Hey mambo mambo Italiano… It’s pasta day!

Having had two days out of the kitchen, I was most eager to dive back in for another day at the office. To add to the excitement, today’s menu was Italian, which is probably my favourite cuisine. I have a slight massive crush on everything Italian: the food, art, culture and so on. It’s something I can’t exactly explain, but only to say that I love it.

Pastas of all varieties adorned the menu and would soon find themselves on the serving table. Although all of them delicious, I was assigned the most beautiful of them all: ravioli with sage butter. The thought alone is a salivating one. I had been waiting for this day for a long time. Now that I know how it is made, I realise that I could have done it much sooner at home had I been a more confident cook.

Pasta recipes can vary greatly. Whilst all are flour based, other ingredients can include egg, semolina, oils, herbs, water, salt and so on. Given that I am writing this long after the day, I have since found my preferred recipe, which is simply flour and egg. It is a recipe accredited to Bocca di Lupo’s Jacob Kenedy, which requires 200g of pasta or ’00’ flour, 1 whole egg and three egg yolks. As you bring these together to form a pasta dough, it is most similar to bread and pastry as you have to get to know it. Although the recipe says 3 egg yolks and a whole egg, you may not quite need this amount. Eggs vary in size too, so just watch out that you don’t make it a sticky mess by adding too much. On the other hand, eggs can be small, so don’t be far from another egg which you can crack open and work with the yolk first. When making the pasta dough, begin by adding the egg yolk, if it is in danger of becoming too sticky then it is better that you are leaving out some quantity of the whole egg. If you don’t do it this way then of course your pasta will be just fine, but why miss some of that yellowy richness the yolk gives.

So you mix them, bring them together and you have a quite a stiff ball of dough. What do you knead to do next? (Couldn’t resist the word play). Yes, you need to knead your dough. Be tough with it, being gentle just doesn’t work, unless you’ve got lots of time on your hands perhaps. Otherwise just do it and you’ll have it kneaded well in 7 or 8 minutes. Don’t forget that if you are putting it through a machine then it will be kneaded further in doing so.

When you have your lovely soft dough, you have two options: hand roll or machine. I have tried both and wouldn’t discourage hand-rolling afterwards, it is just perhaps a slower proceedure, and leaves you with a less refined finish. Whichever you use, you’ll need semolina flour to ensure it doesn’t get all sticky. Using the machine, it is most important to say that you need to turn the dial slowly. There is no point in jumping in at 5 for first rolling or jumping from 7 to 4 in one go. I tend to go down by 1 if not by .5 and it keeps your pasta nice and smooth and gives you a beautiful end result.

Having sheets of pasta, you can go anywhere with them. Think of all the different pasta dishes you know: now you can make them yourself. The thickness of the sheet is crucial depending on what you plan to make though, so roll with caution. For me it was the ravioli, and I stuffed those with the suggested cheeses and herbs, but then became brave and added an egg yolk into the centre of some. This was a tricky, heart-racing process, but oh my goodness it was worth it. Served then with sage butter: yum!

If that wasn’t good enough, there was then tirmamisu for dessert. Dinner couldn’t get much better than that. Although I had to deviate from the suggested recipe as I truly believe mine to be nicer. Having said that, it depends what it is you are looking for from your dessert. If it is a big boozy kick, then sorry, I can’t help you. For me it is all about that beautiful smooth creamy texture, and the subtle coffee flavours. I love this element of food though where there are multiple variations on a recipe, each one considered the best by their own cook. As for my preferred tiramisu, the recipe can be found here, on an earlier blog post, give it a go: https://dirtywhites.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/we-are-family-yes-chickens-im-talking-to-you/

I presented my one as tirami-two-spoons, the perfect dish for two to give a sweet, smooth finish to the end of their romantic meal. In truth, the dessert is more than manageable for just one, in fact I would manage two or three portions of well made tiramisu, but everybody likes a bit of romance so why not share one and henceforth share a heavenly moment as you take the first bite…

When in doubt: go chocolate!

