Thomasina Miers, 2005 winner: chicken, foie, quince and cobnut ravioli
I was immensely proud of this whenI produced it for the final of that first year of the new-look MasterChef. Ipractised making ravioli for the first time the night before – rather different from the discipline the finalists demonstrate now.
The recipe is classic Italian with anEnglish accent, combining textures of silky pasta, smooth mousse and the light crunch of sweet cobnut with the moreish flavours of fried sage, English spicing, quince and foie gras. Cobnuts aren't in season right now – you'll have to wait until August to get your mitts on this most English of ingredients – but blanched chopped hazelnuts make a pretty decent substitute. And as for the foiegras, I know it's expensive, not tomention controversial, but this was the MasterChef final, and I was desperate to wow the judges; if you do choose to use it, please try to source yours from a supplier who has good welfare standards.
I'll never forget Gregg's face when he took his first bite – for me, the pure pleasure one gets from cooking for other people was distilled into that perfect moment. Serves four to six.
For the pasta
300g strong 00 pasta flour
3 large free-range eggs
Semolina flour, for dusting
For the mousse
100g skinless chicken breast, cold from the fridge
2 medium egg yolks
150ml whipping cream, cold from the fridge
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp ground mace
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g toasted cobnuts (or blanched hazelnuts, chopped)
50g foie gras (optional)
3-4 tbsp quince jam or jelly
For the dressing
60g clarified butter
4 sage leaves
1 large knob salted butter
A chunk of parmesan
First make the pasta. Mix the flour and eggs in a food processor until they come together into a large ball. Remove the dough from the processor and knead by hand for about three minutes, until smooth and elastic. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Roughly cut the chicken into small pieces. Put the chicken and egg yolks in a food processor and whizz to a paste. Spoon into abowl and chill for 15 minutes. Whisk in the cream and spices, season with abig pinch of salt and some pepper, then stir in the cobnuts. Chill while you get on with the pasta.
Divide the pasta dough into three pieces. Rewrap two pieces in clingfilm and return to the fridge, and place the third on a floured work surface. Roll into a ball, flatten out by hand into a rectangle, and roll out with a heavy rolling pin (or in apasta machine). Keep the work surface lightly floured. Roll out the dough to a sheet about 20cm wide by 45cm long, then cut in half lengthways so you have two long sheets about 10cm wide.
Place heaped teaspoons of the mousse at 5cm intervals along the centre of one of the pasta sheets, push a tiny ball of foie gras (if using) into the mousse and top each mound with a tiny smear of quince jam. Brush a little water around the edge of the sheet and around each mound of filling (if you don't do this, the pasta will not stick and the filling will leak out). Lay the second sheet of pasta on top and press down evenly and firmly around each mound of filling and all around the edges. Trim and cut the ravioli using a sharp knife or crinkle cutter. Lay the finished ravioli on lightly floured baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling – you should end up with 32-40 ravioli.
Melt the clarified butter in a small saucepan until very hot. Add the sage leaves, deep-fry for about 30 seconds, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Add the salted butter to the pan andswirl about until melted.
Bring a large pan of salted water toa boil. Lower the heat to a gentle rolling boil, then drop in the ravioli and bring back to a gentle boil. Cook for three to four minutes, until the pasta is cooked al dente, then remove with a slotted spoon.
Transfer the ravioli to four (or six) plates or bowls and dress with the sage butter, grated parmesan, agrind of black pepper and a deep-fried sage leaf. Serve at once.
Thomasina Miers is co-owner of the Wahaca chain of Mexican restaurants. Her latest book is Wahaca: Mexican Food At Home, published by Hodder & Stoughton at £20. To order a copy for £16, including UK mainland p&p, go to guardian.co.uk/bookshop.
Fiona Beckett's drink match Foie gras is often paired with asweetwine but, given the other ingredients here, I'd go for a rich, dry white such as the lush, peachy Laffitte Teston Ericka 2011 PacherencSec (£12.15, The Sampler; 14% abv).
