I didn't blog today!! I'm so sorry! It got to be too late and I figured that sleep should trump right now. I can't believe how fast this week has gone by. I have really enjoyed cooking in kitchen three. The atmosphere is somehow different from the other kitchens! Maybe it's because the weigh-up area is half window so you get to see the cows during the morning :). Why do I love cows so much!?
Well anyways, here's what I made today!
Well anyways, here's what I made today!
- Jerusalem artichoke soup with avocado and hazelnut salsa: this was so tasty! The jerusalem artichokes are such a pain to peel because they're so knobbed, but it's totally worth it! The nerd in me was coming out while I was peeling them because they look a lot like the molecular structures you'd find in a chemistry course (the one in my hand for example a bent tetrahedra with four electron groups, maybe?). Ahh chemistry. I miss it. The salsa was delicious with it as well! I diced avocado and roasted, de-skinned, and chopped hazelnuts with parsley, sea salt, and hazelnut oil. Yum!
- Mendiants: these were little chocolate coins I made that had dried fruits (raisins, candied ginger) and chopped nuts on top. In the spirit of Halloween, I also piped some spooky shapes too :). I love working with chocolate so much!! Piping it requires a lot of focus, so it's really easy to lose track of the time... I think that's the reason why I ended so late today!
- Buttermilk Panna Cotta: ick. This did not turn out well. D: When I heated up my buttermilk, it completely curdled on me. My instructor told me to go for it, so I continued with the recipe. I didn't even think about sieving it!!!! Ugh why didn't I!? Looks are definitely deceiving... this vibrant and ornate creation of mine had an unpleasant texture :(. Oh well! I'm here to learn!
- Candied peel: this is the second candied peel I've made so far, this time with grapefruit. It's a three day process where you soak the peel, then boil it in water and remove the flesh, then boil it in sugar until it's translucent. Good stuff! If you cut it up, it can replace any dried fruit in a recipe, like raisins. They put it in holiday breads here, and also with chocolate!
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful! We learned about traditional Irish stews in demo, then I went and made a loaf of sourdough!!! It turned out really well actually! This is the one that used my own starter rather than Tim's. Tim told me that sourdough starters improve with time, so by the time my starters a couple weeks (or years!) older the bread will be even BETTER! :D. I think all of the sourdough I've been eating lately has given me a chippy tummy though... I might need to hold off for a bit.
One thing I learned today: potatoes roasted with duck fat are INSANELY delicious. OH MY GOODNESS. If you ever cook duck, trim off the fat before you cook it, then put that in a pan in the oven until you render all of the fat. Apparently that stuff is like gold, cooking fat-wise. YUM :).
Favorite part of the day: playing with chocolate!!!! It's so much fun!!!!!! The possibilities are endless! You can add so many different flavors to it! I decided not to go too overboard, so the only spices I added to my mendiants were cinnamon and chili pepper. :D
Tomorrow I have the café experience in Cork!! AND it's Halloween!! Woah!!
Love,
Livvy
Favorite part of the day: playing with chocolate!!!! It's so much fun!!!!!! The possibilities are endless! You can add so many different flavors to it! I decided not to go too overboard, so the only spices I added to my mendiants were cinnamon and chili pepper. :D
Tomorrow I have the café experience in Cork!! AND it's Halloween!! Woah!!
Love,
Livvy