Tom Kerridge's Fresh Start

In episode one, Tom got his Fresh Start families cooking more meals from scratch. This week Tom introduces Step Two as he encourages his families to get organised.

Tom wants the families to follow his three rules to become boss of their kitchens. One: plan their meals ahead. Two: shop from a list. Three: instead of reheating shop-bought ready meals, batch cook their own with quick and easy recipes.

The Johnson family from Addlestone in Surrey (pictured) juggle the demands of work with busy family life, and have fallen into an all too familiar convenience food habit. Using a roll of wallpaper and the Fresh Start recipe folder, he shows Neil, a decorator, and his wife Beckie, who runs their home office, how they can plan their meals efficiently.

From his kitchen Tom makes Salt Cod & Saffron Fishcakes, showing how this simple recipe can be made in advance to fit into busy lifestyles.

The second thing Tom tasks the families with is to shop sensibly, buying ingredients they need for a week’s worth of home-cooked family meals. They must stick to the list and track their spending - which reveals some impressive results at the end of the week.

Whilst the families put their knowledge into practice, Tom’s shows how a nutty and fruity granola is a great recipe for a store cupboard clear-out, before moving on to the third rule: getting the family's heads around batch cooking.

The O’Connor family from St Albans, are stuck in a cycle of cooking two dinners every night to please them and their children, Quinn, aged four and Ciara, aged two. Tom teaches civil engineer Mike and primary school teacher Steph to batch cook Italian Turkey Meatballs at home in a bid to keep the freezer full, cut down on cooking and save money.

Tom’s extended family come over for lunch and he’s cooking Butternut Squash & Chickpea Curry. It’s another great recipe to batch cook and freeze. Helping him in the kitchen are his two nieces Ava and Eta, and it gets the thumbs-up from the relatives. A family feast needs a pudding, and Tom’s Chocolate Mousse is quick to make, tastes incredible, can be on the table in minutes and has a surprise ingredient.

Since Tom’s visit, the Johnson family have been planning and batch cooking. He invites them over to his kitchen where their 12 year-old son Ewan takes on garlic bread, and Tom teaches the family to make Spaghetti Puttanesca, a quick-fire recipe to beat any pasta sauce from a jar hands down.

Publicity contact: CT / MF