High percentage chocolate seems to tickle the fancy of many when it comes to dessert. You must think me a fussy eater, but having spent so many years just eating certain brands of milk chocolate, I am still adjusting to yet another flavour. This was something that I had been chatting to a teacher about, who then sent me a recipe for a cake which she thought night help to build the bridge and make the leap to the higher tolerance of better quality chocolate. This was my agenda this Tuesday morning, and as it wasn’t on my assigned to do list, I would have to try and fit it in. My actual to do list was not so long anyway so there was no reason for much panic.
As it happened, today there was a birthday in the school and so my experimental chocolate cake was to become the birthday cake: dangerous! So the difference for the cake was a high volume of liquid used: milk and sunflower oil were two predominant ingredients. Also the use of cocoa powder instead of the melted Valrona chocolate chip. It was made like a sponge insofar as it was two cakes sandwiched atop one another. Then of course there was chocolate smothered in between the two sponges and then even more coated around the cake. Interestingly though when it got to covering the cake with icing it became apparent that there would not be enough to go around. What to do?! Then I was told to add just a little stock syrup to the icing and not only would it spread better and increase the quantity, it would also give the icing a glossier finish. This it did, and I now think that from now on I might intentionally add the syrup at the beginning in order to achieve this effect. Otherwise the only complication was the fact that I couldn’t taste it as it was to be presented as a birthday cake. On the plus side however it did allow me the opportunity to get a little bit creative and add some decoration. I was at a disadvantage as I hadn’t prepared an array of possibilities, the only tricks I had up my sleeve involved a paper piping bag and an ability to make chocolate curls. This by the way is so simple, melt your chocolate onto an upturned baking tray, allow it to dry, grab your cheese pairer and drag it across your chocolate (which is now also known as caraque). Anyway, ye cake came together quite nicely, and it was all worth it for the birthday girls smile. Aww!
Of course I was most interested in the taste test, having never made a chocolate cake before and so as the birthday party kicked into gear and happy birthday was sang, my heart pounded. In went the knife, hand went to mouth, and chew chew chew. Well not quite ‘chew’, as it wasn’t a chewy cake, but you get what I mean. As much as I secretly like applause, I hate the attention, but I suddenly became everyone’s best friend or so it seemed. ‘Johns recipe’ was hot topic! I’ll indulge online soon…
Funnily I was also on bread duty today and so it was compulsory that I made some. Oh darn! Well actually I had spent the night prior having tea and cake with a friend and discussing motivation and so on in the kitchen. The outcome of our conversation was that she would take on an extra task each day and so I made sure that she did a new one today which for her was the white yeast bread. Having never made it before, I was happy to act as a guide, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed passing on the few little tricks and tips which I had either discovered or been told. So together we made white yeast bread, from which we could have fed the 5,000. In this instance I kept it simple insofar as there was no added extras, just a plait and some buns. When all of the bread turned out really well, there was a great feeling in having helped someone in achieving this. For which she was extremely grateful as she now had the confidence to tackle another technique.
Finally I quite simply had to make a grape raite. What on earth? Yoghurt, grapes, mint and honey and there you have it, a delicious accompaniment. That I truly what it was as well. It was delicious and I could happily have eaten a bowl of it. Natural yoghurt is something which I really love, but still by adding one or two more things, you can completely transform it to something else. As always, start with your basics and take it from there…

More cheese than a 90’s Boy Band!

Cheese, glorious cheese. One of my favourite things to eat, as I’m sure I have mentioned is cheese. Cooking with it is not something which I have done much of, other than numerous cheesecakes, but that might be simply be because you could serve me a plate I good quality cheese on its own and I would give it a rave review immediately.
Anyway, what I’m getting around to telling you is that I made cheese. Here at the school you get all sorts of opportunities outside of class time and making cheese is one of them. Now you’ll have to excuse me, I will never be a cheese maker, and so my explanation of the process is going to be in terms as far removed from the technically correct as possible.
Walking into the dairy, we were presented with a vat of curds and whey, the curd of which had set into quite a solid form on the top. From here step one was to cut the curd. This is simply done with by running a wire frame of sorts through it. The curd was then tested for a certain firmness which it must reach before proceeding. Then it was all hands on deck once we had been given the go ahead. Hands in to the vat we had to break up the curd and during the process whey was extracted (20L) and the temperature was brought up to requirements. Once reached, all the curd is removed and put into moulds, where they are then weighed down with weights for the purpose of compressing them. After fifteen minutes, they are then turned, having taken shape. Literally this means that they are taken out of the mould, turned upside down and put back in. This is done again after half an hour and then an hour that evening. From the second day on the cheese is turned once daily. However on the morning of the second day, the cheese is weighed and salted, an so 2% of the cheese weight is added in salt. The daily cheese turning continues for two weeks, after which the cheese can be left to sit and gather its natural mould. It will take a further 8 or 9 weeks to mature to eating standard then. So I’ll have to check back in with you later on…

Great produce. Simple cooking. Incredible results.

