June 11 - Week 8 Fini!

Another week down, four to go and we all are starting to talk about what we want to prepare for our final exam. We are limited to the HUNDREDS of recipes we will have received by the end of the 12 weeks. Needless to say it's going to be hard to decide. We must prepare a three course dinner and the first course cannot be a green salad...DARN! It needs to be completed in three hours and we must make a bread which we will not know which one until the day before. We have no plans for this weekend which is really nice; rest, relaxation, and FILING! Our notebooks are checked as well for part of our final grade and I've gotten behind on filing some of those 100's of recipes! and oh by the way, my finger has healed beautifully; thank goodness for sharp knives that leave straight cuts!
Cheers!
Karen

P.S. I made raspberry sorbet today as part of my cooking duties and got 6 out of 6 for my grade....woo hoo!

June 10 - Another Tart!

Can't quite get this pastry thing down. Today I was responsible for Lemon Tart (different crust...how many crust can there be? I've said the same thing to myself; so far I've made four types and have yet to become proficient in any), and Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad-a classic combination which is delicious...and the beets, oh my goodness! They were picked fresh today and until you've had a beet picked and eaten on the same day you have no idea how sweet and delicious a beet can be. Major bummer about beets though...your hands will never be the same color again, or anything else for that matter. Since my day was fairly easy I added some techniques we need to learn before we can receive our certificate so today I peeled a tomato... core, cut shallow x on bottom, place in bowl, add boiling water to cover, count to ten, remove from water and the skin literally pulls right off. I also scrambled an egg...okay I know some of these techniques are BASIC but we have some students in class who have never cooked before doing this course; and by the way some students enroll in this course as a "finishing school" to learn about the art of cooking and wine! Didn't cook my crust long enough on the tart so it was soggy. The tart was garnished with candied julienned lemon peel. Burnt the first batch and almost burnt the second batch; my partner Sean got them off the heat just in time. Upon tasting my teacher said they needed to cook longer...too tough. How was I supposed to do that when the sugar mixture was starting to turn dark? Add some water she said... oh yea, the forgotten ingredient!
Cheers!
Karen

June 9 - Vegan Day!

Wednesdays are lecture day...today's morning lecture was all on vegetarian foods. Delicious, almost could become a vegetarian with food this good. Afternoon lecture was our fourth wine lecture given by the sommelier of Ballymaloe Country House. We tasted a few french wines as well as spanish wines. Fun way to learn about wine...don't you agree!
Cheers!
Karen

June 8- Injury!

Well, it was bound to happen, BAD, and I mean BAD slice through the finger with the chef's knife. Today is the beginning of week 8. We had a three day weekend (bank holiday, still can't figure out what these bank holidays are all about; this is the second one since I began the course and they don't seem to be in correlation with any type of celebration i.e. Memorial Day etc.) I'm in the same kitchen as last week...my fourth kitchen; but at a new station with a new partner. Huge window at this station which turned out to be not so great. Lots of sun, glaring off every shiny surface, couldn't see very well and oops, right through the finger. Thank goodness for nails because it truly saved the tip of my finger. The instructor wrapped it with the bright blue bandages we use. The color is such so that a bandage doesn't end up in the food...yuk when you think about it! I put on a plastic glove and proceeded with the days cooking...Italian Beef Stew (really good, flaky pastry (to die for literally, a full 1/2 pound of butter is in it), and Rumbledethumb which is mashed potatoes with cabbage. Didn't have time to think about the finger again until I got back to the house tonight. Took off the bandage and thought I was going to pass out...got light headed, pale, pulse racing! Had to go lay down...no sympathy from Tom, he had done the same thing early in our trip! In reality, it truly isn't that bad...and what would a "cooking boot camp" be without a war wound!
Cheers!
Karen

P.S. Erin arrived on Friday, it was so great having her here. She's up in Dublin for the month...the pictures above are from the weekend! The pictures were taken in Ballycotton a darling village about 15 minutes from here. The Blackbird is our favorite pub in the area.

June 2 - "Class Field Trip"

Today we toured four different food establishments, two being artisanal food producers (smoked food and cheese). The top picture is of a traditional bakery shop...the two men are cousins and their fathers started the business in 1937. They make traditional white bread and we all felt very priveledged to be able to tour the facility. It is a dying industry with automation in bread baking taking over. These gentlemen make the bread by hand 6 days a week starting at 3:00 a.m. Now that's dedication!
Cheers!
Karen

Forod

May 31 - The Great American Hamburger!

Week 7: Another new kitchen, new partner, new teacher! Great kitchen, great partner, great teacher...life is good! Today's cooking was "The Great American Hamburger" how appropriate given that today is Memorial Day. My burger was good however my presentation was somewhat lacking(sorry no picture). My teacher gave a thumbs up for taste and a very nice rearrangement of my plate...my presentation looked like a 1950s diet special platter...hamburger patty with slice of tomato, onion, lettuce. When my teacher got through with replating, it looked like a gourmet burger! It looked as good as it tasted! I've got 5 weeks to get this plating business down!
Cheers,
Karen

P.S. I did make the above loaf of bread, and thought you'd enjoy seeing some other pictures of the school

Lazy Weekend

We've spent a much needed lazy weekend. Went to the school for wood fired pizza yesterday. It was really delicious. Philip (Darina's future son-in-law) is in charge and it's run like a small cafe. The wood fire oven is a kit that Darina purchased from a company in Italy...I've got all the info for anyone interested in one. The only problem I see with ordering one is that they cost a small fortune!!!! But the pizza is really, really, delicious. I've come down with the "school cold". Thought I was going to escape catching it...started to feel it coming on right before the exam on Friday and it hit full force Friday night. I've got a rudolph nose from all the blowing. I think I just might have the perfect tonic though, an Irish Hot Toddy....hot water, lemon, honey, and Jameson whiskey! We had a small get together on Wednesday night over at our house with some of the other students. Tom and I made mexican food Arizona style and my dad's refried beans were a hit! It was an early night...midnight! Really, Tom and I stayed up until midnight and the last get together we didn't get home till almost 1:30 and I had class the next day. Let me just say, that next day was a rough one...ha! The Irish know how to party and being a smidgen Irish myself I'm keeping up with them; at least trying my best! Miss all of you but can't believe I've only got six more weeks of class.
Cheers!
Karen