Do you have a talent for making your friends laugh? Do you enjoy great company and delicious food?

ITV is looking for colourful characters of all ages to feature regularly in the audience and onstage with Melanie Sykes, Gino D’Acampo and their celebrity guests in a brand new, live lunchtime show.

Your lunch hour will feel like the perfect place to kick back and be entertained.

You could be spending your lunchtimes…

• Cooking with Gino

• Revealing your funny food stories and cooking disasters to Mel

• Tasting and commenting on Gino’s dishes

• Giving a piece of your mind on the burning food issues of the day

• Asking for tips on your culinary dilemmas

• Putting your questions to our celebrity guests

They’ll be holding auditions in July and if they like you and you like them they’ll invite you back to take part in the show again and again!

So, if Lunch with Gino and Mel sounds like fun get in touch by emailing lunch@ITV.com with your name, phone number, location and a little bit about yourself and why you’d love to be part of the show.

• Cup Basmati Rice
• 2 Cups Water
• 1/4 Tsp Cumin Seeds
• 4 Tsp Oil
• Salt to Taste
• 1/4th Bay Leaves
• 2-3 Cloves
• 2-3 Whole Green Cardamom

• Wash and soak the basmati rice for half an hour and drain the water.
• Heat oil and add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cardamom, and cloves.
• When cumin seeds are fried, add the water and salt and when start to boil add in the rice and mix well gently only once and cover it with lid.
• When water has evaporated simmer your rice and let it cook till water fully get evaporated or absorbed  press with your fingers to feel rice is fully cooked.
• Open your rice lightly with spoon like folding in batter for cake.

Once cooked serve hot.

• 500g Boneless Chicken thigh or breast or 50-50 cut into medium  cubes (tikka  size)
• 2 Medium Onions (350g)sliced or chopped evenly
• 30 gms Ginger and garlic paste
• 10gms ginger skin peeled and cut into julienne (Straws)
• 1 green chilli cut into julienne
• 2 large tomatoes 1 cut into 1/8th
• 1/4th tsb kasoori Methi Powder
• 1/2 tsp Degi Chilli Powder
• 1tsbs coriander powder
• 1/2tsb cumin powder
• 1/4th turmeric powder
• 1/8th tsbs Fresh Gram masala powder (opt)
• 3-4 Green Cardamom (optional)
• 2 cloves whole
• 1/8th cumin seeds
• 1tbl sp Fresh Coriander chopped
• 1/8th tsbs chopped fresh mint
• Oil   60gms
• Salt to taste
• Greek yoghurt or Home made yoghurt 1tblsp
• 3tbls plum tomatoes
• 1/4th teaspoon tomato puree for colour.

• Slice 1 onion evenly and chop tomatoes and with the other half cut into 1/8th,
• ginger (peeled) and green chillies cut into julienne .
• Make, ginger and garlic paste with equal amount of ginger and garlic in weight.
• Chop fresh coriander and a mint.
• Add in ginger garlic paste mix with chilli powder turmeric powder ,coriander powder, cumin powder
• Add in a little water and mix well.
• In a heavy bottom pan heat oil till hot, add in cumin seeds and let them crackle then add in whole spices (cloves ,bay leaf, Green cardamom )
• Add in onions and fry until golden. Now add in spices mixed with water to the pan and fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add in chicken pieces and fry off well with spices add in salt and stir yoghurt
• Add in chopped tomatoes fry off well
• Add in plum tomatoes and (tomato puree mix with little water) fry off well
• When masala is well cooked and has gone dry add in little boiling water and cook till the sauce becomes a semi thick consistency.
• Add in the 1/8th tomatoes and cook for 1 minute
• Now add the kasoori Methi and gram masala and mix well.
• Finish off this dish by adding fresh coriander, mint, juliennes of ginger and Green chilli.
• Cook for 2 minutes, adjust consistency of sauce by adding water if required

Before serving, remove the bay leaves, cardamom cloves  and any excess oil. (optional)

• 2 tbl spn oil
• 1cups tuvar dal
• ¼ cup chana dal
• 2-3 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 3-4 whole garlic cloves chopped
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 green chilli chopped
• 2-4 cups water
• 1 cup tamarind paste/lemon juice
• ginger garlic paste
• 1 large onion chopped
• 100 gms pulp tomatoes chopped
• ½ tblsp fresh coriander chopped

• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 cup mustard seeds
• a few curry leaves
• 1 dried red chillies

Method:

• Wash the tuvar dal and Channa dal in several times   soak for 1/2 an hr & then boil with 4 cups of water in a pan
• add in turmeric and salt to the lentils.
• In a heavy bottom pan heat oil add in tempering ingredients when they crackle
• add in chopped garlic and fry until they start to change colour
• add in chopped onions and fry till golden
• add in ginger garlic paste along with dry spices mixed with little water and fry off well ,
• add in chopped green chillies and lemon juice or tamarind Water .
• If  lentils are cooked add in the Masala along with some water.
• Boil till water froth is gone and lentils look glossy
• add in fresh coriander and serve

Serve with plain rice, achaar and papad or with parsi fried fish

All proceeds from ticket & raffle sales went to The Children’s Adventure Farm Trust (CAFT) We raised over £400 on the night! So a big thankyou to everyone who helped out and of course everyone who attended.

The Adventure farm is a fantastic charity based in Cheshire and is one close to the hearts of  the cookery school & COD Electrical…. Visit their website for more details of the charity and the fantastic fund raising events they hold.

It was fun night with great food, champagne and of course a perfect excuse for shopping (The purse was certainly alot lighter for most of the ladies who attended)

Abi Fisher was here on the night and brought with her, her fabulous Spring/Summer 2011 collection -

& the ladies who attended had the chance to purchase a limited collection of designer clothing and accessories.

Raffle prizes went well and the fantastic Pastry King made a couple of fabulous desserts for us to add to the raffle on the night.

CAFT are holding their Annual ‘Ladies Lunch’ on Friday 17th June 10.30am til 4pm at The Mere. Tickets are priced at £45 please call 01565 83 00 53 to book or alternatively email jgray@caft.co.uk

This promises to be a fun packed and indulgent day for all!