Chef in the Spotlight…..Joanna
Joanna has been a key part of the TRJFP Ham team for over a year, alternating weeks in the kitchen with another chef to keep the delicious meals flowing.
Before joining the Ham project, Joanna spent some time in our community cafe at the Cambrian Centre discovering how we work. Even before that, she was cooking up kindness at the Richmond Soup Kitchen at the St John the Divine Church in Richmond.
Introduced to TRJFP through her friend Penny, Joanna brings a wealth of experience to the table. With over 20 years in the catering industry, she’s done everything from running restaurants to working front-of-house at high-end events like Wimbledon and Ascot. After taking a break to raise her family, she subsequently returned to her passion of connecting with people through food.
Now a hands-on chef for the Ham venue, Joanna explained why she finds this work so special. She thrives on the creative challenge of cooking with whatever surplus ingredients are available that day - and she relishes the opportunity to connect directly with the 50 or more guests she helps to feed each week.
“It’s a real team effort,” Joanna says. “Everyone pitches in, whether it’s chopping vegetables, making coffee or washing up.” She’s quick to share credit with her amazing fellow kitchen volunteers: Trisha, Linda, Sally and Sophie.
We’re so grateful for Joanna’s warmth, creativity, and community spirit - she’s proof that food made with heart really does make a difference.
Joanna’s Filo Apple Turnovers:
Ingredients:
Apples, filo pastry, cinnamon, sugar. Optional lemon juice, raisins and nutmeg
Method:
Peel the apples, core and cut into chunks.
Add to a saucepan with a little water, cinnamon and a tablespoon of sugar.
Can add lemon juice and raisins and nutmeg if you have them.
Cook off until soft but not mushy.
Leave to cool.
Melt some butter in a pan or microwave.
Unroll the filo pastry and take one sheet away and brush it with butter. Cut the sheet in half.
Then put a tablespoon of apple into one corner of the one half and fold over top left corner over apple then fold the whole piece over to the right to make a triangle. Practise makes perfect!
Then do this with the rest of the half sheets.
Lay them on a greased baking tray and if necessary brush with more butter and then sprinkle with any sugar you have.
Put in oven at 180C for about 15 mins or until golden brown.