Wild Garlic Pesto from Joshua's Wood

I went home the other weekend to Preston and whilst out walking the dog we came upon seas of wild garlic covering the floors of 'Joshuas Wood'. You never really see wild garlic as a tiny crop but instead it grows like a weed, literally covering the floor, usually on banks or near to a stream. It grows in damp conditions and you’ll usually find that you smell it before you see it! As the dog happily ran herself mental with all the woodland smells we got to work picking a hearty crop of wild garlic, or ramsons as some people call it. However much you decide to pick doesn’t really dent the amount that grows so you don’t need to feel guilty about picking a ridiculous amount, which we did, obviously.

Firstly we ate it like spinach, simply washed and then wilted with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice but I had bigger plans for the leaf. Delicious as it was I wanted to try wild garlic pesto which sounded great and thought it’d go great with some braised lamb and butter beans. Man was I right! Here’s the recipe for the pesto. If you see wild garlic please try this recipe as you’ll be massively rewarded. This recipe is massively influenced by River Cottage's Recipe so credit goes to them!

WILD GARLIC PESTO

Ingredients -

- 50g Wild Garlic leaves

- 30g Pine nuts (briefly toasted)

- 30g Parmesan, freshly grated

- 80ml Olive Oil

- Sea salt and Fresh Black Pepper

Method -

- Finely chop the Wild Garlic leaves

- Grind the leaves with the pine nuts and parmesan in a pestle and mortar

- Add olive oil to make a paste at the end, if storing make sure the pesto is covered with oil to preserve

*If you keep the pesto covered in the fridge it should last several weeks in the fridge

The Pig Dig

There was a series on last year called ‘Chef’s Table’, I’m sure some of you have been watching it but if you’ve not watched it - WATCH IT! As it happens tonight unveiled the second series which I’m very excited about and after reading this you should all be going home and watching avidly. The last series featured 6 inspirational chefs and their stories. They all inspired me in different ways but the one that left a lasting impression was the story of Francis Mallmann who [abbreviated bio] after much acclaim in Paris went back to his roots and started cooking in his own native way in Patagonia cooking outside by fire - he uses pits to cook animals overnight and throws breads directly on coals. Basically the most manly way of cooking humanly possible! This obviously made my ears perk up and my saliva glands work overtime and so I decided that I should try it out. Cooking how we used to cook food thousands of years ago is no easy feat.

One cold night last halloween we embarked on a pit roast of half a pig in a friends garden in Arsenal, London. The results were truely incredible, so much so that we’ve done it again since and plan to do a few more as events in and around London. If you fancy running an event with us I’d be very interested to hear from you but this post wasn’t about selling myself so I’ll stop there. The pork was the juiciest I have ever eaten (no moisture is lost whatsoever in the cooking process as the pork is starved of oxygen) and the combination we eventually came up with of pork, tarragon and blood orange in a toasted brioche bun is D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S!

So in a very abbreviated step by step here we go:

• Get a pig / half a pig / piece of pig
• Dig a pit 1 foot wider on all sides than your pig (or piece of pig) and about 5 foot deep. This is by far the worst bit about the entire cooking process as it’s back breaking work. Be sure to get a few of you ready to dig and have a digging party before the event.
• Light a fire
• Keep fire going until you have 3 feet of red hot embers (this will take at least a few hours)
• Season your pig. We seasoned with salt, thyme, rosemary and garlic.
• Wrap the pig in tin foil
• Wrap this in hessian sacks
• Wrap this in chicken wire
• Throw on embers
• Cover with a lid (we used a piece of corrugated iron)
• Cover with soil to seal all air gaps
• Leave for as long as you think it needs (we did half a pig for 18 hours and a large pork shoulder for 11 hours, both were delicious)
• Eat with mates and lagers and music, in a ideal situation on a glorious summers day!

To serve -

Toast a brioche bun and then pile on the meat, extra salt and pepper if needed, a good amount of tarragon and a few blood orange segments. Heaven.

Pasta perfection is my new Mecca!

When I was at University I wasn’t actually into pasta that much, the pasta and pesto staple diet of many students wasn’t part of my repertoire. I’m not really sure why I was like that, I probably thought I’d be being a bit lazy so instead favoured a more complicated alternative. Fast forward 10 years and now I have fallen in love with a good bowl of humble pasta. I’ve been trying to perfect all the old classics that I feel an old Italian Grandmother would pass down to her children, keeping it simple but all about the fresh ingredients. It literally has become a bit of an obsession, one of my cupboards is just full of different types of pasta! It’s ridiculous 

I recently shot a pasta called ‘Pastificio Di Martino' for Pulp Magazine (Click here for picture1, and picture 2) and starting divulging into the history of it. With over 100 years of manufacturing experience and pasta still being dried on special racks in the street it really is an incredible pasta and a tastes delicious. Pasta might be quick to make but the same amount of time and passion has gone into it as any other classic dish! The Pastificio pasta didn’t last long in my kitchen but it helped me to perfect some recipes that I’m going to share with you

I can’t call these recipes my own but they’re definitely worth trying to perfect, they’re both heavily based on recipes from ‘The Geometry of Pasta’ which is well worth a read and will help you on road to pasta perfection. 

