Wow, what a day! I'd say that today's cooking has been the toughest so far! Here's what was on the plate:
- Learn how to joint a chicken - which you can see us doing in the first picture! I was so unsure of myself, but hopefully with practice I'll be more confident by the time our final exam of jointing a chicken comes around!
- Continue the process of candied peel - I volunteered myself yesterday to help make the candied peel from already squeezed citrus rinds. So far, they have been soaked in salt water overnight, then this morning I boiled them for 3 hours or so. Thursday I'll be boiling them in sugar syrup then cutting them. The hope is that by the end of the rinds will become translucent and sugary and DELICIOUS! Also, it's a nice way to use up rinds :).
- Make grilled chicken breast with a spicy peanut satay sauce - this was the first time I had really cooked my own meat before! I got pretty stressed out about it leading up the when I put the chicken breasts (which my partner and I had carved) on the grill pan. The sauce that went with it was SOOOOOOOOOO good! Peanut butter, garlic, turmeric, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, and coconut milk, I think. I definitely plan on cooking this again at home :D
- Make a plum crumble tart - I had to make the shortcrust pastry again, which involves rubbing the dry ingredients with butter, letting it sit in the fridge for 20 minutes, roll it out and line a tin, refrigerate for 20 minutes, blind bake for 25 minutes (with beans pressing the dough down), then FINALLY bake the filling and crust together for 30 - 40 minutes. Not a quick endeavor! At least it tasted pretty good :) The crumble on top with chopped almonds was delicious!
After we'd had our fill at lunch (which was an hour later because everyone was running behind!), we got to watch the afternoon demo for Thursday's day of cooking. I'm so excited - I get to make crème caramel! This was one of the beautiful presentations that Darina created this afternoon. I can't wait to make designs with caramel!
I was able to go on a run this evening as the sun had just started going down. What a beautiful sight there was to see as I got to the top of the ridge. The sky was so colorful! I went somewhere new again and thought the house in the second picture looked lovely with the cows grazing in a green field and the sun setting next to them. :) The views I get to see on my runs are the main motivation I have for going on the runs!
All in a day's work. Wow. I am so exhausted tonight! Tomorrow will be nice because we'll have a lecture on cheese making and other dairy products, and also another lecture on wines. PLUS the instructors will prepare our lunch! Yum! Can't wait to tell y'all about it!
Love,
Livvy
Love,
Livvy