Peter Bayless, 2006 winner: mini gateau Paris-Brest
I spent most of the week before the final locked in a cabin on the QE2, poleaxed by food poisoning from some dodgy shellfish in Las Palmas. Four days of doing my best to hold down nothing more than water and antibiotics weren't the best way to prepare, but at least it gave me time to plan my menu. Back in 2006, the final involved making athree-course menu from scratch in two hours. Mine was fillet of turbot with scallop, fresh leaves and tomato butter; two kinds of duck with aligot, potato galette, creamed savoy cabbage and red-wine sauce; and this dessert.
Choux pastry is nowhere near as hard to make as you might imagine. You just have to stick to a few basic rules: accurate measurements are crucial; add the flour the moment the liquid comes to a boil; and leave the cooked pastry to cool and dry out completely, to guarantee that winning combo of crisp exterior andfluffy inside that works so well with a creamy filling. Serves four.
As a result of winning MasterChef, I'm now an independent chef, have written a book (My Father Could Only Boil Cornflakes; Ptarmigan, 2006), teach at several cookery schools and write for food magazines.
For the choux pastry
65g plain flour
150ml water
50g unsalted butter, diced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
A few drops of concentrated vanilla extract
1 tbsp flaked almonds
Icing sugar, for dusting
For the crème pâtissière
2 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
25g plain flour
160ml milk
½ tsp instant coffee
Pinch of salt
A few drops of vanilla extract
Sift the flour on to a sheet of paper. Put the water and butter in asaucepan, heat until the butter melts, then bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, tip in the flour and beat with a wooden spoon until the dough leaves the sides of the pan in aball. Return to the heat, stir for two minutes until the dough glistens, then tip into a bowl and leave to cool a little. Add the vanilla to the eggs, and beat into the dough a bit at atime: the mix should be very shiny and just fall from the spoon.
Heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with nonstick baking paper. Scoop the dough into a piping bag fitted with a12mm plain nozzle and pipe 100mm circles on to the baking paper. Add adrop of water and a tiny pinch of salt to the residue of beaten egg, andbrush over the top of the circles. Sprinkle with flaked almonds and bake for 10 minutes. Turn down the heat to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and cook for 30 minutes more. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack. Immediately cut the rounds in half horizontally, to release the steam. If the insides are still soft and doughy, return to the oven for a few more minutes to dry out. Leave in two halves to cool thoroughly.
For the crème pâtissière, beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and fluffy, then stir in the flour. Bring the milk to a boil, and flavour with the coffee, salt and vanilla. Whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture, return to the pan and whisk over amoderate heat. If lumps form, simply remove from the heat and whisk hard until smooth again. Keep whisking until smooth and creamy throughout, cook for two minutes more, scrape out into a bowl and leave to cool.
To finish, put the bottom half of achoux ring on a plate, pipe on the cream with a star-tipped nozzle and set the upper ring on top, so cream squidges out of the sides. Repeat with the other rings and cream, and dust generously with icing sugar.
Fiona Beckett's drink match This isthe perfect pudding to show off afine French dessert wine such as those from the Loire, Bordeaux or this lovely organic wine from the south-west, Domaine Bellegarde Jurançon Moelleux 2011 (£7.95 a half-bottle, Yapp Bros; 13% abv).
Steven Wallis, 2007 winner: Salad of dandelion, jamón Ibérico de Bellota, poached quail's egg with walnut vinaigrette
I conceived this dish to bring some humour to my experience of the final – things tend to get taken very seriously and I just wanted to shake off some of the pressure. Even so, Ialso knew my choice offirst course was a good way to showcase my understanding of how different foods work together, and it helped that I was working with such high-quality ingredients. Onan emotional level, meanwhile, the dish evokes adeep sense of the countryside and is full of very grown-up flavours, despite the nursery-esque cosiness of bacon and eggs. For a salad to work in the final, it needs faultlessly elegant execution and a bit of brazen faith in its component parts.
