Essential ingredients It’s simple but it’s salt and pepper.

First kitchen worked in The Sun Inn at Kirkby Lonsdale.

First dish I prepared I can't remember the first professional dish I prepared but my first memories of cooking is making jam tarts with my granny before I was old enough to go to school!

Signature dish I love proper comfort food and this is my favourite; slow roasted shoulder of lamb with spiced red cabbage, mashed potato, red onion and mint pickle - not forgetting real lamb and red wine gravy.

The lamb shoulders are placed in a roasting tin with garlic, rosemary, thyme, onion, red wine and plenty of salt and cracked black pepper then covered with foil and cooked at about 120 degrees for at least six to eight hours until the meat is falling off the bone.

When the lamb is cool enough to handle pick it off the bone and roll in cling film to form a long cylinder shape that can be cooled and set before portioning ready for re-heating and serving.

The juices can then be sieved to remove the bones, herbs, onion etc. More red wine can then be added and then reduced to form a gravy.

Shredded red cabbage is slowly braised with red onions, cooking and dessert apples, red wine, red wine vinegar, dark brown sugar, mixed spice and salt and pepper cover with foil and cook at 160 degrees until tender.

A good floury potato such as King Edward or Maris Piper should be boiled in salted water until soft then drained in a colander and left for a few minutes to steam dry.

I press them through a potato ricer then push it through a fine drum sieve before adding butter, double cream, salt and white pepper then English mustard.

The last component is the red onion and mint pickle. Finely dice the red onion and chop the mint then make pickling solution of equal parts of red wine vinegar to caster sugar.

Heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved then add the onion and mint.

Food philosophy Keep it simple, do the basics well and always use the best seasonal ingredients you can get.

My favourite chef As I said I like proper comfort food so my favourite chef I would say at the moment is Tom Kerridge, as he can take proper pub food and turn it into an elegant plate of food which still great value for money Biggest kitchen disaster Fingers crossed I haven't had one - yet!

My biggest influence The biggest influence I have is the produce and the years I spent working on farms before becoming a chef.

My favourite meal I would have to say my signature dish is my favourite meal - especially in the winter.