The BEST episodes of River Cottage
Every episode of River Cottage ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of River Cottage!
In 1999 Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall decided to quit the bustle of London and take on the life of a smallholder at River Cottage, a former gamekeeper's cottage in Dorset. The aim: self-sufficiency; to grow his own vegetables and raise his own animals for food. Over the years several series have been produced covering his experiences and watching his rural empire grow.
#2 - Summer's Here (1)
Season 13 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/3/2009
Hugh has been waxing lyrical about the goodness of home grown grub for years and as summer starts in 2009, he's convinced the tide is starting to turn. "Britain's definitely been bitten by the grow your own bug," grins Hugh. While Hugh's a die hard fan of many a veg patch pleasure, there's one garden goodie that excites him more than most. "If I was only allowed to grow one vegetable to get me through the summer, it would be these guys: peas." For Hugh, peas symbolise the start of summer so he heads to the kitchen with Tim the chef to rustle up tasty pea recipes. That's if there's any left after Hugh's finished scoffing straight from the bowl. Tim's cooking a chilled pea soup served as a shooter with shells and shoots used for good measure. Hugh opts for a pea and pork combo with plain boiled, buttered peas with fried chorizo. "All we've been saying is give peas a chance," grins Hugh.
Watch Now:Amazon
#3 - Veg Heroes (13)
Season 17 - Episode 13 - Aired 5/1/2012
Hugh finds out if a veggie lunch can keep the garden team as full and satisfied as they usually are with their bacon sandwiches, and James makes the ultimate cheese and pumpkin pastie.
#4 - Veg Heroes (12)
Season 17 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/30/2012
Will the celebration go to plan when guests discover that instead of the traditional spit-roast, Hugh is serving a complete wedding breakfast with no meat?
#5 - Veg Heroes (11)
Season 17 - Episode 11 - Aired 4/27/2012
This could be Hugh's biggest challenge yet; convincing kids to eat their greens! Hugh's secret tips include wood-fired pizzas and garlic butter, and he even has something up his sleeve for getting people to eat the ultimate 'love it or hate it' veg; Christmas sprouts.
#6 - Veg Heroes (10)
Season 17 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/26/2012
It's the River Cottage team's turn to provide the tea for their annual cricket match against their local rivals. But Hugh has banished the pork pies, ham sandwiches and luncheon meat, requiring some creative, and high-scoring, efforts in the kitchen to win over the opposition. Hugh, Tim and Gill get together for some collaborative sandwich-making and experiment with post-match veggie cocktails.
#7 - Veg Heroes (9)
Season 17 - Episode 9 - Aired 4/25/2012
With the River Cottage team already making the most of all types of cheese to flavour their veg dishes - from Hugh's Easy Peasy Cheesy pasta to cheese and broad bean brochettes and cheese fritattas - Canteen Head Chef Tim faces a cook-off competition to persuade the rest of his staff to get on the meat-free bandwagon.
#8 - Veg Heroes (8)
Season 17 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/24/2012
Inspired by his summer of vegetarianism, Hugh has set himself the mission to spread the word that meat-free meals can be for everyone. But the carnivorous customers at the Fox and Hound pub are proud of their meat-filled main courses... What will the locals think when Hugh puts on a veg-only night? Will his spicy pakoras and mushroom stews be enough to win them over, or will he be left with egg on his face?
#9 - Veg Heroes (7)
Season 17 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/23/2012
To make the most of his summer as a vegetarian, Hugh turns to his love of foraging to provide some interestingly different edible options, from searching the rock pools for dulse seaweed to shimmying up a monkey puzzle tree for a never-before-tried taste of their nuts - which ultimately end up being perfect in a risotto.
#10 - Veg Heroes (6)
Season 17 - Episode 6 - Aired 4/20/2012
Hugh's summer of vegetarianism presents him with a challenge: should he serve meat at the annual River Cottage BBQ? He sticks to his guns and dishes up a spelt, potato and carrot salad.
#11 - Veg Heroes (4)
Season 17 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/18/2012
Hugh cooks up a storm for a (mostly vegetarian) wild swimming team. From the ultimate power-packing pesto, pasta and potato salad to a big hearty stew, Hugh's found his new role - club cook.
#12 - Veg Heroes (1): Professional Chef David
Season 17 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/12/2012
Hugh goes to London to meet professional chef David and family and to become inspired by the array of flavours that vegetables offer, from a Thai salad to a nut, cumin and orange salad. And Hugh sets out to see if bacon-loving workmen can be tempted by a meat-free midday meal.
#13 - River Cottage Christmas
Season 16 - Episode 8 - Aired 12/12/2011
After a summer of eating veg, Hugh is ready to celebrate Christmas with a renewed sense of the value of meat - but also the wonders of seasonal vegetables. This year all the meat comes from the most extensively-living, free-ranging animals of them all - wild game - and more specifically those that are viewed by many people as pests.The River Cottage chefs sharpen their knives in pursuit of wild boar, muntjack deer and greylag geese. Head gardener Mark Diacono and Hugh seek to make the most of their veg patch, even in the depths of winter, unearthing some Christmas favourites, as well as some heritage varieties from off the beaten path. Forager John Wright teams up with Pam 'the Jam' Corbin to make some luxury stocking fillers. And the Canteen hosts a `12 Tasters of Christmas' night, packed with ideas to create an array of canapes and little bites, perfect for that festive drinks party.