The ingredients are a nod to where I grew up in Windsor Great Park. Ioften foraged with my parents for parasol mushrooms, puffballs, elderberries, blackberries and sweet chestnuts, and the dandelion and walnut in this dish took me back to the earthiness of those woodland floors – a snapshot of rural England on plate. The bitter leaves give the dish its heart, and that's echoed by the sublime hint of acorns in the ham and warm tones of the walnut oil.
Of course, dandelion leaves aren't the kind of thing you find at the local supermarket. Ask your greengrocer if he can get any for you, and failing that, go out and pick your own. But make sure you know what you're picking, avoid any plants that may have been chemically treated and be sure to wash your bounty thoroughly. Spring is the best time to pick dandelion, because the leaves are small and sweet (larger, older leaves can be very bitter indeed). And if you really can't get hold of any dandelion, use watercress, rocket or even baby spinach instead. Serves two as a starter.
Cooking and food is still my passion – I think it always will be. My dreams of starting arestaurant, though, are onice until I have the capital and concept firmly within my grasp. Watch this space…
1 head Italian dandelion (if you can't get any, use rocket, watercress or baby spinach)
75g jamón Ibérico de Bellota
6 quail's eggs
30ml cold-pressed walnut oil
10ml Forum sauvignon vinegar, plus a little extra for poaching (it helps keep the egg white together)
Maldon sea salt and black pepper
A pinch of sugar
Chive flowers, to decorate (if in season)
Rinse and pat dry the dandelion head, trim the fine leaves into 10cm lengths, set aside and keep cool.
For the vinaigrette, whisk the oil, vinegar, seasoning and sugar, and set aside to let the flavours develop.
Drizzle a little vinaigrette over the leaves and arrange on two plates. Tear the jamón into pieces and strew among the leaves.
To poach the quail's eggs, crack the eggs into two espresso cups (iethree eggs per cup), and add atablespoon of vinegar to each cup. Gently lower the eggs into the water,and poach for exactly two minutes – do not stir the water. Retrieve the eggs with a slotted spoon, remove any excess water with kitchen paper and place the soft-poached eggs on top of the salad. Drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette, decorate with chive flowers, if using, and serve.
Fiona Beckett's drink match Tryanunoaked or lightly oaked white rioja, my new go-to match fortrickydishes such as this: Sainsbury's rich-textured Taste theDifference Vinedos Barrihuelo Rioja Blanco 2011 (£8.99; 12% abv) isa well-priced option.
James Nathan, 2008 winner: lapsang souchong-infused saddle of venison with root vegetables and smoked pancetta sauce
This dish was created in fraught circumstances. We'd all been sent to three-star Michelin restaurants in France – I was returning from Michel Bras – we had a lengthy delay at the airport in Paris, we were all exhausted and we were filming the last episode the next day. Having spent two weeks filming already, Iwas all out of ideas and, in a busy airport, had to find a way to create, write and email a recipe to the BBC's home economist. I persuaded the ticket office to lend me a laptop, and in 20 minutes Icame up with this. Serves four.
The entire MasterChef experience was a string of high-adrenaline moments like that, and it amazes me that I kept coming up with stuff. What I hadn't anticipated was how much of a chef's life is about riding a similar wave of adrenaline. Since winning, I've worked in professional kitchens, learning my craft, and only now am I at a stage where I feel I can competently conduct myself in the professional arena. I've just finished working for Rick Stein and started my own catering business.
1 tbsp lapsang souchong tea leaves
600-800g venison saddle or fillet
1 orange
50ml vegetable oil
Oil, for frying
75g smoked pancetta, in one piece, cut into 1cm dice
1 carrot, 1 celery, 1 onion, 1 leek, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
200ml red wine
200ml port
200ml beef stock
1-2 sprigs fresh thyme
For the parsnip purée
4 parsnips
150ml milk
50g butter
To garnish
2 carrots
1 leek
Oil, for deep-frying
Grind the tea to a coarse powder. Put the meat in a bowl, add the tea, orange zest and vegetable oil, and marinate for up to two hours.