If I say ‘steak and chips’ many people will salivate on the spot. To ask about their favourite foods, it is often that the response is something along the lines of ‘you can’t beat a good steak and chips’. Although not my opinion, it excites me to cook something which I know that someone else will love. Also on the menu was ratatouille, a dish revived and made famous in recent years by a cartoon movie of the same name. For the simple reason that I love cartoons, I was massively looking forward to making this, especially as I had watched the movie in advance the night before. Along with those, I was going to make all of the brown breads before finally approaching the granary loaf the following day.
Anyway, steak and chips already, I hear ya! First thing is that we need to prepare the steak. To this, there is little to it. Cut a clove of garlic in half and rub all surfaces of the steak with it. The reason for this is that it heightens the beefy flavour, and there is definitely a noticeable difference. Then crack some black pepper corns over it and lightly glaze with oil. In this state, ideally you will allow it to rest for an hour at least. Meanwhile you can make your chips. Again as simple as can be. Potato, cut up in whichever way you like, a chip is a chip. You can leave the skin on or you can peel it off, if you’re just cooking at home then it’s really a question of ‘how do you like your eggs’, you choose. Of course you can cook them in the oven, but the frier just makes you feel a little more guilty as well as having a nice crispier shell, so we use the frier with our steak. For doing this, we can part cook them in advance which is of no detriment to flavour. The time for this will depend on your choice of cut, but generally look for that light golden colour, where you know that you are only two minutes from being fully cooked. This then means that later, while your steak is resting, you can get them cooked through in two minutes, plate them up and your steak is ready in perfect time.
At this point I might just point out the popularity of this dish again, and then to consider the simplicity of the process so far. That is why I can’t stress enough how important good quality produce is in any case, but particularly when you are relying on two simple ingredients and basic seasoning. Get steak and chips right and you’ll find your customers returning, so don’t compromise on quality. When I am making dishes that I wouldn’t personally choose on a menu, I like to ask those that would what exactly they expect. Making the steak and chips, I asked my teacher at the time, who also said that she might not necessarily order it all that frequently, but there is one restaurant ‘Annie’s’ in Sundays Well, Cork, which do a particularly good steak, and one which she would and does return for. The reason for this is that it’s top quality produce and cooked simply. As is often repeated here in the school ‘get to know the place stop’.
So then we get to the cooking of the steak. This part requires, what I hesitate to call technique while practice might be a more appropriate choice of word. I’m not talking about heating the grill pan and adding oil or butter, I’m talking about the question of ‘how would you like your steak?’. Rare, medium-rare, medium and so on, it is crucial that you get this spot on, or you’ll be getting steaks sent back to your kitchen, and that’s an expensive mistake. You can follow guidelines for sure, but I learnt, by error, that you need to be considering it from the moment you get you piece of meat. As it happened the steak I was cooking was a little bit thinner than it should have been, as a result, it cooked quicker. I should have anticipated it, but my unfamiliarity with the meat meant that I read ‘6 minutes on one side and three on the other’ and stuck rigidly to it. My medium-rare was medium. Not the end of the world, but if your customer is having a bad day anyway then they for sure wont be happy with an incorrectly cooked steak.
Now for those of you who have seen the movie, you’ll know ratatouille to be a French stew (as well as a rat with incredible cooking talent). The movie glorifies the dish, and this is something which I loved. It may have been made with an audience of 7 year olds in mind, but it carries a message which resonated with me as an aspiring professional cook. In heralding this old, typical dish, they made it into something beautiful and gave it a place in a society where we are blessed to have a plentiful choice of food, whether it be good or bad. At the school however it was approached with the idea that this is what it is: a stew. Of course this attitude is important especially as stews are a big part of Irish food culture, but for today I was going to be a rat with finesse and it wouldn’t just be poured into a side bowl, if I could avoid it. The ratatouille itself with peppers, aubergines, courgettes and so on wasn’t something which appealed to me greatly, but I was excited nonetheless. In honesty the dish was a time consumer. The peppers took quite a lot of time to soften fully, not a huge problem as I had it started early and I didn’t have to stand over them, but still making this a dish which one couldn’t put together in a hurry. All the courgettes and aubergines had also to be grilled on the grill pan which taught me the lesson to hold my nerve. The slices may look charred, but they might not necessarily be cooked through so hold out, otherwise 5 minutes in a moderate oven will finish them off, but be careful not to dry them out. Assembly of the dish then almost seemed impossible to make it pretty, and I soon learnt that the cartoon was exactly what it is supposed to be: fantasy. However, I tried and actually the end result is one which I would quite happily serve. Regarded here as a side dish, I’d be happy to call it a standalone course. What’s more, is that it was really tasty, if I do say so myself. I would absolutely order it and most definitely would make it again.
As for my breads, I made a wholemeal loaf, brown soda bread and brown yeast bread. All of which I have made on several occasions in the past, I just wanted to check that I’ve still got it: I do! Haha.

Number 4: no more!

