the days leading up to and surrounding the partition of India, is published on June 6th by 4th Estate. https://www.4thestate.co.uk/products/broken-threads-my-family-from-empire-to-independence-mishal-husain-9780008531706/ *In Pakistan, due to the way the letter ق is pronounced, the dish is spelled with a "q" (qeema), but in India and Bangladesh it is written with a "k" (keema). Likewise, there are different spellings for dal / daal across South Asia. Follow Claire at 5 O' Clock apron on Instagram to get the recipe. https://www.instagram.com/5oclockapron If you have enjoyed this podcast please like, subscribe and leave a review. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Show more Show less
    59 mins
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_webcro805_stickypopup