Fry the pancetta and mirepoix in ahot pan with a drizzle of oil until well browned. Deglaze the pan with wine and port, reduce until nearly all the liquid has evaporated, add the stock and thyme, and reduce by a third. Strain through a fine sieve: the sauce should be rich, thick and glossy. (If not, thicken with some beurre manié – equal parts butter and plain flour.)
Now for the purée. Peel and cut three parsnips into small cubes, cover with milk, add the butter and season. Bring to a boil, simmer until tender, then, with a slotted spoon, transfer the parsnips to a blender and blitz to a purée; if it's too thick, loosen with a little of the hot milk.
Peel the remaining parsnip, and use the peeler to cut into long, thin strips. Heat an inch of oil in a small, deep pan. When hot, add a parsnip strip: if it goes dark brown quickly, the oil is too hot, so let it cool slightly. When the oil fizzes but doesn't burn a parsnip strip, cook the other strips in batches – the oil will fizz vigorously and may boil over if you add too many at once (remove from the heat if it looks like it's going to boil over). Stir the strips continuously until they start to turn golden brown, then transfer to kitchen paper with a slotted spoon and sprinkle with salt.
Cut the carrots and leek into diamonds. Bring a pan of salted water to a boil, and blanch the vegetables separately until tender. Refresh in iced water, drain and dry.
To cook the meat, use the back of a knife to scrape off as much marinade as you can, then season. Heat an ovenproof pan on a high heat until smoking hot, and sear the meat all over. Transfer to a hot oven (200C/400F/gas mark 6) for three to five minutes, until springy to touch, and rest for 10 minutes.
To serve, reheat the sauce, warm the purée, fry the blanched carrot and leeks in a little butter and plate up with slices of meat.
James Nathan runs By James Nathan , a catering business based in thesouth-west.
Fiona Beckett's drink match Therich sauce is as important here as the smoky notes from the tea. I'dlook for a full-bodied red such asthe 2010 Anfora Trio (£7.49, Marks& Spencer; 14% abv), from Turkey, an exotic blend of shiraz, cabernet andkalecik karasi.
Mat Follas
I made this a week after spending time in the kitchen at Noma in Copenhagen, hence the presentation and foraged ingredients. I'd held back on foraged food beforehand, because Ithought it wasn't "cheffy" enough – funny how we've changed in four years. I'd been playing with crab throughout filming, but hadn't come up with a spectacular dish until one day I was trying a lobster thermidor and a lightbulb switched on. It's not a true thermidor, because the sauce is made with cream rather than aflour-based roux, but I think the flavours go better with crab than with lobster. It's a regular on the menu at my restaurant, The Wild Garlic, not least because it can be eaten by people with a gluten intolerance.
The flavour of crab changes through the season, so adjust the seasoning (mustard, Tabasco, etc) as necessary. Trust your tastebuds – this is not adish of exact measurements.
Note Crab meat needs careful handling: it should be kept either at refrigerator temperature or above 70C. Don't leave it sitting out of the fridge for any longer than necessary. Serves two.
300ml fish stock
A few drops of Tabasco
½ tsp English mustard powder
30g gruyère, grated
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
50ml double cream
100g white crab meat
100g brown crab meat
2 crab shells (ask a fishmonger)
50g spinach
50g samphire
A few salad leaves, to garnish
½ lemon
Simmer the stock in a pan until reduced by two-thirds. Addthe Tabasco, mustard, half the cheese and a pinch each of salt and pepper, then taste – it should be a spicy, slightly salty fish liquor. Turn down the heat, add the cream and all the crab meat, and stir gently – it should now be thick and stew-like (crab is delicate, so don't overcook or over-stir). Quarter-fill each crab shell with spinach, spoon in the crab mixture until the shells are full, scatter the rest of the cheese on top and grill fora couple of minutes, until the cheese has melted
To serve, place a small pile of samphire on each plate and top with a hot crab shell. Arrange the salad leaves and a slice of lemon around it. Just before serving, sprinkle the crab with pepper and squeeze fresh lemon juice over the salad.