24 hours later and my oxtail stew is now well and truly cooked. In fact it was ready after four and a half hours cooking the day before, but of course it is just as good the following day, which is now upon us. I had still to chop cook mushrooms, before adding them and bringing the stew back to the boil. At this point it is still quite watery, but it needs nothing more than a bit of roux. Often with stews you can be tempted to add all sorts in an attempt to thicken it and in the process you believe that you are enhancing flavour, adding new dimensions and all that. More often than not it is unnecessary and you are losing flavour if anything. A little bit of roux can help you to reach that desired thicker more saucy end result. For any wondering what on earth this magical sounding ingredient this roux thing is, it is quite simply equal parts butter and flour brought together over a gentle heat. What is even more magical is that you can make it in as big a quantity as you like and store what you don’t use in your fridge. The only thing to remember when using it is that whatever it is being added to must be boiling. So my stew boiled and thickened nicely. I was eager to hear the opinion then of one of my classmates who had told me about how she and her siblings would fight over who got the bigger portion or the last drop of the oxtail stew when they were children. ‘Delicious’ was her verdict and so I relaxed, sat back and went about enjoying my own portion.
From one persons childhood connection to another, now I set about making a rhubarb tart. I love love love rhubarb! Growing up, a rhubarb tart would occasionally make its way to our table, and as only my mother and I liked it, it meant extra helpings. Similarly one could always find a bag if rhubarb and custard boiled sweets in the car pocket of my aunty’s jeep. So right about now rhubarb season is starting, and as ever in Ballymaloe, they are eager to embrace it straight away. Flaky pastry made since Tuesday, I had only to make the shortcrust pastry base. Incredibly simple, you line a tin (we even used a Pyrex plate) with your shortcrust, pile your rhubarb in the centre and pour on your sugar (175g to 900g rhubarb). Make sure you leave approximately an inch between the rhubarb and the edge of the pastry. All that is left then is to cover it with your flaky or puff pastry and skewer a hole in the centre. Of course this is the most basic option, you could add strawberries too and you can add whatever design until your heart is content. Taking only 45 minutes in an oven at 200, you couldn’t ask for a more simple and delicious tart, and that was exactly how it turned out: simply delicious.
As it so happened I had pastry of both kinds left over and so took then home with great plans for pies of some sort. However that very evening, before telling my mother about my day, in casual conversation she said ‘John, I have a load of rhubarb in the end kitchen. Is there anything you can do with it?!’ And so, I promised that after work I would make a rhubarb tart and so at midnight, for the second time that day I found myself baking a rhubarb tart. This time around though I had company and I gladly talked my friend through the process, getting him to roll out pastry and get involved. One day I’ll inspire a nation…
The day also saw me make a small mountain of bread. Brown soda bread for practice sake and olive oil and milk bread too. I also took a little detour from the recipe and made a bread with spring onions, chives and grated cheddar kneaded into the dough. As well as this I made some mozzarella stuffed buns. As regards these ‘experiments’, both tasted good. Personally I couldn’t eat massive quantities of the spring onion and chive bread, and the buns which I had made would have benefitted from being smaller. Having said that, they would be so good and so appreciated as part of a mixed bread basket or on the side with a bowl of soup, pea for example. As for the stuffed buns: more cheese. When you think you have a lot, add more, although that advice may be dictated by my love for cheese, so cater for your own pleasure.
Finally the morning took us across the world to the home of spring rolls, where we cooked beautiful fresh shrimp, before rolling them up in rice wrappers. There are limitless options to spring roll fillings, but it is necessary to consider who you are serving too and that they would generally be served as a starter and so today’s contents, in my opinion, were a perfect combination. These were the shrimp, noodles, carrot, cucumber, coriander, mint and a single leaf of butter head lettuce. My experience of spring rolls extended no further than being number 4 on the Chinese take away menu. These were like none which I had seen before. Elsewhere in the kitchen, indeed students were making the more common deep fried option, but fortunately for me I got the more beautiful and elegant option. Now, I was in a bit of a hurry and so my presentation could have been better, but take a look at the picture below. I hope you’ll agree that they are wonderfully charming. In spite of this, I believe that the Thai dipping sauce is essential to this dish and so it is not quite a stand alone piece. Easy to do at home, and impressive in both appearance and concept, I mean here you are, serving a typical Asian dish. Your friends and family will be blown away by your food culture knowledge. Pop a chopstick beside their plate and grab your silk dragon print suit, and you’ve got yourself a while theme. All aboard…

 