Watch Now:Amazon#14 - Veg Every Day: Summer Pleasures
Season 16 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/6/2011
Hugh's commitment to a summer without flesh takes a hit when he joins a fishing trip and has to pass up the fresh mackerel sushi. So he visits Sachiko in Birmingham, where a Japanese chef introduces him to the vegetarian ways of Buddhist monks, and cooking techniques entirely dedicated to wowing the palate out of any yearning for meat or fish. Back on track, Hugh plunges back into traditional English summertime and prepares a full cricket tea without a pork pie in sight.
#15 - Winter's on the Way (4)
Season 13 - Episode 9 - Aired 12/3/2009
With Christmas around the corner, Hugh has a plan. Instead of giving shop-bought boxes of chocolate goodies this Christmas, he decides to make his own, conjuring up a tray of lip-smacking chocolate brownies that take ten minutes to prepare and two minutes to wrap. Hugh's slaughtered steer has now been hanging for a month. Butcher Ray Smith and Hugh set to work extracting cuts for a party Hugh is throwing: the pair can't resist making beefy canapés of biltong and pastrami. Hugh's valiant attempts to get wild rabbits back on to the British menu continues as he targets the notoriously awkward teenage demographic. Armed with deep fried rabbit legs, a mayonnaise dip and hot rabbit buns he heads to an Exeter nightclub. Hugh also hunts for the blewitt mushroom and tries to catch herring for the first time. Meanwhile, out of the River Cottage garden Hugh harvests a winter salad, to which he adds roasted Jerusalem artichoke, goat's cheese and hazelnuts for a light but mouth-watering lunch.
#18 - Veg Heroes (5): Sachiko Saeki and Pak Keung Wan
Season 17 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/19/2012
Hugh discovers new cooking techniques from Sachiko Saeki and her husband Pak Keung Wan, which inspire him to turn his runner beans in to Japanese pickles and tempting tempura dishes.
#19 - Every Day: Meat
Season 14 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/23/2010
Hugh believes the way to make organic free range meat fit your budget, is to eat and enjoy cheap cuts rather than cheap meat.
#20 - Christmas at River Cottage
Season 12 - Episode 1 - Aired 12/17/2008
This year, River Cottage celebrates a family Christmas with everyone getting involved to make this dinner their very best yet. Hugh challenges his chefs Gill and Tim to help transform the fortunes of the much maligned Brussels sprout by coming up with new recipes and brings out potatoes, onions and parsnips from the autumn stores to make the perfect trimmings.
Watch Now:Amazon#21 - Every Day: Breakfast
Season 14 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/21/2010
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall sets out to prove that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. He visits a school to demonstrate how to make pancakes and drop scones, and heads to Bristol's main train station to show commuters how to start the day in style. A special canteen event also showcases a reinvention of the full English breakfast, featuring mushroom soup with brown sauce and bacon rind, and builder's tea granita.
#22 - Three Go Mad: At Christmas
Season 18 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/16/2012
Hugh welcomes comedy actors Kathy Burke, Stephen Mangan and Mark Heap to River Cottage. What could possibly go wrong? Kathy hates Christmas; so it'll be down to Stephen and Mark to help Hugh to talk her round. Hugh takes Kathy out on a fishing trip to catch an alternative Christmas day main course - perfect for non-meat eaters like her, or anyone fancying a change from the boring bird. Resident forager John Wright heads to the woods in search of wild mushrooms and oak moss for a surprising seasonal starter; and Hugh's ever-dependable chefs, Tim and Gill, show how to make Christmas cocktails, festive breads and tasty trays of veg. All that and cake, a chocolate truffle challenge and milking the goats.
#23 - Three Go Mad: The Actors
Season 18 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/5/2012
In this special episode of River Cottage, three famous actors swap the stage for the kitchen, and fancy shoes for wellies, to join Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in a cookery master class at River Cottage farm. Taking part are Philip Glenister, from Ashes To Ashes, Keeley Hawes, and The Good Life's Felicity Kendal - the original poster girl for smallholders throughout the land. Over two days of good cooking and fun on the farm, Hugh introduces his famous trio to the ways of River Cottage, the importance of seasonal, ethical produce, and the delights of home-grown, home-cooked food. There will be fun, fishing, foraging and tasty food - from delicious chocolate cakes to soups with an extra zing.
#24 - Veg Heroes (2): Jagdish Ghelani
Season 17 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/16/2012
Veg hero Jagdish Ghelani helps Hugh bring an extra dimension to his culinary curry efforts, introducing him to veg pakoras and dosas, and even the ultimate curry in a hurry.
#25 - Every Day: Treats
Season 14 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/11/2010
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall turns his attention to treats, with recipes for Genoese sponge cake and lemon curd muffins, game pies, cheesy tarts and real ginger beer. As well as revamping afternoon tea for the Bridport Tea Dance, there is a visit to a pub that features a pudding league, and Hugh's son Oscar is inspired to create a vanilla and elderflower panna cotta.
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