Mat Follas is chef/patron of The Wild Garlic in Beaminster, Dorset.
Fiona Beckett's drink match Rich crab dishes love chardonnay, so this is a great excuse to crack open a good bottle – try the sumptuously creamy Wither Hills Chardonnay 2011 (£7.75Wine Society, £9.99 Waitrose; 14% abv), from New Zealand.
Dhruv Baker, 2010 winner: poached lobster with baby fennel and celeriac purée
Lobster is truly amazing if treated properly, but it can be overpowered by strong flavours such as saffron, fennel, ginger and garlic. I wanted tocome up with a dish that used all those great ingredients, building in layers of flavours, yet still made sure the lobster was the star of the show. Also, it's not that complicated. And if you haven't done it before, don't bescared by the idea of cooking alive lobster. It couldn't be easier. The most humane approach is to putit in the freezer for two to three hours beforehand, then plunge it straight into the hot bouillon. Serves two.
Since MasterChef, it's been all change for me professionally. I no longer work normal hours at a desk, and would describe my working life as eclectic and a bit manic. I am aprivate chef, I do some writing and promo work for Waitrose, and I'm writing a book. My work now revolves around food, which has always been my dream.
100ml white wine
4 tsp fennel seeds
10 black peppercorns
1 live lobster
½ celeriac, peeled and cut into cubes
200ml whole milk
4 cardamom pods
250g unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
2 baby fennel bulbs
1 pinch saffron strands
2 cloves garlic, peeled
3 £1 coin-thick slices raw ginger
1 lemon
Bring a large pan of water to a boil, add the wine, three teaspoons of fennel seeds, a large pinch of salt and the peppercorns, add the lobster and boil for 10 minutes.
Lift the lobster from the court-bouillon. Twist off the claws and set aside to cool. Use heavy-duty scissors to cut through the shell on both sides of the lobster's belly, where the shell isn't so hard, and pull out the meat while it's still warm. When the claws are cool, give them a whack with a hammer to crack the shell, peel and remove the meat in one piece (pull out any hard, plastic-like bits).
Put the celeriac, milk and cardamom in a pan, bring to a boil and cook until the celeriac is soft. Drain, retaining the milk, purée the celeriac until smooth, and add 200g butter bit by bit until incorporated. If the purée is too thick, add a little reserved milk. Season to taste.
Blanch the baby fennel bulbs for seven to 10 minutes and set aside.
Melt the remaining butter in asmall saucepan. Add the saffron, ateaspoon of fennel seeds, the garlicand ginger, sweat over a low heat for 10 minutes and set aside. (Ifyou can, make the butter a day ahead, as it will enhance the flavour.)
Put the two lobster claws and tail in the flavoured butter and heat on alow flame for three to four minutes, to warm through. Remove the tail, cut it in half lengthways (remove the vein along the top) and return to the butter for a minute more.
Thinly slice the fennel and heat through gently in asmall pan with atablespoon of flavoured butter.
To assemble, put some purée on aplate and top with half a tail and one claw per person. Lay slices of baby fennel alongside, drizzle over some flavoured butter and asqueeze of lemon, season and serve.
Fiona Beckett's drink match You could go for an aromatic white such as a pinot gris with this luxurious dish, or a fizz, which works remarkably well with delicately spiced seafood: try Marks & Spencer's classy Ridgeview Marksman Blanc de Blancs 2009 (£22 as part of a case of six; 12.5% abv), from Sussex.
Tim Anderson, 2011 winner: sticky toffee pudding crème brûlée, miso walnut ice-cream, blackcurrant stout sauce
I went to town for the final – astarter of three sliders (Gregg had teased me all season that, being American, all I could cook were burgers, so this was me getting my own back); a main of pork ramen with truffled lobster and gyoza; and, for dessert, areworking of three British classics:sticky toffee crème brûlée with blackcurrant stout sauce, rhubarb crumble with custard, and cheddar cheesecake with whisky jelly. The only element of the pudding that I still make is the crème brûlée, though these days Iserve it with caramelised walnut miso ice-cream – I stole the idea from another MasterChef contestant, Aki Matsushima, who did it on the 2012 series. It was a real "Why didn't Ithink of that?" moment. To make this, you'll need a kitchen blowtorch and an ice-cream machine. Serves six.
