Unused apples

Being the proud owner of two apple trees, over the past two years I have had to work out some great things to do with a massive amount of apples in a short time.
One thing that has realy bugged me over the last couple of years has however been the wasteage.
Each year we spend everyday picking up the small and unripe apples that have come off the tree due to wind or whatever. anyway they have up until now ended up on the compost heap.
This year I decided to do better, I trawled the internet, best I could find was chutney.
Great. The only issue I have with making chutney is that when using up what is essentially a waste product, the cost of the other items far out weighs that of the product that we are saving.
Vinegar, large amounts of sugar, all mounts up.
So having bought a dehydrator this year I decided to try an make use of the apples.

• So leaving the skin on, quarter the apples, discarding the core and any damaged areas, bruised from falling from the tree.
• Bake at 180 for 40 mins in a covered dish
• Blend the baked apples to a puree
• Add two tables spoons of demarerra sugar
• Line the dehydrator trays with cling film
• Pour the mix onto the trays and spread until smooth
• dehydrate at 128 for 4 hrs

Great snack, apple crisp.

Good luck

Jonathan Gregson

Nice, inspiring work... YUM YUM. Very jealous

Shoryu Ramen

Just completed my first Job for a Ramen Restaurant. I was teamed up with Photographer Steve Joyce who I worked with on the Leon jobs. I love working with Steve as we get along nicely.
 I was a little apprehensive having seen some Ramen on the internet as to what I would be able to do with the dish as it is all quite rustic.
On the day the head chef from the restaurant came along to show me what he wanted. It was in fact a really lovely day. The head chef was a very gracious guy and was happy to let me do my thing to his food. We got the ramen dishes looking beautiful and very detailed with each ingredient styled nicely. Also It was fascinating for me to see who they made these dishes, the stocks tasted gorgeous.
It all looked great and Steve and I were really happy with the end results.... Another nice day....

INSPIRING DAY

Had a killer meeting with Catherine losing today. We have a shoot coming up and as always we got talking some crazy ideas.... toned it down ramped it back up again and came up with something that will be visually stunning....
My only clue.... BAKED!

INSPIRATION

Also saw the cover of 125 and saw Ryan Hopkinsons work... AMAZING.
look at this

Loving the dehydrator....

I recently got a dehydrator, so far I have had lots of little playing sessions.

Some delicious results and some really interesting textures.

Here are a couple of recipes for you to look at:

Raspberry and peach clouds

200 g raspberry and peach puree
100g caster sugar
50 g icing sugar
1 tsp of Albumin powder (sosa)

Mix the caster sugar and the albumin with the puree and whisk in a kitchen aid.
This mixture should come up like a meringue after about 5 top 8 minutes
Slowly add the icing sugar.
Pour the mixture out and either pipe rosettes or smooth the mixture out to 8 mm sheets.
Dry out in the dehydrator for 12 hrs at 57c

Almond and olive oil crackers

3/4 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup doves gluten free plain flour
1/8 cup olive oil
1/8 cup honey
1 tsp pomegranite molasses
1 tsp icing sugar

mix the ingredients in a bowl by hand until you get a rich smooth paste.
Roll this out between two sheets of parchment, removing the top one once you have an even thickness
dehydrate for 12 hrs at 63 c

Coconut and treacle wafers

1 cup desiccated coconut
1/8 cup water
1/8 cup treacle
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs raisins
2 tbs pistacchios

Heat the water and rehydrate the raisins.
Once the raisins are soft then finely chop them.
Grind the pistachios in a pestle and mortar.
Now mix all the ingredients together until you get a thick rich paste.
Roll this out between two sheets of parchment, removing the top one once you have an even thickness

dehydrate for 12 hrs at 63 c

The Gourmand

So this monster is finally out, title the Serpent that ate it's own tail!!
http://thegourmand.co.uk/features/show/74/the-serpent-that-ate-its-own-tail#.UcVEZzkTDXA

Feed back so far has been brilliant, the story has been featured in 'It's nice that '
http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/catherine-losing

and also in Co. Design
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672764/bizarre-still-lifes-of-food-rigged-like-explosives#1

here are a couple of pictures of the shoot.... So much FUN

GOURMAND FINALS

Just got through the final layout for our shoot in the Gourmand ...
It s called "the serpent that ate it's own head. Its looking great and due out round the start of June....
On the day of the shoot I was banging on about how good smoked eel was so once we had finished shooting the eel shot I made a massive chicory eel and bacon salad, which we all smashed in about 5 minutes.... recipe is included with the article....yeah!