Cacio e Pepe (Cheese and pepper) is a delicious simple pasta and Spaghetti alla Vongole (Spaghetti and clams) done right is near perfection.  These are both perfect for a summer dinner in the garden sipping a glass of fresh Vinho Verde. If there’s two pieces of advise I’d give you it’s to spend a bit more money on the pasta (don’t buy 79p pasta as it’ll always taste like 79p pasta) and also add a good amount of salt to the cooking liquid (12g salt per litre) as pasta is made un-seasoned.

CACIO E PEPE

Ingredients (for 2 people) - 

• 200g Bucatini pasta
• 2 tsp Black Pepper
• 100g grated Pecorino Romano 
• 4 tbsp Olive Oil
• Reserved pasta water

Method - 

• Boil the pasta until just before cooked
• In a separate frying pan heat the olive oil and add half the pepper
• After a few seconds add 4 tbsp reserved pasta water
• Add the pasta and sauté for a few seconds until there is no loose water
• Take the pan off the heat and add the cheese. Keep turning the pasta until the cheese is mixed through and melting into the pasta
• Serve with the remaining pepper

This pasta is so delicious and fresh and all the flavours should marry together perfectly. The liquid that comes out of the clams when cooking adds a taste of the sea which is so fresh it’s addictive. If you’re ever trying to impress someone with a pasta dish this is the one to do it with!

SPAGHETTI ALLA VONGOLE

Ingredients -

• 200g Spaghetti
• 6 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 500g Clams
• 2 large cloves garlic
• Chilli flakes / 1 dried chilli chopped into flakes
• 1 handful chopped Parsley
• 4 tbsp White Wine

Method -

• Put the pasta on to cook
• While the pasta is cooking heat a wide frying pan over a high heat
• When smoking hot add the oil and then quickly add the garlic, chilli and clams
• Fry for a few moments (20 seconds, until the garlic starts to colour) and then add the parsley and the wine
• When the majority of the clams have opened add the drained pasta and cook together until the rest of the clams have opened. The sauce should be half oil, half water
• Serve immediately

Greetings one and all. It's been too long since my last post and so I thought I'd get back in the habit! I've been travelling around quite a lot recently and there are so many recipes I want to share with you. This one is simple but tastes SOOO GOOD! I tried a similar dish in Spring Restaurant in Somerset House and it haunted me for weeks, in a very good way. You know when you just can't stop thinking about something you've eaten? And then last week in Tinos, Greece when we were shooting for Bon Appetite Magazine I had this - braised courgettes on flat bread. They're extremely easy to make but take a little time. The idea of braising courgettes was a bit alien to me until then but once you try these you'll want the courgettes as an accompaniment to EVERYTHING.

BRAISED COURGETTES

Serves 4 (as a side dish or on toast as a light lunch)

Ingredients -

4 courgettes

6 sprigs of Thyme

50g-100g grated parmesan

Olive oil

Salt 

Pepper

Method -

- Slice courgettes thinly (2mm thick)

- In a medium hot pan add the courgettes along with the thyme

- Saute for around 30 minutes until the courgettes are soft. Be careful when moving around the pan as you don't want to break them too much but you want to cook them as long as possible without them getting to a mush.

- Add the grated parmesan towards the end of the cooking and mix carefully through the courgettes

- Serve on toasted flat bread (I used Turkish side in the picture) rubbed with garlic or as a side to a nice steak

Corn Dogs

As promised here's the corn dog recipe. They were surprisingly easy to make and tasted incredible. We had them as a starter and then had burger and chips! Although it was way too much food and we didn't eat half of it all...which I guess is a bonus as it means more burgers today...

Happy Eating

• Ingredients - 
  
  
  vegetable oil, for deep frying
• 150g cornmeal or polenta
• 125g plain flour
• 40g sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 free-range egg
• 225ml full-fat milk
• 12-15 frankfurter sausages
• 12-15 wooden skewers, soaked
  
  
  Method - 
  
  
  1. Heat the vegetable oil in a deep-fat fryer to 160C (a bread crumb should go brown in about 30 seconds) or as I did in a shallow based pan, it worked well and you don't have to use as much oil!
  2. Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the egg and milk together and gradually stir the mixture into to the dry ingredients. Whisk together to make a heavy batter.
  3. Put a skewer through each frankfurter sausage and dip it into the batter until well coated.
  4. Place the frankfurters into the oil, a few at a time, and cook for three minutes, or until golden-brown. Drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper.
  5. To serve, mix the mustard and mayonnaise together in a bowl and serve with the frankfurters.

