Sunday 19 February 2012

Ballymaloe Day 24, 9th February - Tart de Terrible


Week 5, Day 4 and this week has absolutely flown by. I was in early to get started on the pastry for the tart and I also wanted to make some extra bread, plus I had Candied Peel and a flat fish to fillet.

I made the pastry in the tart recipe, messed up the first time due to my inability to put a Magimix together, then got it right the second time. Then found out we were supposed to do a simpler, more basic pastry, not the one in the recipe, grrrr. Anyway, no time to bother with that as the complicated pastry Mark 2 was in the fridge, I prepared the dates; Medjool Dates, the king of dates are the only type of date they use here and have a sweet, rich syrupy flavour. We get to use nothing but the best for our ingredients! I made the custard and also a Soda Bread with sultanas in it. Rolled out the pastry a little heavy handedly, as such it cracked and some of the filling spilled out and stuck to the base. It also took forever to set even though I thought it was cooked when I took it out the oven. A shame as it was really delicious, both the pastry and the filling and it was all rich and unctuous like it should be. However I had pastry left so took it home to practice with again, I thought I had the knack of lining a tin here but the rolling is another matter.

My goujons of sole were great though, filleted the flat fish, a Lemon Sole, chopped him into goujons which were covered in spiced flour and deep fried. They were absolutely delicious!

Rory made Scallops with Beurre Blanc look easy

Orange Jelly & Tuiles

Lamb Tagine

Rory's Scallop Carpaccio

Nice presentation of the Tagine

Florentines

The afternoon’s demonstration was an introduction to Scallops so we were all very excited. They cost a couple of Euros each in the shell and were hand caught. Again, loads of fabulous local produce being used. Rory made a Jerusalem Artichoke Puree to go with them and a Beurre Blanc. We also saw several Tagines of Lamb, couscous in a couscousier (who knew that existed?), salads, Fruit Jellies and an introduction to Gelatine. Rory also made Florentines and Tuile Biscuits. It was a feast as you can see from the pictures above. Tomorrow I am making the Tuiles, finishing Candied Peel, Lemonade duty and the Lamb Tagine, with, yes you’ve guessed it, Medjool Dates!


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