This past Friday I traveled to Oklahoma City to meet up with Wendi Dee and her daughter Kat at 105degrees. This was the day that the graduating students of the Level 1 Culinary program were putting their final tasting menus together. In the above video, I was interviewing the students and sharing with you the incredible dishes they made for us. In the order of which they appear, meet: Austin Cummins, Aimee Duffresne, Andrea Conneely and Vicki Morrisey (they can all be found on Facebook : )
In the above video I was also able to chat with two of the graduating Level 2 chef's; Alissa (punkrawklabs.net), Helen Castillo (therawpalate.com), the extraordinary Russell James (therawchef.com) and Don Cashion (105's sous chef).
A bit more about Russell, new Culinary Instructor of 105degrees:
(taken from 105degrees.com)
Russell James has joined 105degrees as guest Instructor In Residence from the UK, where he is known as The Raw Chef.
Russell first got interested in raw foods when on a 7 day cleansing fast in Koh Samui, Thailand. He was there on a quest to clear his skin of spots he'd developed after years of working in a fast food restaurant.
In his own words, "I'd had years of taking anti-biotics and topical creams that make my skin itchy and sting, plus more severe drugs that were desinged to completely dry up my skin, which also came with other side-effects such as depression, anxiety and liver damage."
"I knew poor eating habits had been responsible for my skin problem so I instinctively knew that good nutrition and caring for my body would help."
"I went on the 7 day fast, cleared up my skin, and found out about raw food whilst I was there. I just knew I wanted to be a raw chef as soon as I heard about it."
Russell has gone about setting up a successful business in the UK as a chef, running raw food classes, offering catering and personal chef services, while at the same time attracting attention from the mainstream media. This lead to Russell being referred to as, "The UK's leading raw food chef" by national newspaper The Times.
In the clip above, Russell is telling me about the British theme he is using to prepare a Beatles-inspired 4 course menu for a Sunday Supper at 105degrees.
first
Yellow Submarine
Heirloom Tomatoes with Macadamia Mozzarella & Pesto
second
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Grapefruit & Mint Sherbet
third
Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts
Portabello Hearts with Peppercorn Sauce
fourth
Strawberry Fields Forever
Balsamic Strawberry Tart with Sour Cream and Cacao Mint Creme Anglais
Please come visit Real Food Tulsa tomorrow as I will continue sharing about Wendi Dee's visit to Oklahoma!
