Master chef puts family first on his recipe for life

In fact, as the lean, bearded chef prepares to judge a new series of Masterchef: The Professionals, he's compiled a book of "very doable" recipes.

Cooking With The Masterchef: Food For Family & Friends is a culinary compendium of his previous four books – including Le Gavroche Cookbook, based on his Michelin-starred restaurant – but simplified

to make them "more approachable for anybody who's got an interest in cooking".

"There are no mad ingredients that you can't find," adds the 50-year-old, smiling.

Family and cooking are deeply intertwined for Roux. His French father Albert and uncle Michel opened Le Gavroche in 1967, which became the first restaurant in Britain to gain a Michelin star.

His childhood was spent split between France, where he learnt to love good food, and his family home in Kent.

"My mother was also a fantastic cook and because we were brought up in the countryside, we had beautiful produce. My father used to rear his own rabbits and pigeons for the table and we grew our own vegetables."

His new book not only makes his food more accessible for the average cook, but it also encourages families to eat together – something that's crucial for the Roux clan.

"For me, a very important part of life is eating with family and friends," he says.

"It's a great social activity – switch the television off, sit down around the table, with or without a glass of wine or two," he says. "And most importantly, some great food. It doesn't have to be complicated – just a big wedge of the best cheddar possible, a few leaves of salad, a nice chutney and a piece of crusty bread, and then you let the conversation flow and enjoy it."

Roux believes that many of our social problems would be solved if we spent more time chatting – and eating – around the dinner table.

"Obesity is a big thing – I was just hearing on the news that more and more people are reverting to operations like gastric bands, which is a crying shame. If you eat healthily and walk to work or just get off your backside, then we wouldn't have that issue."

For Roux, there was "no question" of doing anything else but follow in his father and uncle's footsteps and now his daughter, Emily, is learning to cook in France. For all the hardships of being a chef, he's delighted with

her choice.

"I was in Paris yesterday to see her and she looked like a typical chef, absolutely knackered, as white as a ghost, burns and cuts all over her arms, but she's absolutely loving it."

When the Roux clan are all together in London, and when Roux Jr has a day off, they'll often go out for dinner – or just gather for a bite to eat: "We've got our favourite restaurants. But if we're eating at home, it'll be something very simple – and a good glass of wine."

Try cooking some of Roux Jr's classic recipes yourself...

Moules Marinire

(Serves 4)

3kg mussels

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 celery sticks, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1tbsp butter

400ml dry white wine

200g crme frache

1 bunch of flat leaf parsley

Salt and pepper

Wash and scrape the mussels, discarding any broken ones. Sweat the onion, celery and garlic in the butter in a large, tall saucepan. Pour in the wine and bring to a rapid boil. Add the mussels and cover.

After three minutes, shake the pan and stir the mussels. Cover again and continue to cook for about seven to eight minutes or until all the mussels have opened.

Remove the mussels with a slotted spoon and put them in a large tureen or individual deep bowls. Continue to boil the liquid in the pan. Add the crme frache, chopped parsley and seasoning, and as soon as the liquid has come back to the boil, pour it over the mussels. Serve at once.

Lamb Tajine

(Serves 4-6)

1 boned lamb shoulder

2tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3 onions, chopped

2tsp turmeric

2tsp coriander seeds, crushed

2tsp cumin seeds

1 lemon, cut into 8 wedges

1tbsp honey

300ml chicken or vegetable

stock

50g whole blanched almonds, toasted

Preheat the oven to 140C/Gas 1. Cut the lamb into 3cm chunks. Heat the olive oil in a cast iron casserole dish and pan-fry the lamb until golden. Add the garlic, onions and spices to the dish and continue to cook and stir over a medium heat for about 10-15 minutes.

Add the lemon, honey and stock to the dish and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook in the oven for an hour.

Stir in the toasted almonds and serve in traditional tajine dishes if you have them.

Pears in Red Wine

(Serves 6)

6 pears, still a little firm

1 bottle red wine (Pinot or Gamay)

200g caster sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1 vanilla pod, split

6 black peppercorns

1 strip of orange peel

4tbsp crme de cassis

Peel and core the pears, taking care to leave the stalks in place. Put all the remaining ingredients, except the crme de cassis, into a pan and bring to the boil. Add the pears, make sure they are submerged

and cover with greaseproof paper. Simmer for 20 minutes or until tender, then leave to cool. Add the crme de cassis and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

If you want a thicker syrup, decant the liquid and boil until it's reduced by a third. Serve with crme frache. If you like, decorate the pears with thin strips of orange peel cooked in sugar syrup.

Cooking With The Masterchef: Food For Your Family & Friends by Michel Roux Jr is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 25. To order a copy from the Yorkshire Post Bookshop, call free on 0800 0153232 or go online at www. yorkshirepostbookshop.co.

uk. P&P is 2.75.

Masterchef: The Professionals is scheduled to begin on BBC2 in the week beginning Monday, September 27.