Okay so today was quite an adventure. I almost had another breakdown in the kitchen, but I managed to rally and pull myself together before getting too upset. Here's what I made...
I also failed to make the Sole à L'Orly, which was a deep-fried sole with tomato mayonnaise. I managed to fillet it at least and decided to salt it instead so I can smoke it at some point. Overall I had a roller coaster day, where I felt in the zone and confident in the beginning, then slowly transitioned into being doubtful and timid. When I become that way I end up waiting for the teacher's assistance, which costs me precious time and makes me finish later. Oh well! I'm still learning, which is the beauty of it all.
- Gateau Pithivier: this traditional pastry was stressful to make, plain and simple. Everything had to be kept as cold as possible during the prep, or else the butter layers would have melted out. I mistakenly decided to make my own almond flour (which meant I had to boil, peel, dry, and grind up a bunch of almonds). I think I would have stayed on task if I hadn't done that. At least I know how to do that now though! The filling was ground almonds, rum, egg, butter, sugar, and cream. Everything was going okay while I was arranging the tart, and it even looked to be rising beautifully.... until I went to take it out of the oven and discovered that half of the filling had bursted out the back. UGH! Hah I guess the plus was that I got to nibble on it :D. It was absolutely delicious! Luckily I was able to remove any signs of the explosion and placed the sweet geranium garnish in front of the blemish :). Another tricky part (which went fine at least) was broiling it, where I had to dust it with icing sugar and put it under high heat for 30 seconds. If it goes for a second too long, the whole thing will burn to a crisp! There was a horror story from another kitchen, where Emmy's oven spewed flames out when she opened it. Crazy! I think everything was alright minus the burned pastry.
- French Onion Soup: this took me so much longer than I was expecting! I had to slice 1.5 kilos of onions, and learned that apparently holding a teaspoon in your mouth stops you from crying. I had to constantly stir the onions in the pot before I could add the stock, so I was chained to the stove for what felt like an hour before I could move on to the next thing. It had a lovely rich and caramelized flavor at least! I quite like onion soup :).
- Brioche: I started my dough for brioche, which is a two-day process. I was really worried the yeast wasn't going to work because it didn't bubble up much while I proofed with it, but I stuck with it. I'll be cooking them tomorrow!
I also failed to make the Sole à L'Orly, which was a deep-fried sole with tomato mayonnaise. I managed to fillet it at least and decided to salt it instead so I can smoke it at some point. Overall I had a roller coaster day, where I felt in the zone and confident in the beginning, then slowly transitioned into being doubtful and timid. When I become that way I end up waiting for the teacher's assistance, which costs me precious time and makes me finish later. Oh well! I'm still learning, which is the beauty of it all.
Demo today was fun! I always enjoy having Rachel present :). We learned all about the famous Ballymaloe House Sunday Buffet, which isn't actually all the week's leftovers but rather made for that evening. There's all sorts of roasts, seasonal vegetables and salads. We also learned about the famous "Ballymaloe Ice-bowl," which is such an ingenious way of serving ice cream so it doesn't melt! Before freezing, you just press a bowl on top of a larger bowl filled with water and maybe some scattered foliage or flowers for decoration. Fill it with a delicious homemade ice cream and you're good to go! :D
After demo, we had some time to relax (and do sourdough :D) before an olive oil and balsamic vinegar lecture. Darina told us an interesting fact: more money is made in the olive oil fraud industry than the cocaine drug industry, or something drug-related like that! When it comes to the really good stuff though, you don't have to worry about fraud because the pristine flavor tells it all. I also really enjoyed learning about balsamic vinegar - I never knew that the tradition of it is to pass it from one generation to the next, where it reduces and becomes sweet with flavorful layers of caramel and oak. At the end of the lecture, we had a chance to come up and try several types of balsamic vinegar, olive oils, and olives. It was AMAZING!!!! Darina also pulled out a small barrel of a 30-year old balsamic vinegar that she received as a gift once. I have never tasted any balsamic vinegar that was so beautiful. She placed 2 drops on the back of our hands so we could try it because it is such a precious commodity. YUM.
Somehow after the lecture, I found a way to workout while folding my laundry. I just jogged in place and sort of jumped around from side to side, backwards, on individual legs, and up and down. Surprisingly it was actually a pretty formidable workout!
Happy Monday!
Love,
Livvy
Happy Monday!
Love,
Livvy