Good Eggs

I just had to do a quick blog post on the importance of great eggs inspired by my brunch this morning- English muffin, smoked salmon, and the richest, most luxurious eggs. My god, what a treat it was. I saw my Mum at the beginning of the weekend, and she gave me these glorious eggs from The Black Olive Deli in Southwold (http://www.theblackolivedelicatessen.co.uk/). They were so pretty, the artist in me just had to take a picture.....



 Southwold eggs from Mum

 

I poached these for 4 mins 30 seconds, using a technique that my brother taught me and I've passed on to everyone I know (it's probably quite a common one, but he likes to think he invented it). You line a little glass or dish with cling film (use a big piece so it hangs over the sides), then pour a little olive oil in (you could use a flavoured one for a change). Crack in your egg, add some salt and pepper, and if you like it with a kick, a dash of chilli or hot sauce. Bring the sides of the clingfilm together at the top, and twist them together to seal it and form a perfect little egg-poaching package.

Then add to a pan of boiling water, and poach for between 4 mins - 4 mins 30 seconds, depending on the size of the eggs and how many your putting in one pan. Once they're done, fish out the little clingfilm parcels, tear off the clingfilm (I usually burn myself a bit at this point in my haste for food), and pop on a muffin or whatever you fancy! It's a great little technique, and much easier than most I've tried.

Egg poaching in motion- this blue egg was a double yoker!

I can honestly say, I did notice a difference between these hen eggs and any supermarket ones you can buy, and I wouldn't say that if I didn't mean it. The yolks were huge, orange and rich- they were incredibly tasty. The ultimate goal for me is to have my own chickens. That would be heaven. But until then, I will be snapping up proper free range eggs from small suppliers, when I see them, as it really does make a difference. I've still got 4 of these eggs left, so I guess I'll be getting my protein intake this week.

Al fresco Brunch

What better way to enjoy my eggs, than outside in the sunshine, amongst my spring flowers

This is what I'm talking about.

LEITHS Food styling course session 5- Greek salad night

Our fifth session of the Leiths food styling course was with Jennifer, and it was Greek salad night. We took along our own props, but the ingredients were provided- we got given beautiful fresh multi-coloured tomatoes, baby cucumbers, fresh and dried oregano, feta, and lots of other lovely ingredients too.

We spent the first hour creating our own salads, with Jennifer assisting and advising us where necessary, and then we went round and chatted about what everyone had created and what had worked and what hadn't.

I was going for a rustic look....although I'm not sure if I completely achieved that, and my salad ended up looking a bit restaurant-y. It's surprisingly difficult to style a Greek salad I discovered, and I'm not sure if mine was anything I'm hugely proud of to be honest...! Jennifer was totally amazing though- she came over and started re-assembling my ingredients, and within seconds it was completely transformed. It was a fun night and I felt I learnt a lot, and now I know what I would do differently next time, even if my first attempt wasn't spot on. It was also good to work individually, as it allowed us to all do our own thing, and get a bit more creative- it was interesting to see how different all our styles were. So here are a few shots from the night:

My Greek salad....I put the dressing in a tiny jar I found at home

This is Ella's Greek salad- very envious of this beautiful blue plate 

Mine looked a lot better once I had torn the olives up a bit, scrunched the napkin up, and added olive oil!

LEITHS Foodstyling Course session 4 with Katy Greenwood

It's taken me a while to get round to writing this blog post, I've had the busiest few weeks recently, having to reapply and re-interview for my job (it's a long and very boring story- I got it though which is good news), but better late than never!

So our 3rd foodstyling session was with Katy, and it was cake night. Katy gave a few demonstrations of different icing techniques, and showed us how to make the filling look abundant, whilst still creating a nice clean picture. She also showed us ways to cut it, to make a nice clean slice, and some techniques for dribbling icing down the sides of the cake. She said that she particularly likes doing cakes, because you get a bit more freedom and can be more creative with them, which I can understand.

We were then put into groups, and got given a challenge on a piece of paper. My group had to make a 'homely, achievable, women's institute' style cake. It was a lot of fun, and nice to try out some of the techniques she showed us. Here are some photos from the night, enjoy!

Working on our filling- doesn't it look delicious

My groups 'Women's-institute' style Victoria sponge

Pretty tasty looking hey?!

Mastering the controllable-ooze with the filling...

We made a stencil out of strips of baking paper to create this criss-crossed top

One of the other groups 'Afternoon tea' inspired cake- isn't it lovely?

Lovely piping on the Donna Hay inspired cake

I think this was my favourite - the Marks and Spencers cake- I love how clean it is, they piped the icing on beautifully.

All of them together- comparing cakes. (NB this is showing the bad side of our cake- the other side was it's front!)

LEITHS Food Styling session 3 with Jennifer Joyce

Despite the tube strikes, I managed to make it to my third food styling session, in which we met our second tutor, Jennifer Joyce. Jennifer is a food writer, author and stylist, who has worked for the likes of BBC Good Food, Olive and Elle Decoration. She has written several cook books including 'Skinny Meals in Heels' (her latest), 'Small Bites' and 'The well dressed salad', so she knows what she's talking about!