A day of dishes

Thursday morning and I had the added pressure of knowing that my boss and colleagues from Pizzeria San Marco would be paying a visit and staying for lunch. I was eager to prove myself to some cooks that I know well and who have often cooked for me. Not only this, but particularly today I hoped to be finished on time so that I would be able to join them for lunch too.
On my agenda was a beef and oxtail stew, a Cashel blue cheese salad with Parmesan crisps and colcannon. I added to this a buttery swede mash, oatmeal biscuits and white soda bread. With a precisely written order of work, I would get everything done with time to spare, or so was my intention.
When I have a salad or something involving a dressing or sauce of some kind, I make it my top priority to get that done first as in most cases I believe that the couple of hours resting in a jar allows the various flavours to get to know each other, to blend and harmonise. Doing this also allows me the opportunity to adjust seasoning and flavouring after an hours proving should it need it. Dressings can be the most exciting and curious things too. You can create your own. Simple seasoning and good quality oils, and you can transform a bowl of mixed leaves to a most wonderful dish. What’s more is that I have found that most situations that may not have turned out so well can be easily rectified, so approach without fear and with little reservation. Experiment and create!
My reason for making the oatmeal biscuits then was for the fact that although simple, I hadn’t made them before. As each day goes by, I am realising just how little time is left here. Therefore I am now making a conscious effort to make these basic things as I never know what little difficulties they might present, and so if I leave here without having made them, I may never make them in my life. If there are chances of little mistakes then I intend to make them now when I have the guidance of these brilliant teachers to help me along. Fortunately I learnt a valuable lesson to cut and portion the oatmeal biscuits before they cool completely. It can be easy when you have a busy morning to take something out if the oven and put it to one side physically and mentally. As I was advised to portion my biscuits, I was told that had left them cool much longer then they simply would have cracked into shards, quickly becoming something that couldn’t leave the kitchen in any cafe or such setting. The chef will find his or herself with a tray full of yummy biscuits that they will soon become sick of snacking on in a case of too much of a good thing.
When it came to the oxtail stew, this was the most exciting element of my day. Although it would not be possible to serve it that day as it can take four hours or more to cook through, it would be delicious the following day. When Rory picked up the oxtail in the demo, laughter rippled around the room. Many of us had never considered that it was indeed the tail of an animal. Having a delicious bowl of oxtail soup never conjured up images of this big meaty tail which now lay on the board before us. The most incredible lesson learned is the inexpensiveness of the oxtail. We were told that €3 or €4 would get you an oxtail. This would be enough meat to feed 7 or 8 people. How great is that? In any setting, be it at home or in a professional kitchen, this is a brilliant revelation. It is true for so many cuts of meat now. Everyone is buying steak, streaky bacon and so on, and few are buying these cuts that butchers have left over and so they’ll be glad to get any couple of euro for a piece that otherwise may have gone to waste. Get to know your butcher and get to know your cuts.
Approaching the colcannon, it is something which had been cooked many times along the course, but a dish which I had somehow avoided. Well I guess it caught up with me today. In fact I was looking forward to making it given that it is considered a traditional Irish dish. Learning about what is considered Irish cuisine is one of my favourite parts of this course, as I guess they are dishes which I always took for granted. This buttery potato dish I think is something which everyone enjoys. You can be quite sure that any Irish person wherever they are in the world would appreciate greatly a bowl of this delicious comfort home food.
As I progressed through the morning there were points of panic where I just stopped and thought ‘I am never going to get this finished’. Here I was cooking things which I had never cooked before, and I spent little time in my comfort zone. However, things came together in a way I could not have anticipated or imagined. To my complete surprise I was finished up by 11:30 or thereabouts, earlier than I have ever been finished yet and on a day of many dishes. Cleaning down my section and checking it off, I stepped back, took a loom at my achievements and stepped out to the dining room to great my guests with a big smile.
The lunch was enjoyed by all, as we received great feedback. It was particularly nice to hear the thoughts of people outside if the school. As we eat together daily, we can get caught up in the fast pace of the mornings work and almost forget to appreciate fully the magnificence of both the produce and the cooking on our plates and so to hear it from others is very fulfilling indeed. It is important to appreciate your own food too. You cooked it, and it is work to be proud of. Once you’ve for this, then you can run off to feed the chickens and sweep the floors. The show goes on…

A pastry dream

This week I was paired with one of the girls with whom I live. The convenience of this is that we don’t have to quickly arrange who is cooking what during our brief break in afternoon demo. As a result, We found ourselves perched on the bed trying desperately to decide who would cook what, but with each attempt came a digression. Such digressions as childhood stories and so on led to much laughter and discovery as we got to know more about each other as cooks, something we may not have done had we not otherwise shared a kitchen. It is so great how you can learn so much with each person you meet and talk to.

Anyway, as it so happened my partner this week loved to cook dishes like the chilli con carne which was on the menu. This meant that I got the dessert the following day. It would be so easy for me to slip into desserts every day but it is important that I continue to push and challenge myself each day and so with the decision made that I would make the apple pie, I went about setting my challenge. This soon became a pastry dream as I lined up three types of pastry and a variety of breads on my order of work.

The set apple pie required shortcrust pastry, I would make another batch of choux pastry following yesterdays attempt and finally I would make flaky pastry in preparation for a dish on either Thursday or Friday. I chose also to make white soda bread and butter and milk bread.

