Ready, Steady, Cook...

Today was the day I was slightly worried about but it went brilliantly. I made a magnificent feast and served up just slightly under time. Yesterday, the draw took place for the breads and I was assigned a brown soda bread which is one of the easier breads.

The chocolate mousse settled perfectly and I made a delicious strawberry sauce for topping, yum! When I presented it the sun was shining directly on the white chocolate mousse cocktail. I could not have planned the setting any better, a delicious summer treat. The starter was brilliant with a selection of what I can only describe as Ireland's finest salad leaves with some delicious goat's cheese.

The steak went well ish, it could have done with about a minute more on either side for the perfect medium steak but you would not believe what happened... I  was clock watching and the steak pan went up on fire while I leaped in the air with fright. The supervisor and I laughed for the remainder of the exam, the steak was fine in the end though...

I was asked to leave while Rachel Allen, Iassc Allen, Rory O' Connell and three of the teachers marked my final dinner. Following marking, Rachel commented on how delicious my béarnaise sauce was with the steak so I was delighted.

 

Today, I thought of how delighted I am with the tough decision to leave my office job and come to Ballymaloe. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and I am really going to miss it. Friday there are three exam papers to sit but following that there is a fabulous end of term dinner planned for us followed by good-bye drinks in Ballycotton.

Tomorrow is study day, I fell asleep today after the practical as I was exhausted so tomorrow is going to be a mega cramming session. Fingers crossed my overloaded brain will just about hold a bit more information in time for Friday's exams.

I really wanted to take pictures of the final dinner for my blog but I was being chased out of the kitchen with a rolling pin by one of the teachers. 

Aw well, lots of pictures Friday I hope.

Chat soon,

D x

The Final Farewell...

I've made it... hooray! It's difficult to believe the course have finished, it has been a fab three months. The exams went pretty well.... I think... I did pretty well in them, well at least I hope! The main event everyone was looking forward to was the Farewell Dinner which was planned for after the exams. A quick disco nap after the exams and then party-time.

The Garden Café of the school was transformed into a fabulous dining area with a bubbles reception of delicious Prosecco with the balcony of the café transformed for the event.

The menu included Ciabatta with Capezzana Olive Oil (why oh why could I not remember that for the exam). Darina's daughter drew the menu which was so artistic- yet another idea to take if I ever decide to open my own eatery.

Dinner was cooked by Rory O' Connell starting with a soup of Wild Garlic & Flower Broth:

Followed by Slow Roast Shoulder of Lamb with Aioli & Salsa Verde served with Ballycotton Potatoes; Garden Leaves with Selviapianana Olive Oil and Seakale:

Dessert was Jasmin Tea & Lemon Parfait with Rhubarb and Smashed Strawberries, Rory smashed them himself I have you know, oh yeah...

The following morning, Darina gave us a farewell chat with coffee and fresh scones where we were given many words of wisdom by the Julia Child of Ireland. Some of which were that 'someone has to be the best so it might as well be you' which really is something Darina Allen reiterated many times over the course. As well as 'be unapologetic about charging a high price if your quality is high'. Most of all, Darina reiterated how fortunate we are to be taught how to cook- go spread your learning's wide and far. The chat ended by saying 'we don't say goodbye in Ballymaloe, we simply say cheereo!, see you later'.

The morning marked the end of another chapter, but the beginning of a whole new book. I hope you stay around and sample some of my delicious recipes as I continue my future path in cooking. I hope you enjoyed reading my posts as much as I enjoyed writing them.

All that is left to say is cheereo Ballymaloe, thanks so much for the memories:

Day 70: Orange Chocolate Liquers... Yummy!

Well, today was another crazy busy day, starting off with salad duty. I really am going to miss salad duty, the salad leaves in the school are some of the best you'll find. Then straight into a new kitchen with a new partner, today was chocolate day. I mentioned it before, but I am so much better at desserts and chocolate based items than main courses- I really have a flair for them.

I made Mary Jo's chocolates which were yummy with some Cointreau orange liqueur. I came up with a great addition too; a squeeze of lime in the chocolate before it sets, super delicious. I covered the work counter in chocolate so mega messy but a good way to start off what is going to be a long week. In the afternoon demo, Darina Allen discussed the various trends she came across in New York during her work there over the last five days.

Here's a nice interview from Darina Allen's recent trip to New York- you may remember that stew from my early blog days ;)

CBS Interview Darina Allen 2012

Short post because it's the wine exam tomorrow, wish me luck!

Day 61: Mary Jo McMillin...

This Satuday was a short course run by Ohio's most renowned chef, Mary Jo McMillin. Mary came over for the week and put a great deal of effort into preparing for Saturday's demo. Mary is without doubt one of the most generous people to give her time, she helped me greatly with my sour dough and gave me some top tips.

One of the recipes we have not covered on the course is Butternut squash soup simply because it is out of season. However, Mary Jo made the most amazing Butternut squash soup so I am delighted I got to get a recipe before the course is over.

A wonderful French Apple Tart followed with a delightful base where Mary Jo demoed a very unique way of curling up the pastry.

Some other delicious dishes from the afternoon were Ginger Beef; Wine Braised Duck Legs; Crumb Coffee Cake; Coq au Vin and Pulled Braised Lamb Shoulder with Pomegranate Molasses.

I've lots of photos of the day which I must upload so check back soon.

D x

Day 60: Gone Fishing!

