Ballymaloe Day 27, February 14th - Valentine's Cabbage

Valentine's Day and everyone in the school was in good spirits. Got loads done in the kitchen, made a tasty fish curry using Pollock which I filleted myself, made Pilaff Rice, then got a few techniques done including Glazed Carrots and a couple of attempts at a French Omlette. Completely forgot to take any pictures but the curry was yum! Here are some of the salad leaves we had to memorise instead:

Take note students!

Back in the afternoon's demonstration and Rachel made Chocolate Profiteroles and a delicious Chilli Con Carne, using chunks of meat instead of mince and a chilli sauce which you make first and then add to the stew depending on how hot you like it. It was so, so tasty and the meat made a real difference and elevated what could be a 'normal' dish to something else. They're always doing that round here! I paid close attention to the profiteroles as I am making them on Thursday. It's also my life's ambition to make a Croquembouche one day so it was great!

The demo kitchen was suitably decorated today

Chocolate Profiteroles

It was all tasty, but no sooner and I had to rush over to the kitchen at Ballymaloe House to spend a night working in the kitchen. All the students get the chance to have a night or two's work experience here and to see how a restaurant kitchen works. It wasn't too busy as it was a Tuesday, even for Valentine's Day, but I saw the chefs in action and tried not to get in the way too much! Got some tips on segmenting an orange for the exam and on presentation. A lot of the dishes on the menu are things we have actually cooked here like Smoked Salmon Rillette and Fruit Sorbet. Again, the focus is on fresh local produce and classic dishes. One of the chefs had made a wild garlic custard served in a tiny teacup, it was delicious! Then they put me to work chopping a box full of muddy, slug-covered cabbages. Local indeed! Once they'd corrected my amateur chopping technique, and I'd disposed of the molluscs I had to wash the whole lot in the scullery. It's all good experience but it's the last Valentine's Day I will ever spend on that side of the kitchen that's for sure!!

Ballymaloe Day 26, February 13th - Doilies and Sherry (Granny's Revenge!)

Week 6 and this week I am in Kitchen 1 for the first time. Apart from not knowing where anything is I'm fine! Made the Raspberry Fool and biscuits which actually turned out pretty well. I found this cute plate to serve it on, of course featuring the inevitable doily which we love here at Ballymaloe. I'm actually thinking they're due a renaissance some day soon!

I also made the vegetable dish, yes, Kale again. I destalked it, cooked it, then put it in the Magimix with butter, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. It tastes better with cream and all that but doesn't everything!? I also tackled some White Yeast Bread as I hadn't loads on. I made the sunflower shaped loaf from last week. It took forever to rise and bake but it looked and tasted really good as they housemates attested that night. Sadly I didn't get to take a photo but hopefully I'll do it again soon. I also went through my technique sheet ahead of the exams and my teacher marked the ones I need to practice...just 2 more days in the kitchen to do this so got a couple done!

Afternoon demonstration and it was an introduction to Choux Pastry and making Eclairs. There were also some fish curries and a Puy Lentil and Goat's Cheese Salad. We were all eclaired out by the end of it!

This heart garland is so cool

All this needs is a glass of Prosecco

 Colm McCan, Sommelier of Ballymaloe House visited us in the evening to go through an extra wine lecture all about Sherry. Sherry is dead popular here at Ballymaloe and they want to get it away from the old granny with a bottle of Harveys's Bristol Cream at Christmas image. We found out how it was made (all news to me) and then tried a few, a Fino, an Amontillado, a Manzanilla and the sweet, treacly Pedro Ximenez. It was all delicious. Apparently the makers Lustau also make the sherry that goes into Waitrose's own brand. I will be down for a bottle when I get back!

Back over in the cottage exam fever was setting in and the sherry was wearing off. We were all going a bit crazy trying to remember dishes to go with flat parsley and tarragon and memorising salad leaves. I even made some flash cards...someone pass the bristol cream...

Ballymaloe Day 25, 10th February - How to make Lemonade (hint, read the recipe)

Last Day of Week 5 and I was in early yet again to get my lemonade started. The Ballymaloe Homemade Lemonade is made by a few students every day and is very popular. It is basically sugar syrup, lemon juice or a mixture of fruit juices and water. It can be flavoured with herbs as well such as sweet geranium or rosemary in the syrup. Any fruit used for zesting where the flesh and juice of the fruit is not needed (naked fruit, if you like) is kept in a box in the fridge to be used for juicing for lemonade. Another example of how nothing is wasted here. I had a selection of lemons, blood orange and grapefruit. There was no spare syrup so I made some and left it to cool.

Next I got on with the Lamb Tagine, I chopped up some lamb from a leg into large cubes and it gets marinated in spices, then cooked with tomato juice, saffron, the obligatory Medjool dates and loads of coriander. It was fab. Made the Orange Tuile Biscuits and had loads of fun rolling them round my rolling pin. I also finished the second batch of candied peel and made sure I had loads more syrup this time. It looked pretty good. As for the lemonade I misread the recipe (as in didn’t read it properly) and put the whole pint of syrup in rather than the right amount. It was rectified though by making up more fruit juice and adding more water. A crap mistake though, I should have been concentrating and I wasn't. I also prepared Scallops from the shell which was a pretty gross undertaking and fried them and served them with my partner’s Beurre Blanc. My teacher said it was good presentation, at least that was something to take from today!

Fruits of Friday's labours

By the time I got to the afternoon’s demonstration I was exhausted! Even though it was Friday there was no let up and Rory produced plate after plate of food. Delicate broths, Potted Shrimp (loved that), Fougasse Bread, Bread in the shape of a sunflower with polenta and sunflower seeds, Irish Stew and Fruit Fools, Raspeberry, Rhubarb and so on. This weekend is the last weekend before our halfway exams so I need to try and do some study – 20 techniques to master and 40 herbs and leaves to memorise plus recipes!!

Cute breadsticks wrapped up in a parcel with raffia and Fougasse

Fool hidden by Jane's Biscuits (sounds like a crossword clue)

Rhubarb Fool

Sunflower Bread

Potted shrimp with wild garlic leaves & flowers, served with breadsticks

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!

Ballymaloe Day 23, 8th February - Calling Sirrallan!

Day 3 and as it was Wednesday, Theory Day. No wine for a change, instead we had a whole day on the Business of Food with Darina’s sister Blathnaid Bergin who is an expert on advising food businesses http://www.therestaurantadvisor.ie/

Before that though a few of us students got up for 8am to meet with Soft Fruit expert Susan Turner, to learn more about growing them. I don’t even have a garden but it’s good knowledge to have for the future so we went out to learn a bit about pruning gooseberries and saw a Jostaberry, a cross between a blackcurrant and a gooseberry I think. It’s great as the fruit gardens are springing into life and all the bulbs are starting to come out!

Back in the Demo Kitchen for the day and Blathnaid told us all about the common mistakes restaurants make and how to avoid them! We also looked at setting up a catering business as well as a restaurant and most importantly of all how your menu will dictate all the other decisions you have to make about your business from the interior to the staff. In the afternoon we looked at a case study of a former Ballymaloe student setting up his cafe and the decisions he made. It's interesting and important stuff, especially if you want to work for yourself. I did rather feel like I was in a food version of The Apprentice though, but it's good being surrounding by lots of ideas and entrepreneurial spirit. We need this knowledge when we're setting up in business, it's okay being able to cook, but you also need to be able not to go bust!

No food today but a few pictures of Ballycotton:

The lighthouse on the island