An early start this morning as I was on salad duty ... still not convinced this is a real thing but ... meet Haulie (one of the gardeners) in reception at 7:30 a.m.for a trip for the herb garden and the greenhouses ... he tries to explain the salad types and names to us ... in the back of my mind I am cognisant that in two weeks I have an exam that will focus specifically on salad and herb recognition !!! This should be fun! 😱😜

As i was on salad duty I didn't get into the kitchen until almost 9 a.m. so that was a bit of a delay on my normal start time! However I was soon on track with my Cannellini Bean Salad, Chilli Salsa, Chocolate & Raspberry Eclairs ... delighted with how it went today and can't wait to get into the kitchen tomorrow!

Today's demo was with Rachel Allen, with Pat in the hot seat and today we covered ...

Savoury Custards
Parmesan Custards with Anchovy Toasts Wild Garlic Custards
Ardsallagh Goat Cheese Croquettes with Rocket Leaves, Roast Pepper and Tapenade Oil
Ballymaloe Cookery School Focaccia
Spiced Indian Fish Curry from Kerala in South India
Pollock or Ling with Tomato and Fresh Spices;
Pilaff Rice with aged Basmati rice
Green Salad with Cider Vinegar Dressing
Gillian Hegarty’s Homemade Noodles
Noodles with Garlic and Herbs
Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce and Pistachios
Variations: Lemon Curd Profiteroles; Strawberry Profiteroles; Lemon, Pistachio and Rose Petal Profiteroles
Caramel Salambos (round)
Crème Patisserie
Mini Croque en Bouche
Caramelised Carrot, Beetroot and Apple Salad with Toasted Sesame Seeds

I was sitting there thinking that the pasta making was particularly impressive as doing it in front of 70 odd people must be pretty daunting (for me anyway!) ... but I guess if you can do it in front of a few million on TV it's probably child’s play ...😜😇

After Rachel’s Demo we had a workshop with Tim from 17:30 to & 19:00 on making Sourdough bread ... this covered everything from making your own starter, to feeding it, kneading it, bench resting it, shaping it and baking it ... looks like I need another cast iron pot 😉 Obviously we tasted the loaves baked ... with copious amounts of jersey butter, heaven! 😁

For those of you not familiar with sourdough ... try it ... It's the bread in one of the pictures I take daily ... It's also like a cult ... some people get so obsessed with it and their starter! As long as you feed and maintain your starter the better (theoretically) the bread gets! (Tim has his starter going 13 years !!) I may just join this sourdough cult! 🤔😉

As it was one of my housemates birthday today (Happy Birthday Emma and Laura) we took a little mid week trip to the goalpost (pub) for one or two (only !!!). We were very disciplined as we had to return to do our order of work ... and for me to write this blog (which I fell asleep doing)

Tomorrow normal start ....and as I did choux pastry today (Thursday) my partner has to do it tomorrow (Friday)... so I will do the monkfish curry and the goats cheese croquettes!

I am also on cheese duty ... Yes that's a thing too ... I am responsible for setting up the cheese board in my dining room (putting out (and away) the 4 or 5 types of cheese (Irish farmhouse), naming them ... and then making cheese biscuits if we have none left!)

Week number 4 almost done! 😞

Day Twenty Five - The cult of Sourdough !!! 😝