Ballymaloe Day 40, March 3rd - Soda Bread, Mussels, Lamb

My final day in Kitchen 1 and I was ready to tackle some extra bread making. I rustled up a brown and white soda bread, both of which have room for improvement! I also made the white milk dough which is a softer, er milkier white yeast bread. I made one loaf and then made six rolls with the other which I shaped into a flower and topped with different seeds! They were a bit dense though, I could have made both smaller and got a third loaf out of it. Anyway, good practice and I will have another go at the soda breads next week.

The bad bread

My actual dishes for the day were Mussels with Coconut and Coriander and the Rack of Lamb with Fresh Apple & Mint Chutney. Preparing and French trimming the lamb was okay with a bit of guidance, I cut the feather bones and chine bone off with a saw, as you do, then trimmed it up and scraped down the bones. That bit took forever! The chutney was great, really tasty and quick in the food processor. The mussels looked great and the coconut broth with chilli and lemongrass was simple enough to prepare. Had to scrub the barnacles off the mussels but the whole thing was really tasty, I don’t know why I don’t cook them more often after this.

The lamb though was in an oven with someone else’s and I didn’t keep enough of an eye on it. The oven wasn’t hot enough and they just didn’t have enough colour on them. With everything else going on I didn’t think to keep them in for longer. Despite their smallish size they needed a lot longer and were too pink for my taste. It was ok, but could have been better!

A great demonstration in the afternoon with Squid, Panna Cotta and Roast Duck, all beautifully presented. It was the end of a long week though and I was so tired, there is no let up here at all!!

Ballymaloe Day 21, 6th February - Rhubarb, Seafood, Breakfast

Week 5 looms, and I am a third of the way through the course, eeek! Still in Kitchen 2 this week, and I am partnered with my housemate Gas Mark 7. I was making the Poached Rhubarb, Irish Shellfish Platter, Kale Colcannon and Brown Yeast Bread. The new season forced rhubarb is bright pink and very pretty. You cut it on the diagonal like celery and cook it in syrup for just a minute, then leave to cool. It has a delicious flavour and would go well with some rich Jersey Cream. It has a wonderful colour too, what Rory calls ‘Chanel Pink’ love it.

The Kale Colcannon featured, Kale, obviously, my nemesis here at the school. I think it is a much overrated vegetable, horse feed for a reason! I’ve cooked it loads and if we never cross paths again it will be too soon! It’s covered in slugs and I had to pick them all off before cooking it. Then the spuds; so far I have managed to avoid cooking mashed potato as I am a bit scared of making it in the Kenwood mixer but it was actually okay and tasty. Plenty of seasoning and butter!

Also got pretty good at the Brown Yeast Bread and improved on the one I made last Friday. You have to listen out for the yeast fizzing in the water and treacle, they listen to the food a lot here, no radio in the kitchen and certainly no Morrissey! Then we tackled the fresh fresh fresh Irish Shellfish from Ballycotton Seafood. Gas Mark 7 made some tasty mayonnaise and I cooked the clams and mussels and opened my first oyster! I will definitely be getting a little oyster knife and having them at home from now on.

An urchin sneaked on to the plate

Rhubarb

Brown Yeast Bread

My oyster top right as part of the Fruits de Mer

After lunch today’s demonstration was all about cooking breakfast. This is ideal if you are thinking of a café or B&B. There was fresh fruit salad, muesli, granola, muffins, waffles, three types of jam, kippers then the full Irish Breakfast. We also saw a few different types of porridge including a new organic brand Kilbeggan Rolled Oats which are grown and rolled by the producer himself. At the start of the demonstration we met some more local producers Noreen and Martin Conroy who farm free range pigs and make really good sausages locally with no additives. They sell at three farmers' markets in the area. The breakfast also featured streaky and loin bacon, white and black pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes, potato bread and eggs. Perfectly scrambled, poached and fried eggs. It would be great for your business to offer a delicious breakfast like this made with good ingredients and would definitely set you apart from the crowd! For a fab destination breakfast I recommend http://www.thespoonsonskye.com

What a feast!

Ballymaloe Day 20, 3rd February - Are the Urchins here yet?

End of Week 4 and my first week in Kitchen 2. Think I know where everything is now. I wanted to make the Brown Yeast Bread which I hadn't had a chance to make so far. Started afresh after my yeast didn't seem to work, it should fizz in the jug of treacle and water and froth like a pint of Guinness! Got that underway, then onto the Marzipan Apples, made marzipan! Which we then use to stuff some cored and peeled apples which are dipped in cinnamon sugar and baked. Loved the marzipan, would make that again as soon as possible!