Winning MasterChef has changed my life – I'm currently putting the finishing touches to my first restaurant, Nanban, in east London, where I'll cook Japanese soul food.
For the crème brûlée
100g light brown sugar
10 egg yolks
500ml milk
500ml double cream
40g plain flour
100g caster sugar
500ml single cream
12 stoneless dates
1 vanilla pod, scraped
½ tbsp ground cloves
½ tbsp allspice
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
For the ice-cream
30g walnuts
100g caster sugar
600ml double cream
300g clotted cream
30g red, white or barley miso (don't use dashi or kombu miso – they taste like broth)
5g ice-cream stabiliser
For the sauce
100ml single cream
80g sugar
300ml blackcurrant lambic
150ml crème de cassis
500ml strong porter or stout
First make the brûlée mix. Whisk the sugar and egg yolks until smooth, pale and ribbony. Simmer the milk and double cream, then slowly whisk into the egg mixture so it doesn't curdle. Returnto a very low heat, shower in the flour and whisk until it forms a thick custard (don't let thetemperature exceed 70C).
In a separate pan, caramelise the caster sugar, and in another heat the single cream. Whisk the cream into the sugar, add the dates, vanilla and spices, and simmer until the dates soften. Tip into a food processor, add the custard, blitz until very smooth and strain through a fine sieve. Pour into ramekins, place these in a bain marie and bake at 120C/250F/gas mark ¼ for 20 minutes, until just set. Chill, then dust with sugar, caramelise with ablowtorch and chill again.
For the ice-cream, roughly chop the walnuts. Heat half the caster sugar in a small pan to an amber caramel, take off the heat, stir in the nuts and tip on to a silicone mat or lightly buttered parchment. Leave to cool, then break into chunks and pulse two or three times in a food processor to make a rough praline. Heat the double and clotted cream, remaining sugar, miso and stabiliser in a pan until the sugar dissolves (use a whisk or hand blender evenly to disperse the miso and stabiliser), pass through a sieve, chill, stir in thepraline and churn in an ice-cream machine.
For the sauce, heat the cream in asaucepan. In a separate pan, caramelise the sugar to a light amber colour. Stir the hot cream into the caramel, add the lambic, cassis and stout, and reduce to a thick syrup.
To serve, top each crème brûlée with a scoop of ice-cream and serve with a small jug of sauce on the side.
Fiona Beckett's drink match Thisdish is a wine-killer, so go forthe blackcurrant beer Tim uses inthe sauce. Lindemans Cassis (£1.60for 250ml, beermerchants.com, £1.69, Beers of Europe; 3.5%abv) is a good one.
Shelina Permalloo, 2012 winner: Mauritian octopus salad with mango and apple vinegar
Octopus is a popular street food in Mauritius, where it's typically eaten as asalad in a crusty roll. Irefined that idea for this dish. There's a fair amount of work, but nothing too taxing – if you wanted to simplify it, the octopus on its own with a side salad is delicious.
If you prefer, ask your fishmonger to prep the octopus for you – it can be a bit daunting to the uninitiated. Octopus has to be tenderised before cooking. Here I do that in the pressure cooker, but for other dishes the easiest way is to freeze it first, because that does the job for you. Serves four.
I know we all say this, but winning MasterChef changed my life beyond all recognition. I've just finished my first cookbook, Sunshine On A Plate, which is due out this summer.