For the shortcrust pastry I used a magimix. A time saving machine that I am growing to appreciate more and more. I have to admit that I prefer old school ‘do it with your hands’ cooking, but with a hectic schedule, I was curious to try this potentially time saving method. I took my flour ., sugar and butter and allowed it to beat up to the breadcrumb stage and then I added an egg watching for the point when it comes together. I wondered quite what this meant as I presumed one had to gather it in their hands to do so, and so I watched as the egg bound the pastry together, wondering just when that point would be. I started and stopped the machine, testing every so often with my hands, when suddenly in a split second, there it was, my ball of perfectly mixed shortcrust pastry, ready now to be wrapped and chilled. When it came to completing the dish later, the pastry was just as good as the hand made one and so it’s good to have a steady back up should I need one in a hurry. It also makes a task less daunting, in so far as I might be much quicker to whip up a quiche or a tart of some sort at home now that I can make pastry in no time.

Then came the choux pastry. I was confident with the method now, only to cook them better and pay closer attention to cooking time. This I did, and consequently encountered no problems, leaving both my teacher and I confident in the knowledge that I had mastered the skill of making this pastry.

As for the flaky pastry, it is a funny one. The teachers all said that you will make it once and then it’ll be puff pastry. The flaky pastry is a much more complex procedure, but one which you are required to know anyway. Chances are, they said, that this would be the only time you would make it in your life. It wasn’t difficult by any means, it was just time consuming as it requires rolling out your pastry four times, leaving it to chill for 20 minutes or so between each roll. It didn’t stress me out, and I urge you to make it if you ever find the opportunity to do so. When you eat something that you have put a lot of effort, time and work into, you have a much deeper appreciation for the food, or so I believe. You want to savour this precious creation and so you enjoy every bite like it was the last. This for me is the best way to eat food and so I encourage you to try this technique.

Then I got to my bread making. White soda bread was one which I hadn’t made for quite some time and so a refresher can be a valuable experience. With this I was happy, only that in my hesitation of overworking the dough, it hadn’t quite achieved the neat finish that I should really be aiming for. Again, I will remake this the next day.

However, my main focus was on the butter and milk bread, a new white yeast recipe that involved using milk rather than water. The end result left a softer, fluffier texture in the demo, and so I hoped to achieve the same. The problem with making the breads with butter however is that first thing in the morning, the butter is so hard coming out of the fridge, and can take up to an hour to soften to the required state. I therefore enquired if I could substitute olive oil for butter in this recipe. I was met with uncertain answers and a ‘nothing tried, nothing gained’ response. Debating it in my head, I just had to go for it. I simply couldn’t wait half an hour for soft butter. I am glad that I did. The bread was a great success. It was so easy to work with too. I used my dough in a number of different ways, leading me to have a bread covered counter top by 12. That is one thing that I love with bread, is that you can take a simple dough to many different places: breadsticks, pretzels, loaves. I made bread buns, loaves and also a rolled loaf stuffed with wild garlic pesto, sundried tomato, mozzarella and parmesan. It was a big hit!

Looking at the work I managed, I was impressed to say the least. Got to challenge myself in all ways. Speed and multitasking are key requirements in a busy kitchen, and so I am determined to perfect these skills.

 

 

 