Friday was Fish & Chips day, yummy yum yum! Of course, every Friday morning I read the Financial Times from cover to cover to catch up on the world's business happenings. This Friday morning was of course, no different (kidding), but I thought wouldn't the Financial Times make for an excellent chip wrap?

It's very Canary Wharf style... You know of course, good battered fish needs good batter and even better fish so it all started with trimming this poor fella:

Then I dipped the freshly filleted fish into some delicious Budwiser based batter (helped myself to a small drop on the QT) before throwing him into the deep fry!

Et voilà:

Although, as you can see I wouldn't serve such a big portion of chips with a starter sized fish but I was hungry... I was docked a mark for being so greedy. Come on, it's Friday, hello!

However, I got full marks for my dessert, the fabulous White Chocolate Mousse with Fresh Strawberry Sauce. I decided that I am going to do this for my final exam. It can be hit or miss but I really do like it and I made an excellent job of both presenting it and of the texture. At the school, we are told to use leaf gelatine where-ever possible as it works better. However, just for these, the recipe calls for powdered gelatine and you know it turned out much better with powder. I had this dessert made and in the cold room by 9am, before the morning's cooking even started so I really do hope it works out in the exam.

I did an excellent presentation in a cocktail glass for marking, but I didn't take a pic. So, I'm thinking of going with the cocktail glass for the final exam with some chocolate wafers.

In the afternoon demo, we covered a world of recipes from Goat Cheese and Rocket Bruschetta with Tomato and Chili Jam; Roast Stuffed Duck with Traditional Potato Stuffing; Red Cabbage; Chocolate Meringue with Chocolate and Rum Cream and Chocolate Wafers and an Irish Coffee Meringue Roulade.

I have to say, this week was one of the toughest yet, I'm finding it hard to fit in time to read over my notes so I'm beginning to panic. I'm sure it will be okay, off to Mary Jo's demo on Saturday.

Day 58: Afternoon Tea and Bickies...

Wednesdays, you know when I started the course, I thought Wednesdays would be a comfortable day because we just sit in on lectures all day. Nothing to it, right? Well, no, not quite. Today was like a high speed train as we went through a world of cheeses, then went onto do a long list of canapé recipes, before driving down to Ballymaloe House for a tour and some afternoon tea.

The morning started off with a few Limoncellos; Rhubarb Gin recipes and Cherry Brandy to wet the palate. Then we went straight into cheeses from Rocamadour, to Selles Sur Cher, to Lingot de Quercy. My favourite cheese of the morning was the Cavet Feuille which comes from the lovely Provence. This cheese making dates back to the Roman times. This goat's milk cheese takes a period of two weeks to mature, it is dipped in eau-de-vie and then wrapped in a chestnut leaf. The alcohol protects the cheeses against bad mould and slowly the chestnut leaf aroma influences the cheese’s taste. How amazing is that?

Then it was straight down to business with canapés from Tiny Smoked Salmon sandwiches:

Lamb on Rosemary Shewers:

Smoked Salmon Spirals:

Tiny Shepherd's Pies:

Rory's Quail Eggs with Shrimps and Mayonnaise:

Finally, the highlight of the demo was the quail eggs in a real life nest:

Fabulous, the only word I can use to describe it.

Speaking of fabulous, we had afternoon tea with some light cake and bickies in Ballymaloe House conservatory over looking the delightful gardens. We were taken on a tour of Ballymaloe House starting with the kitchen, then around the comfortable rooms before heading to the wine cellar:

 

Jay-Z, the rapper, tried out alot of the wines during his recent visit to Ballymaloe House!

Day 57: Botched Broiche ;(

Bonjour mon ami,

Another day, another grey hair. In case you have not picked up on it already, my brioche did not turn out as expected. I should have given it more time to rise before placing it into the oven. However, I had two other breads going and my morning work ahead so I rushed it. It did not help when I decided it would be a good idea to save time and space to place two of my trays in the one oven, therefore blocking the heat. Aw well, c'est la vie!

The rest of the morning went fine, I got great marks in everything I did but I should have presented the egg mayonnaise starter better. For the granary bread, in my wisdom I decided to go with a mixture of granary flour with strong flour, instead of all granary flour, causing my bread to become incredibly tough in texture. I was reading in the recipe to do a mixture of both flours for a lighter finish but it just didn't work for me, so next time I will just stick to the one recipe.

I made a divine Ballymaloe homemade ice cream but I did not get to taste it because I had to place it into the freezer over night to set. I hope to get a picture of the ice-cream tomorrow. I left the fresh Ballymaloe Coriander and Pea Soup until last.

We were out of coriander and I had to serve up straight of way, so I garnished the soup with some fresh wild garlic flowers which are currently in season. Pea soup is so colourful, it really cleanses the body and it makes you feel so rejuvenated.

In the afternoon, Rory took us through a demo of many dishes, some of which were Campari and Blood Orange Sorbet; Mild Madras Curry with Fresh Spices; Tamarind Chutney with Bananas; Poori; Chapatis; Lassi and Yoghurt and Cardamom Cream with Pomegranates Seeds perfumed with some Rose Blossom Water.

This is quite the dish, it is Pears Poached in a Saffron Syrup. We use saffron alot on the course, although it is quite expensive- it really does give a dish a great colour and certainly a great flavour.

That was today in a snapshot, as per usual I took so many learning's from the mistakes I made with some recipes and to give myself a pat on the back- I got some more great results so not all bad.

Chat tomorrow when I'll be telling you all about our afternoon tea in Ballymaloe House. I'm off to iron my shirt for the occasion, oh how exciting.