Wow. We didn't actually cook today because Wednesday is lecture day, but even still - I feel wiped out! We were learning and eating from 9 am to 6 pm. Wow. I guess to take it from the top, we began the morning with "bickies" (short for biscuits, which are really just cookies here), learning their take on the Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie. Darina added hazelnuts to them! Yum! Also, there was a decent amount of sugar, and both baking soda and baking powder, among some of the differences. Another cute cookie Darina made was so simple - peanut butter, sugar, and egg I think. So simple and DELICIOUS! After a short break to eat all of those lovely cookies, Darina got down to business. Here's a little bit of what we whizzed through in under 2 hour...
- Smirnoff vodka infused with raspberry and lemongrass and let to sit for a month (and no, we did not try any at 11 in the morning! :D) (picture 1)
- Crudité - this is essentially a platter of small vegetables as a started with some sort of sauce (in this case anchoiade, an emulsion sauce of anchovies and olive oil with spices - so good and savory!). It really helps to have high quality and young vegetables. Also, the beans in the picture are called "borlotti" beans and are so delicious, just if you were wondering! Aren't all the veggies beautiful?! (picture 2)
- All sorts of different ways of roasting and braising meats: a huge roast beef, braised lamb shank, lamb neck, etc. etc. My favorite meat dish she prepared today was a French cassoulet: various veggies for flavor, white beans, duck leg, saucisson sausage, and maybe some lamb?? Topped with more beans and bread crumbs. Oh my goodness. It was so savory and absolutely to die for!!!! :D (roast beef - picture 3)
- Hummus - yum! She made a plain, chickpea and tahini base one, but encouraged us to experiment on our own if we wanted!
- Yorkshire pudding - I've never had this before, but really it's just a savory popover or our version of a biscuit. They eat them traditionally with roast beef and roast potato (as you can see in picture 3). In picture 4, you can see that they converted one into a popover simply by topping it with raspberry jam and cream. Yum!
- Roasted parsnips - I think Darina added some spice, like curry maybe? Whatever it was, they were so good! Apparently it helps to braise them before you pop them into the oven.
After lunch, where we ate all of the delicious demo food, we learned about preserving various vegetables and fruits. Also, apparently you can pickle eggs....... Yikes! I don't know if I'll ever do that! Even better, you can pickle them with beet juice, which gives them the name "dragon eggs" because they turn a lovely (or sickening?) pink on the outside. Another thing we learned how to do was make was crystallized flowers, which is surprisingly simple (though tedious). Just paint them with egg white and dip in caster sugar. I guess the only catch is that you have to paint the individual petals, so it is not a job for the impatient.
After persevering through the preserving, we talked about menu planning and job opportunities post-Ballymaloe. It's gotten me really excited about the possibilities for when I graduate the course. Where should I go??? I'd love to learn in a kitchen that specializes in sustainable and locally sourced produce. Goodness. Thinking about the next step leads me away from wanting to continue in college (or "uni" as they call it here), but I reckon I ought to go back and get a degree. Sigh. I really appreciated that Darina took the time to walk us through the process of contacting a chef and getting the job. Where am I gonna go? What am I gonna do?????? D: So many questions. But I guess that's the exciting part about it all - it feels like the possibilities are endless!
Here are some of the pictures I took while I was running later on tonight. The sun was just hovering over the horizon as I was heading out and looked so beautiful! One thing I've noticed on my runs lately is that there is this particularly FOUL stench drifting through the fields. I think it's the hay bale storage shed thing down the road. A lot of farmers are harvesting hay right now I think. I never realized it would smell this bad though! As I was turning around to head back, I stopped and said hi to some cows. It's so fun to have all of them look over at you and moo! :)
After persevering through the preserving, we talked about menu planning and job opportunities post-Ballymaloe. It's gotten me really excited about the possibilities for when I graduate the course. Where should I go??? I'd love to learn in a kitchen that specializes in sustainable and locally sourced produce. Goodness. Thinking about the next step leads me away from wanting to continue in college (or "uni" as they call it here), but I reckon I ought to go back and get a degree. Sigh. I really appreciated that Darina took the time to walk us through the process of contacting a chef and getting the job. Where am I gonna go? What am I gonna do?????? D: So many questions. But I guess that's the exciting part about it all - it feels like the possibilities are endless!
Here are some of the pictures I took while I was running later on tonight. The sun was just hovering over the horizon as I was heading out and looked so beautiful! One thing I've noticed on my runs lately is that there is this particularly FOUL stench drifting through the fields. I think it's the hay bale storage shed thing down the road. A lot of farmers are harvesting hay right now I think. I never realized it would smell this bad though! As I was turning around to head back, I stopped and said hi to some cows. It's so fun to have all of them look over at you and moo! :)
Ahhh. Well we're officially halfway through the week. How crazy is that!? Thank you for the comments, Lucy, Babbo, and Jeff!! I'm so thrilled that y'all are reading my blog :) (and of course, YOU too, whoever you are reading my blog right now! :D) Tomorrow, I'm going to wake up early and milk some jersey cows! Woohoo! I have a pretty big day after that - hopefully making tortillas, quesadillas with mozzarella, chorizo, and salsa, brown soda bread, thai coconut sorbet (dairy free!) with pineapple, butter for my butter duty, and orange scones. All in three hours or so? Yikes! We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I won't turn into a nervous wreck! I guess it's good practice! Goodnight everyone!
With love,
Livvy
With love,
Livvy