The Shoot!

Had an truly interesting day on Saturday. Started at 7am in the prep kitchen finishing off bits and pieces, purees etc for the pictures. Then I sped over to Clapton and met Sam in his studio.

We set up and got started, I laid out my wares... My palette so to speak.
Our initial idea changed and morphed and we had to really push to make the first images work. I had my restaurant head on rather than my image head. It took us a while to get there but it was worth it and looked amazing.

We did this cured salmon with apple blossom, campari sauce/ jelly and pea salad, totally different from what I'd thought in my last post.
The shot worked a treat and we did a few options and breathed a huge sigh....

The second shot was along the same lines as we planned... We were using fruit and veg crisps to make a sort of stack, any way we changed this slightly and explosively... nothing more I can say yet.... It looks killer... love the final image...

The crisps and my foot looked quite cool so here s a snap....
In short a truly educational day from my point of view. So much detail to capture, such a methodical and delicate process... I want more....

Watch this space

Salmon, beetroot and apple blossom

Here is a pic of a rough mock up of one shot for the test tomorrow.
Should be an interesting day, got a bit of a manic morning but really looking forward to it.

Still needs a pea puree and a couple of touches but looking promising... just need Sam to work his magic too.

Corned Beef Pie

Had a killer Corned beef pie last night. Super simple and the best use of corned beef.


1 tin of Corned beef
4 peeled potatoes
2 white onions
1 pack of puff pastry
1 egg
1 tbs Bovril


Bring a pan of salted water to the boil.
Take the onions and potatoes and cut them to a dice of roughly 1 cm. Slightly bigger is fine. Place them into the water and simmer until soft and tender. Strain the potatoes and onions out reserving some of the cooking liquid. Now cut the Corned beef into similar sized chunks.
Arrange the potatoes and onions in a baking dish then throw on the corned beef and splash with the cooking liquid just to give it a bit of juice. Finally spoon on the bovril making it drizzle all over the filling.
If you have a pie funnel, place it in the centre of the dish.
Take the puff pastry and arrange it over the filling, there should be too much pastry so arrange it with lots of frills and ruffles. Score the pastry and egg wash. Now bake this in a pre heated oven at 200 C for 15 to minutes, until the pastry is golden and crackling.
Super comfort food....