For the brown shrimp jelly
125g brown shrimps
½ tbsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
75g unsalted butter
150ml sauvignon blanc
100ml olive oil
500ml chicken stock
2 bay leaves
½ tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp white peppercorns
1 celery stalk with leaves, roughly chopped
½ white onion, peeled and roughly chopped
2-4 gelatine leaves (1 sheet for every 100ml of shrimp stock)
For the octopus
1kg fresh octopus, gutted, cleaned and beak removed
1 white onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp white peppercorns
4 tbsp coriander stalks, chopped
8 garlic cloves
2.5cm piece fresh root ginger
1 tbsp olive oil
2 banana shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1 red birds' eye chilli, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the fennel and white onion
1 white onion, peeled
2 fennel bulbs – choose ones with nice leafy tops
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp white-wine vinegar
3 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
For the mango and apple vinegar
50g Alfonso mango purée
50g apple purée
10ml white-wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
1 banana leaf
2 baby carrots with green stalks, cut lengthways into very thin slices on a mandolin, tokeep the shape and stalk
2 baby beetroots with stalks, again sliced with a mandolin to keep the shape and stalk
1 tsp each green fish roe and orange flying fish roe (you can buy both in specialist Japanese food shops, or online)
1 tomato, skinned, deseeded and cut into 1cm dice
1 small handful each micro coriander and cress
Put all the jelly ingredients except the gelatine into a pan, and cook on medium heat for 25 minutes, until reduced and thickened. Remove from the heat and strain through afine sieve into ameasuring jug.
Measure the stock. For every 100ml, soften one sheet of gelatine in cold water for afew minutes, squeeze out the excess liquid and stir into the stock until dissolved. Line a shallow baking tin with adouble layer of clingfilm, pour in the stock and chill to set.
Wash the octopus in cold running water and cut the tentacles from the body. Put the onion, coriander seeds, white peppercorns and coriander stalks in a pressure cooker with enough water to cover the tentacles and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the tentacles and pressure cook for 60-90 minutes, until tender – test by inserting a knife into the thickest part of a tentacle. Remove from the heat, drain and discard the aromatics.
In a food processor, blend the garlic and ginger to a smooth paste. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan andgently fry the shallots until soft. Add the ginger/garlic paste and the chilli, and cook for two minutes. Add the salt and pepper, and thenthe octopus tentacles, and fry on medium heat for 15 minutes.
For the fennel and white onion, bring a saucepan of water to a boil and blanch the onion for 30 seconds, to remove the bitterness. Lift out the onion with a slotted spoon, place it in iced water to stop the cooking process and set aside to cool. Using amandolin, cut the fennel bulbs and blanched white onion into thin strips. Keep the leafy fennel tops to be used as garnish. In a bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, mustard seeds and coriander seeds, add the sliced fennel and white onion, and leave to marinate in the fridge until needed.
For the fruit vinegar, mix all the ingredients in a bowl, transfer to asqueezy bottle and refrigerate.
To serve, cut the jelly into cubes. On a banana leaf, layer the fennel, white onion, carrot and beetroot to form a mound of salad. Garnish withfish roe, diced tomato, drops ofmango apple vinegar, cubes of jelly, micro coriander and cress and the leafy fennel tops. Arrange the octopus tentacles on top.
Fiona Beckett's drink match Another tricky dish to pair with wine, but a well-chilled glass of Torres' exotic, scented Viña Esmeralda 2011 (widely available at around £8.29; 11.5% abv), a blend of moscatel and gewürztraminer, should do the biz.
The new series of MasterChef is on BBC1 at 9pm on Tuesdays.
Shelina Permalloo will be cooking live on stage with this year's champion at the BBC Good Food Show, NEC Birmingham, from 12-16 June. To book, go to bbcgoodfoodshow.com or call 0844 581 1341. Guardian readers can get 20% off ticket price by quoting 'PRESS20' when booking (offer valid on adult and over-65s advance standard tickets only; £1.75 booking fee per ticket applies. One standard supertheatre seat included per advance standard ticket only, subject to availability; gold seats available for £2 extra). Offer expires 30 April 2013.
Food stylist: Fergal Connolly. Prop stylist: Sue Rowlands
