Great British Menu 2015: Northern Ireland heat final

Moving on, the boys did kick off the first round in style. Ben was up first with his ‘Behind Every Working Man’, a take on a traditional Ploughman’s. Consisting of rabbit rillette, apricot chutney, quail scotch egg, blue cheese sauce and Irish wheaten bread, served in tin lunchboxes – it all looked rather good. Except that the bread was too leaden for some and Matt found his sauce 'deeply unpleasant.' If only Ben had listened to his Mum. He had called her for advice on his loaf and she repeatedly commanded down the line that he should bake at a higher temperature. But he didn’t listen to his Mummy did he.

Chris’ starter ‘Shall I be Mother?’ was equally divisive, as some felt a high tea, namely rabbit sausage roll, rabbit livers on toast and rabbit loin with celeriac and pickled girolles, all washed down with a spiced rabbit broth, was too much to begin with at a banquet. There was also the question of soggy bottoms with regards to his sausage roll, but Prue defended it, saying that she quite likes a soggy bottom. So do I Prue. So do I.

A previously disastrous fish course for Ben loomed next (remember those tortuous ten minutes under Phil’s steely glare?), but this time around Ben pulled it out of the bag. No, he didn’t use one of those Birds Eye fish in a bag affairs. He created an excellent symphony of poached lobster, smoked cod, brill and razor clams, thank you very much. All under the guise of ‘Mrs Skillens Fish Soup’. It was more than a bit of a turnaround for Ben and in the words of Felicity, it was 'Very WI.'

The second fish dish ‘Imelda’s Fish in Milk’, as delivered by Chris, didn’t fare so well. The prospect of turbot and langoustine with buttermilk gnocchi and Jerusalem artichoke, with potted herbs for guests to snip into their bowls, didn’t quite cut it with the judges. 'This gnocchi is too gloopy,' withered Oliver. 'What are you supposed to do with it all?' queried Matt. 'There is too much effort going on,' muttered Prue. Too much effort? Strewth. What do you want Prue? Baked beans? Out of a can?

Luckily for Chris, after a little tête-à-tête with Felicity in the kitchen, who reminded them both that the WI ladies were very, very, very harsh critics, he bounced back with a glorious pie for his mains: the pun-tastic ‘Pie-oneers and Pickles’.

'I love the drama!' whooped Oliver, who also loved the combination of ox tongue and cheek, encased in a fine pastry, and the others were quick to agree. Ben tried to take him down a notch or two by questioning the size of his cauliflower florets for his piccalilli. But Chris just looked back at him, stoically, knowing that he was back in the game.

And after the theatricality of Chris’ dish, Ben’s efforts for mains did suddenly look drab and ordinary. ‘Lamb Revolution’ used three cuts of lamb, to suit all budgets, but in the eyes of Mr Fort, it all looked rather amateur. So it seemed like a damp squib was headed our way. But then the judges began to eat and suddenly, by golly gosh, this was actually a very good plate of food. Felicity, who has tested around 753 shepherd's pie recipes, had to concede that this was the best shepherd's pie she has ever tasted.

For the final pudding run then, things were rather neck and neck. For his dessert ‘WI Apple Day’, Chris had to do a runner to a cooler place to assemble his complex dessert of blown sugar apples and doughnuts with apple curd custard and Armagh roll. I got the impression that he would rather have done a runner to the pub. His mind was definitely distracted as he nearly forgot his nuts. But it all came together and the judges were very happy with his efforts.