Bird Of Smithfield

Just had an amazing lunch and the newly opened Bird Of Smithfield.
My old mate Alan who I know through my time at Caprice Holdings has just opened a four floor, restaurant cocktail bar and roof terrace. Menu is Britsih and wonderful.
I had Mushrooms, onions and wild Garlic on toast followed by chicken : roasted great, stuffing, stuffed leg, and a heart and kidney salad: It was all perfect, the nicest meal I ve had in a long time: Big things to come from this place: Keep an eye on this as a venue

Charlotte Olympia

Another good start to the day began with a phone call from my friend and amazing set design: ANdy Lavin (http://andrewlavin.co.uk/).
I worked with him on Harrods and Cidade Jardim in Brazil. His work is amazing, see below.

So we are both working on Charlotte Olympia next week. Photographer and wife Julia Kennedy will be shooting so can't wait to get stuck in.... here is some of her Previous Charlotte O work.

PArt of the regular team on these shoots is another amazing artist: Laura Quick, she works with Andy and JUles all the time and her work I think of as Illustrated stand up: killer. Here's the Link
http://thedailythink.wordpress.com/

 What a team to be part of.... roll on next week

THIS WEEK and NExt

Had a great  week. Both shoots with Chris Terry and Fulvio went really well, On wednesday I packed up what little kit I was allowed and headed to Heathrow terminal 5. We were doing some shots of the food at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant Plane food.
After much queueing and waiting for passed we finally got through to the restaurant. Caesar the Head chef was a legend and worked with me plating up the food. It all looked great, His chimiuchurri was an eye opener as before my only experience of this was a somewhat gritty grain dried oregano mouthful.
The day was not without Drama though, the interviewer pressed some buttons and the interviews was cut short, happily my bit was unaffected but I think the rest of our crew were a bit disappointed to say the least.

Yesterday s shoot went really well. A nice still life Shoot for DDB and John Lewis. It looked amazing, took some a while but the result was a very happy client. Fulvio's lighting was brilliant and it was a fascinating day.

bring on next week....

some previous work....

Here is a shoot which I did with the super talented Catherine Losing, former assistant to Lacey Catherine is truly amazing. We did this ice cream shoot for the Independent Fashion special.

Hope you like it....

The reason for this recap is to get you ready for one of my latest pieces of work, also with Catherine which basically kicks this one all over the park. Coming soon in The Gourmand magazine..

It's graphic and very extreme.... get ready.....

THIS week....

Had an amazing hot sunny weekend at the Street Feast London!
Friday me, the kids and the neighbours all piled into Street feast. It was great, had some amazing meringue Eton Mess from @Meringuegirls, 5 perfect meringue, stripped with colour and mixed with cream, raspberry sauce and crispy raspberry pieces.... my idea of a great pudding.
Had a quick reunion with all of my festival amigos, JD and Alex at the Rotary bar, Big apple hot dogs and of course the Roach or Meatloaf as he is now calling himself believe it or not.
The food and vibes were awesome, and only putting the kids to bed made us not stay longer.

On Sunday we headed up to Dalston for another dose of @StreetfeastLDN. This time catching with the masters of fish: @fishdogs. The perfect fish finger served hot dog style with tartare and chips.
They also sell churros with a caramel sauce which was awesome.

Today see me doing some prep for a couple of jobs: one shoot with the amazing Chris Terry: Gordon Ramsay and plane food being the subject.
Chris is great and I am really looking forward to working with him again, last time we worked together it was a 20 shot in a day marathon. This time we are talking 3 shots and some portraits( which won't involve me at all). Much more manageable. Here is some of Chris' amazing work below.

Thursday sees my first job for John Lewis. My mate Sam's agency has teamed me up with an amazing Italian Photographer called Fulvio Bonavia. His work : below is gorgeous so very excited to be working with him too....

What an exciting week... new clients, photographers and interesting work too. What more could I ask for.

August 2012: Soho tasting

So after the success of high road I moved on to Soho....

Such a tough kitchen to run, Head Leon is a Genius, he cranks out so much food through so many different rooms with virtually no help from the set up of the building. A true chef legend!
Tasting was tough, went well but they are nt really sure what they want to do ... tricky.



