Solent chefs come third in national competition
It’s official! Our Portsmouth hospital chefs Jim Richardson and Joe Hennigan are among the cream of the crop.
The dynamic duo, normally based in the kitchens at St Mary’s Community Healthcare Campus, today (Thursday 3rd November) ended up third place in the prestigious NHS Chef 2022 competition held at The Cooking School in Warminster.
Jim and Joe had consistently impressed judges throughout the six-day final, which saw two-person NHS catering teams working together to prepare everything from three-course lunches to allergy-free options and low-cost suppers.
To get so far in the national competition was extra special for the pair as they had worked together for only a matter of months.
While Jim has worked in an NHS kitchen his entire working life, Joe was taken on as a catering assistant earlier this year and will soon be starting an apprenticeship to become a fully qualified chef.
The pair were encouraged to enter the competition by their line manager Iain Robertson, Catering Operations Manager at Solent NHS Trust, and himself a former NHS chef.
“The lads absolutely smashed it day after day but the competition was fierce,” said Iain. “I am so proud of them both and what they have achieved.”
Mark Young, Associate Director of Estates Transformation, said: “To be named in the top three best NHS chef teams in the country is absolutely incredible. This has exceeded all expectations and we are all so proud. Well done to them both.”
The pair had been inundated with messages of support from colleagues at Solent NHS Trust throughout the competition, which included practical sessions and a mentoring event.
Jim and Joe had won the judges’ hearts at the regional heat in London with their roasted butternut squash soup with chilli and lime, part of a three-course meal prepared with a budget of £5 a head.
The soup won the best vegetarian entry and, before they knew it, Jim and Joe were propelled straight into the competition finals.
As well as testing their cooking skills, the gruelling two-week finals were designed to challenge their catering knowledge and menu engineering.
Fancy trying Jim and Joe’s soup for yourself? Here’s their award-winning recipe!
Butternut Squash Chilli and Lime soup
Ingredients
1 large butternut squash approx. 1kg
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 large onion finely chopped
5g fresh chopped ginger
2 garlic cloves fresh crushed
1ltr vegetable stock
20ml soya milk
5g pumpkin seed
1 red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
5g fresh coriander
1 lime whole
Black pepper and rock salt for seasoning
Method
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Peel, deseed and dice butternut squash to approximately 3cm chunks. Tip the butternut squash on to a tray and drizzle over half the oil and season well, toss the squash so covered well in seasoning and oil. Roast for 30 min in the oven.
- Dice onion and ginger (peel and dice finely).
- Slice the chilli in half, deseed and slice finely. Chop the coriander for garnish and roast the pumpkin seed under a grill till golden. This will be used as garnish.
- Heat the remaining oil in a pan and fry the onion for 5min until tender but not golden, add the ginger and garlic and cook for another minute, add the stock by and bring to boil slowly. Add to the pan the butternut squash from the oven and bring to a simmer.
- Once this has been achieved remove from heat and blend until smooth, add more liquid if you need and return to stove to simmer.
- Grate the lime then cut in half and squeeze the juice from the lime and add to the soup.
- Season the soup and ladle into bowls, garnish with a swirl of soya milk, lime zest, pumpkin seed and chilli.