I also chopped loads of mushrooms for the soup, good practice, also good practice sweating onions and cooking in the flour etc to get flavour into the soup. Bread done, soup done, apples in the oven, it was time for the eggs. I made the Smoked Salmon, Leek and Dill Frittata, but it started to get too hot underneath while the top and middle weren't cooked. Then I put it under the grill to finish it off while I got on with my French Omelette but there was so much going on it just ended up looking burnt and oily :( Left it to one side, should have taken it out the pan straight away, as a result it was definitely overcooked but once turned out actually looked okay. I made three French Omlettes, each one was not quite perfect, either the pan was too hot or too cold, argh! Rachel made it look so easy!

My Frittata on the right

Last demonstration of the week. I was tired but things got very exciting with the arrival of loads of Irish Shellfish. Langoustines, Shrimps, then several different types of Clams including Paloures, Mussels, Oysters, Periwinkles and Sea Urchin! I heard Rory ask the teachers in the kitchen, "are the Urchins here yet?" like you do. Makes me think of Oliver Twist. Anyway, before the Seafood Platter we also saw Dingle and Kerry Pie, Poached plums and Rhubarb, Banana Bread, Carrot Cake and Beetroot Cake, and a Carrageen Moss Pudding. Carrageen is a kind of seaweed you can forage for here in Ireland or buy dried and rehydrate.

It was loads to concentrate on for a Friday afternoon but enjoyed it. The plates of shellfish were particularly spectacular! And I now know how to prepare a Sea Urchin!

'Chanel Pink' Rhubarb to the left, Fruits de Mer to the right

Periwinkles

Spot the spiky Urchin

Beetroot & Walnut Cake

Ballymaloe Day 9, 19th January - Confessions of a Milkmaid

Yes, I was up early to milk the bovine beasts and at the school for 7.30am. However it was still too dark at that hour so I was told to come back 15 minutes later. What else was there to do but go back to the cottage and put on my make-up instead. Looking a bit better (you never know when one of these eligible farmers they keep talking about might appear) I met Eileen who is in charge of the cows and we herded them out of the field and up to the milking parlour. There are three dairy cows, a Jersey, a Fresian and a cross between the two I think, plus their calves, and two little Dexters, an old Irish breed who aren't used for milk but hang out in the field with them.

We herded them in, and it was even further from Possil than ever, standing in a muddy field in the dawn wielding a big stick. We washed the udders, then put on the milking apparatus (no, I was not milking by hand, sitting on a stool like ye olde milkmaid of yore). The milk goes straight through into the dairy, then into the separator we saw yesterday. The jersey milk gives it a lovely rich colour and the cream is sunny and yellow. Then everything's cleaned down and the cows drift back to the field; they're pretty smart and know they're going to be milked and get grumpy if they have to wait around in the morning.

The separated milk and cream get taken back to the school for use in the day's cooking and that's it. Another crazy experience which is a daily occurance at Ballymaloe!

Then it was back to Kitchen 2, and got on with my Bread and Butter pudding, including nearly a pint of cream and marmalade. Also made tomato fondue, a kind of Ballymaloe in-house tomato sauce. It was all really tasty, I was pleased! I also got to fillet half a flat fish, another huge cod. I enjoyed it though, not bad for a first attempt. I contacted the real world for a few minutes (my stepfather's 75th birthday, I tracked down a mobile phone signal in a supermarket car park in Midleton), only to be asked "did I gut the fish as well?" Thankfully no, as I could fit no more into today's exploits!

The first plates of my food I've phototgraphed (and remembered the camera!)

Well I tell a lie, in the afternoon for the demonstration Darina brought in half a sheep's carcass and went through the cuts of lamb with it. She wielded a saw and took off the leg and shoulder no problem - the things you see here! Tomorrow I am cooking the shoulder, and also roast potatoes, swiss chard and finishing off my marmalade. Lastly a few of us students went to see Tim making a sourdough loaf after class. More detail on the subject of sourdough at a later date but he has a starter which has been going since September. The starter captures the natural yeast in the air, Tim calls it working with ' the elements' which I love, I feel more of a pagan here than ever! He used the starter to create the 'sponge' which you use to rise the loaf. The dough is kneaded and then left to rise overnight ready for the next stage. All the students are excited about starting their own starter, I am hoping to find the time soon!

The starter (in jar) and the dough