During this session, Jennifer spoke to us about the importance of props, and how they can make or break an image. They tell a story, and can mean the difference between an amateur and professional looking image. She gave us loads of great ideas for things that you might not think to use as a prop, such as shooting food on newspaper (may work for a rustic/authentic look) or using old rice bags if you are maybe shooting an Asian dish. So I'm off to scour the charity shops of London for props over the weekend!

The prop table- lots of lovely things!

Gorgeous blue plate selection- mix up old plates with new ones in the same colour scheme for an updated, together look.

Jennifer then gave us a few demonstration on styling some lamb kebabs and couscous, pasta, an Asian noodle salad, some dip, some soup and a chocolate mousse. These were all done in a matter of minutes, whilst we all watched on in awe! It was great to see her work and hear her little tricks and tips. Here are a few photos from the session that totally don't do the food justice, but at least they give you an idea of what she was doing:

A gorgeous spaghetti with pine nuts, herbs and chilli- how lovely and rustic does this look?

Asian noodle salad and dressing- love these colours. Apparently there's a trend at the moment for serving salads in trays like this.

Dip served on a plate (never a bowl)- love the touch of charring the bread slightly.

Soup- Jennifer takes different sized bottles and tubes to shoots for doing swirls like this with dressings and cream. 

My favourite photo of the evening- this was put together with an originally rather nasty looking packet chocolate mousse! I think it's amazing how the blue plate makes the food 'pop' so much, and I love the touch of the swept away spoonful.  

Had to add this one in too- look at all those lovely saucepans!

LEITHS Food Styling session 2 with Katy Greenwood and Stuart Ovenden

For the second session of the Leiths Food styling course, we were joined by Food and Lifestyle photographer Stuart Ovenden (www.stuartovenden.com) . This was really exciting for me as I knew his work before I found out he was going to be working with us on the course, so that was really an added bonus.

Example of Stuart Ovenden's work

  

Stuart gave us a useful insight into how everything works and comes together on a shoot, as well as some tips for our own home photography, such as lighting tricks. We also spoke about our final shoot, which he will be photographing at the beginning of March. His advice was to keep it simple and don't try and be too clever. In the past, things like cakes and tarts have worked really well aparently, as you can make them before hand, which takes a bit of pressure off. 

So I am now thinking about what I might like to make for my final image. I definitely want to do something colourful, as I love colourful, eye-catching images. My initial thinking is a lemon tart if I go down the sweet route; or some kind of fresh and zingy thai salad if I got down the savoury.    

Background-Art work

I did my Degree in Fine Art at Wimbledon College of Art, where I made work based around ideas of luxury, often using food. During this time, I realised that I wasn't really into the conceptual and philosophical art work that a lot of my peers were making. I didn't want to read or hear about why I should find a white canvas or whatever it was, interesting. I simply didn't get it.

I suppose I'm a very visual person. I like things that look nice, I like colours and smooth silhouettes and shapes. When thinking about making work, I think of what I'd like to see myself, and what other people would like to see too. I want to create beautiful image or object, and I also want to create something that your Average Joe will 'get'. It's important to me that I can show it to my Family, and they will like it, or at least understand what it is, without me having to explain it.

So here's a few photos of the kind of thing I have made. You can see my full portfolio and some of the films on my artist website, here: www.georgiehodgson.co.uk

'Scoop', still from a video

'Glaze', video, presented on a billboard at my Degree show

Fondue Series, with fairy liquid

A test photograph

Playing around with jelly moulds....

Still from 'Glaze' video

Still from 'Glaze' video

LEITHS Food Styling Course

I've been meaning to write about the start of my Food Styling course for 2 weeks now, but I've been so busy at work, I haven't had a chance. So this post is coming to you a little late, but I'll try and be more on the ball for the next sessions.

So the Food Styling course at Leiths School of Food and Wine, is a six week evening and weekend course aimed at people who want to know more about how to make food look good, and who are interested in doing it as a career. Usually the course is run by Jennifer Joyce and Sarah Cook, but we were notified that Sarah Cook was unable to take the course this time, and so Katy Greenwood took over in her absence.

The first session was taken by Katy, a renowned home economist, food stylist and writer, who has worked for the likes of Jamie magazine, Olive, Waitrose Kitchen and Good food. Here's a link to her website: http://www.katygreenwood.moonfruit.com/#

We started by looking at some very retro 70's cookery magazines, and we chatted about how food styling has changed over the years. It used to be hugely influenced by America, and looked fake rather than real. Today it is more influenced by Australia and Donna Hay apparently, with the emphasis being on fresh food, that looks delicious and achievable.

Katy explained to us what a food stylist actually does, the different types of food styling (editorial, advertising, television and photography), and the key attributes for a food stylist. She also told us useful things like where she shops, and how to create an invoice for a job. We then did a fun practical task in pairs, where we got given a microwave meal, and we had to try and style the product to make it look like it did on the packet (not easy!).

All in all, the first session was great. I loved  hearing Katy talk about her work and experiences, and I'm so envious of her amazing job! The session certainly made me think even more that this is what I'd like to do as a career, as it's the perfect outlet for a creative person like myself, with a love of food. My next step is to try and balance getting assisting work with my full-time job- not easy, but I'm certainly going to give it a try. I've been in contact with a few food stylists recently, so fingers crossed!