friday
i stayed in bed as long as i could friday morning. my alarm had gone off at 6 and then every ten minutes after that but i kept hitting 'snooze'. elisa was on butter making duty, so when she left at five past eight, i finally rolled out of bed and put on my chef costume. i wandered into the kitchen and ate breakfast with charlotte and connie: toasted brown yeast bread with butter and raspberry jam, blueberries and a grapefruit (that i segmented so i could practice that technique). at quarter to nine, charlotte and i departed for our kitchen.
my order of work for the morning was rather light: lamb tagine with medjool dates and almond and orange florentines. my partner was making the scallops, the orange jelly and white yeast bread.
i first mixed up my almond and orange batter and then set it in the fridge. i figured i could bake the florentines while my tagine simmered on the hob. then i went to work gathering the ingredients for my tagine. we had to section our lamb from a leg or shoulder piece, so i worked with another group of students to get my 3lbs of meat. i cut off all the excess skin and fat and then cut the lamb into 1.5 inch cubes. it marinated in a spice marinade of cinnamon, ginger and saffron while i chopped onions, garlic and corriander. at 10.30am, i added the lamb and tomato juice and a small amount of water to the cooked onions and garlic in my le creuset. i brought it to a boil and then let it simmer for 45 minutes before adding in the corriander and dates. while the tagine cooked for the final 30 minutes, i made up the florentines and baked them. my first batch was much too thick, but turned out soft and delicious. i was better the second time around at getting the very thin spread of batter on the baking sheet.
by 11.45am, my tagine was ready and i had my plate in the oven, warming for my instructor's tasting. i arranged my florentines on a pretty plate, the thicker ones on the bottom and set them aside. i borrowed some couscous from another student and used it as a base for my tagine. i decorated my plate with some corriander leaves and added a dollop of homemade yoghurt to the lamb and then it was ready for tasting. my instructor remarked that the seasoning was right on and then tasted one of my florentines. she agreed that the thicker ones were was she preferred but said it was good that i made the second batch 'the right' way. :)
i ate my own tagine for lunch and tried some of the zucchini stir-fry before helping polish cutlery and set table 1. at ten to two, rory came into the dining room and told us to stop what we were doing and to head to demo. the instructors could finish setting the tables.
rachel was the demo instructor friday and she first introduced us to john chamberlain, who runs a family owned business in west cork, producing and selling sea urchins. he explained how sea urchins grow, how and when they are harvested and how to eat them. he also had a few abalone with him, but explained that he wasn't an expert in abalone and therefore wouldn't be able to answer any questions.
we thanked him for coming and then rachel went on with the demonstration. she assembled a plate of irish seafood which included the sea urchins, dublin bay prawns, shrimps, mussels, cockles, roghans, palourdes and irish oysters. she went on to make dingle pie, kerry pie, kale colcannon (mashed potatoes with kale mixed in), carrigeen moss pudding, irish coffee sauce, poached plums, rhubarb compote, elizabeth mosses' gingerbread, banana bread, julie wight's carrot cake, and a beetroot and walnut cake.
i was on 'wash and dry dishes after demo' duty, so instead of tasting all the food, i manned the sink and washed all the dishes that came my way. i finished around half five and then headed back to my cottage to finish packing up my things so i could head to crosshaven and spend the weekend with dad and finnbarre. dad called a few minutes later, so i wished my cottagemates a good weekend and headed to the carpark where dad was waiting. i had saved him two of the florentines i had made that morning and he munched on them while we drove home.
week four favorites: learning about tea, the ladies of the pink cottage, pascal rossignol, and aileen.
dad and i stopped at the little shop next to cronin's to pick up some prawns and beef cheek stew and then lynch's to get some salad fixings, bread and a vegetable for dinner. finnbarre was very happy to see us when we got home. i threw his ball down the hallway a few times while dad got the grill started. he let me make up some mushrooms and bleu cheese in addition to the salmon and sweet potatoes he was preparing. i made up salads and threw together a quick dressing and then it was time to eat.
we visited after dinner before retiring to the couch. dad did some suduko puzzles and i played with finnbarre. i think it was nearly eleven when we turned off the lights and went to bed.
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