Pies pies pies - My Beef and Ale Pie

I've been busy as always working on a few things recently - we've done a few more videos which will be online soon and I've also started throwing together ideas for a recipe book. It's not going to be a traditional recipe book but will hopefully fuse together my love of photography and food. I'll keep you informed of how I'm getting on and when I've figured out the format you'll be the first to have a little sneak preview..

So here's the next video of our Master Baker series which you can watch here, this time I chose to make a good old beef and ale pie. It's a classic for a reason. A great pie for all occasions! The pastry turned out a bit 'rougher' than expected but, for me, a pie should never be too fussy - it's about the flavour right?

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed making it!

New Viddy - Strawberry and Blueberry Pavlova

We did this video quite a while back but for some reason forgot to put it on my blog. It’s for my pavlova and it’s a cracking desert to whip out at a dinner party as it’s relatively easy, looks impresive and (most important) tastes incredible.

Once you’ve made a few successful meringues you’ll be able to whip it out for all occasions and is a great one to have in your arsenal. Last night I halved the recipe and made a few smaller ones for tea and they went down like a storm.

The photography industry tends to be way less busy over Easter so I’ve got a bit of time off to make some new videos, work on some recipes and bring you treats for your eyes and bellys! Check out for updates soon!

PAVLOVA

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

170g caster sugar

300g double cream

1 punnet strawberries

1 punnet blueberries

Method:

-       Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees centigrade

-       Line a baking tray with parchment ready for the meringue

-       Separate eggs and put the whites into a clean bowl

-       Whisk to stiff peaks

-       While still whisking add the sugar one tablespoon at a time until all encorporated. ª

-       Spoon the mixture on a baking tray in blobs forming a circle about 8in

-       Place the meringue in the oven and turn down to 140 degrees

-       Bake for 1 hour

-       At this point you can either take the meringue out of the oven which will leave it slightly gooey in the centre or turn the oven off completely and leave the meringue in to fully dry out over night. Both are lovely

-       Top with whipped cream and chopped fruit

(DISCLAIMER) Be careful only to make this recipe for people you want to come round again as it’s guaranteed they’ll want to come back!

ª The trick is to rub the meringue mixture between you finger and thumb until the grittiness has almost gone but not fully. If the mixture is too gritty then you will have a gritty meringue, if the mixture is smooth then the sugar has melted resulting in an unstable mixture and a flat meringue. 

Tartiflette

Apologies for not posting in ages but I’ve been silly busy with work. So far this year I’ve shot on a beach in South Africa, On top of a mountain in Slovenia, I had my first taste of surfing (I was rubbish), my first taste of skiing (I was pretty good) and now it’s briefly started to slow down. This all prompted me to book my first skiing holiday which I came back from last week - we went to the French Alpes and I absolutely loved it. The first thing I wanted to try when I got there was Tartiflette, it’s a classic French dish that originates from the area, if you like cheese then you’re going to absolutely love this dish.

Reblochon cheese originates from the Alpine region of France and this dish was actually created to increase sales of the cheese in the 1980’s, that said it originates from a recipe that can be tracked back as far as 1705. It is a filling and warming dish, ideal for these confused nights we seem to be having – is it going to snow again or is it going to turn into Spring? Today we had glorious sunshine followed by hail and then heavy snow. Weird. Anyway please try out this dish and let me know what you think!

(Serves 2)

TARTIFLETTE

Ingredients –

1 Reblouchon cheese

2 handfuls new potatoes or 4 medium potatoes

1 onion

6 rashers smoked bacon or a good handful of smoked lardons, chopped into small chunks

8 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Method –

-       Turn your oven to about 200 degrees centigrade

-       First you need to boil your potatoes and then set aside to cool slightly

-       Meanwhile fry the onion for a few minutes on a medium heat until soft, add the garlic towards the end so as not to burn the garlic

-       Add the bacon and fry for a further few minutes until the bacon is cooked, season with salt and pepper but be careful not to add too much salt as the cheese and bacon are already quite salty

-       Chop the potatoes into small chunks and add to the pan with the bacon and onion mixture and mix gently together

-       Divide the mixture between 2 oven proof dishes and top with half a reblouchon cheese sliced in half across its equator

-       Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted and has gone slightly crusty on top

-       Leave for a minute or so before you eat so you don’t get burnt from the moltern cheese loveliness

Oh and be sure to eat the crust as it adds a totally different dimension to the dish, all you need to go with tartiflette is a small salad and a good glass of red!