The oven is my partner and friend…

Monday of week seven and it’s all systems go. After a busy week prior to this, there is no such thing as a break (a vodka and lime on Saturday night was my celebratory treat). Back in kitchen 3 for my fifth week, I was ready to hit the ground running. On my agenda I had tomato and basil soup, spotted dog and profiteroles with hot chocolate sauce.
I’m a big fan of tomato soup and for some strange reason I can remember quite distinctly the first time that I had it. As a six or seven year old boy, if tomatoes were anywhere other than on pizza or spaghetti hoops then I wouldn’t eat them, particularly if they were those gloopy looking things that my mother had roasting in the oven. Anyway so this one day I had forgotten my packed lunch, a horrible occurrence second only to forgetting your P.E. kit on the scale of school time disasters. This day I must have been starving for me to have told my situation to the scary dinner lady. In fact, just because somebody might look like a character from Rold Dahl’s novel ‘The Witches’, it doesn’t mean that they are quite that mean and witch-like. Behind the wild, scraggly hair, the tightly pursed lips spread into a smile and I was told not to worry and I soon found a polystyrene cup of soup in front of me. In that moment, a lifelong friendship had been created, not with the dinner lady, goodness knows where she is and what she is up to, but with tomato soup. It is not a soup that frequents the kitchen table at home given that y father is not a fan, and so it is only on occasion that I might get it when eating out. Recently they served it to the students on a Wednesday when we don’t cook in the morning. It was delicious and I have looked forward to making it since, and here I was, tomatoes at the ready.
As far as soups go, this one was quite simple. Blending it is essential in my opinion. That lovely smooth texture goes hand in hand with the big tomato flavour, but it also allows the flavour to mellow out a little. I left out the basil as well in this recipe for the simple reason that it isn’t entirely necessary, it is delicious without it. In basil season though, in July and August, I wouldn’t dream of leaving it out: that’ll be basil at its best, the second rate basil can be kept for more subtle flavour combinations. I found on completion of the soup that my flavoring wasn’t quite right. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was that I was missing exactly. Usually I am cautious with salt but something stopped me from adding more and so I had to get a second opinion which led me to the answer: sugar. Tomatoes need sugar, it’s a concept that I’m still getting used to, yet embrace whole-heartedly. Indeed my soup took a pinch and mm mm mmm!
Becoming so engrossed in the tomato soup, the choux pastry of the profiteroles has found itself somewhat neglected. It’s a bit of a big deal. The technique is quite intricate with making the choux, the chantilly cream and the Creme patisserie. It requires constant (emphasis on the word constant) attention.  You don’t want lumps in your cream or your pastry and you don’t want overcooked pastry. Oops. The pastry balls are cooked for fifteen minutes and then a hole is skewered in them so that you will later be able to pipe your cream in. Once skewered, they are baked again for another five minutes or so. Although I followed this technique exactly, the fact that I used a smaller top oven resulted in the pastry getting an Essex tan (just a little too much). It was a valuable lesson to learn as my teacher told me ‘you need to get to know your oven’. Wise words. The oven is my partner, a crucial member of my team and from now on I will consider it as just that. However at that particular point, I had no time to rectify the situation, I continued to pipe in my cream and pour hot chocolate sauce over the top of my profiterole stack. By this time the chocolate sauce had cooled and was almost beginning to set an so as I poured, it lacked that rich oozey effect that I desired and that excited eaters by the sound of it alone. In order to achieve this runny sauce again, all I had to do wash add a little boiling water. Simple as that. These little things add up and give you great confidence in no time. A kitchen disaster is so easily avoided. Having said all this, it was decided that I would remake choux pastry the following day as there would be little or no other opportunity to try it later in the course. Better to get it right, right now. The oven is my partner and friend…

 

A little bit of this and a pinch of that…

When it rains, it pours. This phrase applies very much so to writing. Once I start, I find it difficult to stop sometimes. Today is slightly different as the past few evenings have been taken up with procrastination before exams and so I have three days of kitchen stories to tell. I’ll try to keep it brief, but still you may want to grab yourself a cup of tea. Or wait until you are inspired to rustle up something to eat, we’ve got tapas, profiteroles and pizza coming up…
Way back on Wednesday, of course we had our weekly wine session. With guest speaker and Master of Wine Jane Boyce, we were given a tasting tour of some of the worlds’ Rieslings and Pinot Noirs. As we were told, there are more astronauts in the world than there are Masters of Wine and so it was an honour to have Ireland’s only female Master of Wine with us today. She told us of the process of obtaining the title, and the years of study involved. As she spoke of the requirements to identify a number of different wines from around the world, my admiration for her grew and grew. This sounds like a task verging on impossible, but it was quite evident that she thought the same, only that it was her passion and determination that carried her through. For many of the students, it always inspires hope into their dreams, as they continue to meet hurdles on their passion-fuelled journey.

Although the morning had attempted also to reintroduce us to sherry, a drink now in vogue in bars across London, New York and so on, I failed to fall in love. It was relatively popular amongst the students, but for me, I couldn’t get past the smell. The taste I could abide, but the unavoidable inhaling of the scent made it most difficult to finish a glass. For this, I must hold my memories responsible. I believe sherry to be the first alcohol I encountered as a child and one which I hated, in fact it was this ingredient which ruined the Christmas trifle annually. I was enchanted by the jelly, custard and whipped cream, if only the sherry hadn’t made its way in there. It is funny how these things stay with you, but I guess it defines who we are as individuals, shaping and directing even our culinary journeys.

The success story of the day was the Riesling, in particular Pikes Riesling from Australia. I quite liked it and couldn’t help but think what a great introduction wine it would be to the Riesling grape variety. I’ll be keeping an eye out for it anyway.

That evening brought us to a tapas demo. This theme was one which excited many in the group, as well as attracting quite a few other people from outside the course to sign up for this afternoon demonstration. Similar to sherry, tapas bars are in vogue in the biggest and most vibrant cities all over the world. Associated with Spain, it is all about snacks, little portions of everything. It can be as simple as a single slice of cured ham, but it is all about sharing a few bites with friends. Although focusing solely on these small portions is not something which I can, at this moment, see myself doing, I was enchanted by the magic of tapas. Tapas lovers will know what I mean when I say this. The demo created a great buzz, the atmosphere in the room had a certain electricity. There was intrigue and excitement as people watched the food being prepared, and when it came to tasting, we were no longer in Ballymaloe Cookery School looking out at a wet February evening, we found ourselves transported elsewhere be that to the heart of Spanish cuisine or to a swanky London tapas bar where we leisurely chatted, sipped sherry and nibbled meatballs and chilies alike. It proved itself to be a market which in the right location and with the right vibe and good food would thrive, attracting people from all over.

