Today was an early start with Salad Duty at 7:30. I really enjoyed watching the sunrise while we meandered through the herb garden, collecting nasturtium flowers, marigolds (which decorated my fish dish), various lettuce heads, and sorrel. In the kitchen, we got a chance to fillet cod and haddock! I prefer it so much to filleting chickens! Here are the dishes I made...
Other people made lemon meringue pie, and I thought I'd show you guys a picture because it was such a nice presentation :). Also, I turned out a crème caramel I made yesterday and it looked much better. Goodness, we've been spoiled with all of these desserts!
- Gratin of Haddock with Imokilly Cheddar and Mustard: I used the fish fillet I cut and cooked it with a delicious cheesy sauce. So good! My teacher said I had great flavor, but I also had some errors in my presentation – my plate had cooled off, the portion was too small for a main course, and I had some smudges on the plate. I was rushing too much :(.
- Hot beets: I boiled some beets, then cooked them in cream and butter - what's not to like? The cream sauce turned a beautiful deep magenta from the beets! It made a nice rainbow plate in the final presentation too!
- Cucumber, radish, and mint salad: this seemed like more of an afterthought side dish that I was assigned to make. It did have a nice fresh flavor, which I enjoyed, but I guess in comparison to the other things we've been making it wouldn't stand out. One of the main things the instructors have been drilling into our heads since the first week is to cut the cucumbers straight before serving!!!!!
- Candied peel: I FINALLY finished making it, after starting the process on Tuesday. It's basically translucent, sugary lemon rind that I decided to dip in chocolate.
Other people made lemon meringue pie, and I thought I'd show you guys a picture because it was such a nice presentation :). Also, I turned out a crème caramel I made yesterday and it looked much better. Goodness, we've been spoiled with all of these desserts!
The afternoon demonstration was interesting - we got to watch someone butcher a lamb carcass. Wow. Next week we're going to be cooking with a lot of lamb! Also, that cutting board was humongous, apparently costing a thousand quid or so! The second photo, by the way, was a beautiful presentation on the demo team of a roasted leg of lamb.
So now it's the weekend!! I went on an evening run tonight, but sadly my phone died. Some of us watched a bit of the Chef's Table series, then went to the pub. I wasn't feeling well, so I got a little ginger ale. I like their European brand so much better than what we have in the US! Now it's time for bed :) I wonder what's in store tomorrow!! Until then,
Love,
Livvy
Love,
Livvy