Seatrout fish cake with bearnasie and fennel seeds

Duck rillette with crispy skin and cider brandy butter

Shrimp rolled in cured ham with lemon mayo and pea shoots

Wedges of Cheddar with rosemary pickled tomatoes

Lamb cutlets with cucumber and shallot

Butter glazed chicken on torn stuffing with herb mayo

Crispy shrimp and tilapia with chili yuzu mayo and nori seasoning

Roasted peppers and burrata on crisp flat bread

BOWLS
Lamb shoulder and borlottis

Shellfish cocktail

Potato and lentil fritter

PUDDINGS
Strawberry cream and donuts

Cider brandy fudge

Parkin and poached apple

July 2012:High Road House Tasting

So I went along to High Road house for 4 days, three days prep and a tasting day. I was lovely to work alongside Devon and his Team.
Great kitchen crew who all made me feel very welcome and at home.

The tasting went well... hard work

CANAPES

Chicken snitzel with gem, walnut and blue cheese

Gamon and picalilli

Butter glazed chicken, garden peas on torn stuffing

Hereford beef hash fried in beef dripping

Prawns avocado cream and spicy corn

Scallops and black pudding with hollandaise

Pork and squid scratchings with spicy apple sauce

Hot smoked salmon with pickled cucumber, fennel and horseradish

Squash and English mustard tart

Radish mayo and celery salt

Wild mushroom buns

BOWLS
Lamb shoulder with grilled fennel and samphire

Cod with peas, tomatoes and tarragon

Pollack, cucumber and saffron vinegrette

PUDDINGS
Lemon drizzle with clotted cream

Meringues with poached pears and chestnut

Naughty chocolate delice


Let s see what happens next.... SOHO

June 2012: Fast food Standards

On our way back from the Amalfi coast we arrived at Napoli airport, even in the basic restaurant snack bar had a sleection of two olive oils and two vinegars to put on your salads etc....

One day.....

JUNE 2012: Married in Ravello

After all the planning, we got married in Ravello, a truly amazing place.
The day was awesome and unforgetable.

I had to come up with some simple canapes for the hotel as theirs were not good:

Here s the menu we had:

Salami Coralina
Simple thick cut slices of Salmai

Chunks of Reggiano Parmesan

Salmon with pickled cucumber

Marinated garden vegetables with ricotta


The dinner was great the view was perfect and the Prosecco flowed.....

MAY 2012: Tracey Emin BBQ

So mid may I went and worked for Mark, Kevin and Ronnie at HIX.
They had a lovely BBQ project that they wanted looking after as they were in the midst of a brand new Tram shed in Shoreditch.
It was a BBQ in Broadstairs.
Beautiful day in the sun in a garden right on the cliff in broadstairs. Lovely.
After spending New years in Margate a few years ago I can t really tel you how different it all looked with a coat of sunshine.
Me and my mate Charle had an awesome time, cooking Asparagus with Tewkesbury dressing, scalps in their shells with wild garlic, Lamb cutlets, and Woolley Park chicken.

The day was nicely punctuated by 'Bastard' the dog, (I kid you not)  trying to get some food and some great music from none other than Jeremy Healey.

APRIL 2012 :The Suit

Had a mission of a day trying to find/ select a suit for my wedding. It s got to be the second hardest decision after actually picking your bride.
Started my journey at Dean Street Town house and had a massive fry up to fuel me on my way.
My mate Guy and I then graced the doors of Liberty: very cool suits from Vivienne Westwood and Mcqueen. Tom Ford stood out by a mile and was such a pleasure to be fitted. Sadly the guy there smashed my illusion with a bill that made me pale and trembling.
Boateng came a close third but in the end it was the genius of Chris Kerr, bespoke tailor who rocked it for me, Awesome guy, can t recommend him enough!!!!

APRIL 2012 Amalfi Tasting

So april sees me heading off to Ravello Italy. Jules and I are due to get married there in June so we are having an all important tasting to check out the menu.
Ravello is a beautiful place set high in the mountains of the Amalfi coast. Views are at the very least spectacular. The tasting took place on a beautiful sun drench terrace over looking lemon and olive groves perched on the mountains side.
After a few early garnish hiccups the tasting is top notch. Our brief to them was to relax, Italian food is so beautiful when it s simple. Imagine my horror when the Prosciutto and mozzarella arived with parsley and a radish...
The high light was the squash ravioli, which looked great tasted great and was our definite favourite.

After a great tasting for lunch we then headed out to the town square to taste our cake. I had given them a receipe of the finest chocolate cake in the world. The recipe is my mate Ronnies at Hix and its killer. The cake is soft sponge with layers of chocolate tart filling baked in betwen and glazed with chocolate glaze. The chocolate is Amedei: top dollar Italian chocolate from Tuscany: how good does it sound and look!!

We had such a great time, we also sample the best pizza in the world: Marinara, no squid or fishy bits on this, just garlic and oregano and tomato sauce.

It sounds too simple buts its the best Pizza you ll taste here.