Within the hour however, we found ourselves back in our onsite cottages and writing our order of work for the following morning. Thursday morning meant that it was Valentines Day, and that love was in the air. Well while love was in the air, a fish the length of my arm was firmly planted on a board on my counter. The menu was to be deep-fried Ardsallagh goat cheese and pollock in a spicy tomato sauce. Romantic? If that’s your thing.

The day was a strange one. I so wanted to resist the urge to connect these dishes to the day that was in it, but I couldn’t. My roasted peppers found themselves manipulated into love hearts on the plates. However, it has to be said that my heart wasn’t exactly in it unfortunately. I was afraid that I was being immature and temperamental when I questioned the teaching of my teacher this day, but I can say with confidence that my guide that day is not a natural teacher. I don’t want to dwell much on it for fear of spoiling the experience, but still it is an important point to mention how important basic courtesy is. On this particular day, any question I had was met by attitude and ignorance and I left the kitchen feeling like I could never succeed. Perhaps I was being overly sensitive, but it made me question whether or not I really could work in a professional kitchen. In spite of this, I was able to reassure myself that indeed I could work in this setting and be great at it. I have the necessary passion. I have the capacity to learn. I have the desire to challenge myself and I have ambition, and that would be quite enough to take me anywhere I want to go.

A long walk cleared my head and the knowledge that I would be returning to kitchen 3 the following week was enough to lift my spirits. That night should have been taken up with revision, but I had a quiet confidence that I would be able to identify the herbs and salad leaves the following day, and as for the practical part, simply approaching with a calm, cautious and confident mind would see me through, and so, I made a cake! This particular idea had struck me the day prior as I daydreamed a little. I have always wanted to make a cake with green tea and so I imagined what I would like to eat whilst drinking green tea, the answer was yogurt. From some form of logic, a raspberry yogurt cake with green tea glaze and rosewater icing sounded just incredible and so that was my chosen challenge. I will divulge the recipe in time, however it does need perfecting. Having said that, the cake was met with a positive response. The flavours were interesting and to me, that was most exciting. You can see the pictures below. Presentation has to be worked on too, but I haven’t given up. My signature cake is underway.

Then came Friday, the end of week six. Marking the halfway point, we were to approach our first exams. The morning though meant that we still had demo and today was pizza. Working in a pizzeria, I had certain views and so the day was particularly interesting just to see the difference in how this dish was approached, and there were huge differences. Rolling out the dough with a rolling pin not only seemed silly, but it was time consuming. A little pressure with your hands and you should have a base stretched out in no time. The heavy use of salt and pepper was another thing which I couldn’t agree with, and rightly enough when I sampled a white pizza with wild garlic, I deemed the salt to be completely unnecessary. I was introduced to many more dishes which was a valuable experience for me. Deep frying pizza dough for example was something with which I was unfamiliar, however I was intrigued and ultimately impressed by.

The morning seemed to fly and before we knew it, we were lining up to be called in to herb and salad recognition. In recognising each, we had to suggest two dishes in which the herb could be used. Although many are distinguishable by sight, there are others which require smell and taste to tell them apart. Dill and fennel are the most obvious example with both appearing extremely similar, however fennel tastes like liquorice and dill tastes like dill. Try them back to back, and you will know what I mean. Anyway I am confident that I was successful in identifying them all correctly and matching them appropriately, but I guess the results will soon tell.

The next stage was the practical, during which you could be asked to complete any of thirty techniques. Just before the exam, I quickly jointed a chicken in the house as a quick recap, but otherwise, there was nothing more I could do only stay calm and avoid cutting myself.

Entering the exam, I discovered that my techniques were as follows: segment citrus fruit, make mayonaisse, chop and sweat onions and make a paper piping bag. First on my agenda was to make a quick order of work in my head. Scanning through my tasks, I could immediately identify that I had to get going with the onions as they would take the longest, and as they sweated, I could complete the other three techniques, and so I did. With the mayonaisse, I had to laugh. I have made it once before and when I did, as you might remember, it wasn’t so great. The flavours were a little bit off balance and it was particularly thick. What a valuable lesson that had been though. Now I found myself in the exam thinking do not mix oils at equal parts, and make sure the mustard isn’t too overpowering. I also had to take care not to over whip it, or under for that matter (split mayonaisse would be a disaster). With this all in mind, I got it done, slowing down my whisking at one point, as I could feel the mixture thickening. Eventually I was happy and now I can only hope for the best.

With that, week six was concluded. It is crazy to think that we are already half way through the Ballymaloe experience. No going back now…