5 O' Clock Apron

• Pasta Granny’s Mum, Susan Bennison, aged 92 yrs bakes her best Sponge Cake

  Susan Bennison, Sue for short,  is 92 years old and incredible with it. Claire travelled to rural Kent to bake a cake with Sue for this episode. Arriving outside a cottage that looks a little bit Beatrix Potter, a little bit Jane Austin complete with a very old and wonky stone doorstop which is surrounded by rambling roses, bluebells and peonies. The door opens and out pops a very sprightly Sue; “watch your step, this cottage is very, very old” instructs Sue, practically galloping off to the kitchen where Sue’s daughter Vicky is waiting to put the kettle on. Vicky is the founder of iconic Pasta Grannies channel on YouTube and also on instagram, but Claire and Sue don’t need any help from Vicky, no way, Sue is an accomplished cook and Claire begins to fully appreciate that Sue probably doesn’t need any help, from anyone, ever!  Sue gets cracking on the cake, no scales necessary, she’s made this so many times, she just “knows” … she also has the help of her trusty (and quite noisy!) Kenwood mixer circa 1952 “that mixer’s been down the Suez Canal with me on route to Kenya when I 1st got married aged 23!” Remarkably, the mixer still works, and is still in constant use with Sue, a keen baker still finding it a very “soothing” activity. Baking a cake with Sue was a lesson in having wisdom and good sense in cooking. The cake gets baked with an ease that Claire finds breathtaking. As the cake cools, Sue takes Claire for a turn around her beautiful garden, with Sue once again, reminding Claire to “watch your step over the cobbles there” as Sue strides ahead, at pace. Sue Bennison is remarkable for many reasons, she’s lived a very long and interesting life, that she still cooks from scratch most days “there’s the odd occasion I might have something shop bought, but not many” is very inspiring. Especially so as she has lived alone for the last 15 years, since her much missed husband passed away..  Sue Bennison is an inspiration to us all. A gardening and / or baking podcast career surely beckons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Farmer Ben Andrews cooks his Herefordshire take on Bulgogi Beef

  Ben Andrews is a farmer. Ben comes from a very long line of farming, in fact, his family date back 7 generations. He’s also been voted the UK’s 3rd hottest farmer by Farming Weekly Magazine. And that’s not all, Ben is a voice person for farming and mental health and uses his social media to shine a spotlight on the contemporary agriculture landscape. Ben is also a supporter of the global LGBTQ+ farming network agrespect which promotes and supports diversity in the countryside.    Ben farms organic beef and vegetables, supplying Abel and Cole amongst other shops. He is also the beneficiary of Nuffield Farming Scholarship which supports young farmers seeking to explore the work of new and revolutionary farming communities world-wide. Ben is currently studying the water and river systems of New Zealand, how and why they are managed differently, in the hope his findings bring new insight to waterways and flood management here in the U.K.     The episode starts with Claire driving down tiny country lanes on route to Ben’s farmhouse. It’s a hot sunny day and the birds are chirping high up in the trees. There are also some sheep in the field next to Ben’s house, so enormous, that Claire first mistakes them for cows. It’s off to a good start for the recording!    Ben wants to cook Bulgogi beef, he’s using his own rump steak from the farm, naturally. Outside the BBQ is lit and together Ben and Claire make a start on cooking his Herefordshire take on a Korean classic, all the while tackling topics such as mental heath, clubbing in the countryside, his mum’s love of kitchen knickknackery, and his neighbour, “just over that hedge”, Monty Don.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Ballerina Yasmine Naghdi makes linguine alle vongole

  Number 5 in 5 O’ Clock Apron Podcast hears Claire cooking alongside Principal Ballerina from The Royal Ballet, Yasmine Naghdi. Claire has never met a ballerina before, nor indeed cooked with one. Yasmine is everything (and more) that Claire could have expected of a ballerina. Confident and poised (of course), Yasmine is also an extraordinary cook.    Yasmine’s roots are Belgian Persian, but she’s a born and bred South Londoner. Yasmine attended the Royal Ballet school from age 11 and has danced her way through the ranks to the very top of the institution. Earlier this month Yasmine announced the exciting news that she is expecting her first child later this year and plans to return to performing next year.    Claire and Yasmine meet at Yasmine’s parent’s house, “their kitchen is better suited than mine” says Yasmine, and immediately the pair start cleaning clams, picking herbs and chopping garlic. Yasmine is a meticulous and passionate cook, teaching Claire her way to make her very favourite pasta dish, Linguine Vongole.    Remarkably organised, clearly very skilled, Yasmine cooks exactly as you might imagine a ballerina would cook, and Claire is in awe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Comedian Jamie MacDonald cooks Seabass with Orzo, ‘Nduja & Leeks

  For this episode of 5 O’ Clock Apron Podcast, number 4 in a series of 10, Claire travels to Sheffield to cook with the comedian Jaime Macdonald. Jamie is blind, extremely tall and very, very funny. The front door opens and out jumps Jamie’s new puppy as the recording begins. Claire is armed with some ingredients that Jamie has asked her to bring along to cook with. It’s a lean shopping list, to say the least and it has Claire asking questions from the off. Some Sea Bass, half a packet of Orzo, three Leeks and a jar of Cream Fraiche, but that’s just the beginning, far from it, ‘Nduja, Lemons, good Olive Oil and a remarkable set of weighing scales that can talk are soon wielded.   Cooking alongside Jamie was a riot. Lots of laughter, obviously, the pair discuss Edinburgh fringe, toxic masculinity, wild swimming, noisy owls, so-called Scottish risotto as cooked by his mum circa 1980s and Claire asks the silliest question Jamie has ever been asked. All the while, the fish gets fried, the orzo cooked along with the leeks, ‘Nduja and crème fraiche and together Jamie and Claire make lunch to eat in the sunshine.   It was a tonic to cook with Jamie, and apart from his talking measuring scales (Claire wants a set!), Jamie cooks exactly as anyone with sight would cook. Taste, as all good cooks know, is crucial, and Jamie has great taste, in abundance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Sex Educator Ruby Rare makes a salad, sexy, naturally!

  For this episode of 5 O Clock Apron Podcast, Claire travels to Margate to cook with Ruby Rare. Ruby is a sex educator, that is to say, a force of nature with a mission to encourage and include everyone in her task to make the world a fairer and more accepting place when it comes to the enormous and thorny topics of sex, relationships and body positivity. In the podcast episode Claire and Ruby talk about the word ‘woke’ being misappropriated, the correct use of pronouns with Ruby saying she is she / her but “you can chuck a couple of they / thems in for good measure, if you like”, together the two discuss marriage VS non monogamous relationships, queerness, sex with friends, celebrating divorce and winter swimming. And all the while, Claire and Ruby cook alongside each other with a casual ease that Claire finds reassuring as it is enchanting. Surrounded by her father’s paintings and with Ruby’s Sri Lankan gorgeous tableware bought on a recent trip with her family, lunch with Ruby was one of the nicest and most illuminating lunches Claire has had in sometime. Claire leaves Ruby’s tiny seaside cottage with a slightly skewed lens on her world, a good thing, there is much to celebrate in the world with people like Ruby in the centre of it. Oh, and she’s also a great cook, that salad dressing was something else! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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