Lorraine Pascale shares her ideal kitchen rules with these simple recipes

The 10-part series will see Pascale and Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton judge dishes made by six pairs of amateur cooks in their own homes, with the winning couple scooping a £25k prize.

Pascale, known for her BBC Two cookery shows like Baking Made Easy and Home Cooking Made Easy, is adamant that she and Atherton should remain objective and not allow emotions to get the better of them.

“It’s about being constructive,” says the famous foodie, of judging the six pairs of contestants, who’ll be representing different UK regions.

“As a viewer, you’ll see if something doesn’t look good, so if we’re saying, ‘Oh, that looks nice’, you’d be at home saying, ‘Well, it doesn’t from where I’m sitting!’ “It’s just about being honest, not being unnecessarily harsh and giving the contestants feedback that they can hopefully take away and use.”

To impress Pascale, grub has to have a ‘lot of texture, taste and a sense of theatre when it’s presented’.

And there’s one meal she especially loves to eat with her family and friends: “I do like a medium-cooked steak with bearnaise sauce and chunky chips.”

While it remains to be seen if any of the contestants manage the Holy Grail of impressing both Atherton and Pascale, the former model was chuffed to learn some unexpected advice from one of the budding foodie pairs.

“There was a couple from Liverpool who were young, talented and funny,” she recalls happily.

“They showed me how to make your hair really big, which they achieve by putting their heads down and using lots of hairspray.”

Despite not throwing too many ‘lavish dinner parties’ herself, Pascale has a grounded approach to dining success, and it doesn’t just lie in the perfect ‘mane’.

“If someone’s cooking for me, I just eat it,” she says.

“I don’t criticise or judge. It’s not all about the food.

“It’s about connecting and talking to people.”

Here are three recipes, taken from Pascale’s latest book, A Lighter Way To Bake.

Baked store-cupboard chicken with lime, honey and soy (Serves 4)

8 chicken pieces, skin removed (drumsticks, thighs or a mixture of the two)

8 garlic cloves, peeled and gently crushed

1tsp chilli powder

Leaves from 3-4 sprigs of thyme

Juice of 1 lime

Salt and black pepper

A few mint leaves

For the glaze:

3tbsp honey

1tsp English mustard powder

½tsp soy sauce

½tsp Worcestershire sauce

Zest of 1 lime

For the sauce:

300ml chicken stock

2tsp cornflour

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 220C (Fan 200C/gas mark 7).

Toss the chicken pieces on a large roasting tray with the garlic, chilli powder, thyme, lime juice and salt and pepper.

Lay them out in a single layer and pop them into the oven to bake for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the honey, mustard powder, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and lime zest in a small bowl to give a sticky glaze.

Once the chicken has been cooking for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and brush over half of the glaze.

Then brush over the remaining glaze after another 10 minutes of cooking. Pop it back into the oven for the remaining five minutes, or until the chicken is piping hot in the centre and cooked through.

Remove from the oven, transfer the pieces to a serving plate and cover with foil to keep warm.

Put the roasting tray on a high heat on the hob. Pour in all but about three tablespoons of the chicken stock, stirring all the time and scraping up any yumminess from the bottom of the tray.

Blend the cornflour with the remaining stock to give a smooth liquid and pour this into the tray, stirring constantly.

Let this bubble away for two to three minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened. The sauce may have a few lumps, which you can just sieve out before serving.

Season to taste and remove from the heat.

Serve two pieces of chicken per person with a little sauce poured over and a scattering of mint leaves on top.

This is delicious served with some brown rice and vegetables.

Wild mushroom tart with sherry and onions (Serves eight as a starter or four as a main)

4 sheets of frozen filo pastry, defrosted

Spray oil (vegetable or sunflower spray’s fine)

2 onions, finely sliced

200g chestnut mushrooms, halved or quartered

100g oyster mushrooms, sliced

100g mixed exotic or wild mushrooms, sliced, halved or quartered, depending on their size and shape

25g unsalted butter

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Leaves from 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary, roughly chopped

100ml sherry

50g pine nuts, toasted

50g wild rocket

Salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C (Fan 160C/gas mark 4). Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment and set aside.

Lay the four sheets of filo out on top of each other and cut the stack in half down the length, then divide it into quarters across the width. This will give you eight stacks of about 12cm squares.

Fold an edge of about 1cm wide inwards all the way around each of the stacks to create a small border. Arrange each one on the baking sheet as you go, and then spritz with a little oil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until crisp and golden brown.

Meanwhile, spritz a little spray oil into a large frying pan set over a medium heat and gently fry the onions for about six minutes, or until they’re just going soft and a little golden brown.

Then, add the mushrooms and cook for a further minute, before adding the butter, garlic, rosemary and seasoning, stirring around to coat the mushrooms.

Continue to cook this for eight to 10 minutes until everything is really soft.

Then turn the heat up to high, pour in the sherry and allow to bubble down for two to three minutes.

Taste the mushroom mixture, season if you feel it needs more and remove from the heat.

Remove the pastry squares from the oven once they’re cool enough to handle and arrange on serving plates.

Divide the mushroom mixture between each square, scatter the pine nuts and rocket over, and serve.

My Kitchen Rules starts on Sky Living HD on Thursday, January 23. A Lighter Way To Bake by Lorraine Pascale, published by HarperCollins, priced £20. Available now