I seriously, don’t know where time is going. I had a lay in this morning, which was lovely. It’s a typical Irish morning, windy, grey and wet, I’m having a cup of tea and a bowl of granola in the country, but not on the farm at Ballymaloe. I’m at Mary’s house in Galway, which is beautiful and so comfortable. Richard (her partner) and her built their house, and just moved in in November. It is crazy, I could be in a Birkholz home in Ireland. We left right after demo yesterday, and got to Mary’s just before 8. We had a G&T, and then made risotto with peas and prawns, had a few glasses of wine, and sat by the fire, very enjoyable Friday night..
I will be sad to leave my section from this week, and Tracie. She has been one of the best teachers I’ve had on the course, she is hysterical, she has an awesome attitude, and is a really great teacher. We bonded over Alberta yesterday, her two brothers live in Calgary and work in Fort Mac. I managed to get quite a bit done again yesterday in the kitchen. I shaped and baked my brioche, not going to lie, it’s my least favourite white yeast bread to make, I did a few in the traditional shape with the “top hat,” but the rest I just shaped into burger buns, which I think looks nicer, and is much less of a hassle! Pan fried my beef for my salad, made onion rings – which may or may not have gone in the hen bucket instead of the deep fryer – shhhhhhh – thanks Tracie! I made horseradish mayonnaise (seriously need to grow horseradish when I get home), romsemary and raisin scones (delish!), and the most delicious chocolate tart. I couldn’t find Tracie to taste it (it took forever to set, so I couldn’t cut it until the break during demo), Rory happened to be walking through the kitchen so I asked him to taste it, “it’s set beautifully, the texture looks great…” As he cut into the piece, “and the biscuit-y texture of the pastry is perfect…” As he tried it, “mmmmmmm, yup that’s perfect.” Debbie, one of the other teachers said that she often puts a layer of raspberries in the bottom of the tart before she puts the chocolate mixture in, I can’t wait to try that. It’s crazy, once you add the chocolate mixture, you only bake it for six minutes, and you’d think there would be no way it would set, but it does.
Rachel did the demo yesterday afternoon, which was all about duck and goose. She made lots of tasty things to accompany either, made puff pastry, and lots of variations of meringues. On Monday I will be making cinnamon and hazelnut meringues, how yummy do they sound?
I know I shouldn’t be counting down the days, or even thinking of it like that, but I cannot believe we only have eight days left in the kitchen. It’s so sad, and it will be so different to not have to get up every morning, get into my chef’s whites, and walk through the courtyard and into Ballymaloe. They say that people almost go into shock after leaving the Ballymaloe Bubble and heading back into reality. Ha!
Mary, Richard and I headed into Galway City this morning, wandered through the market and in and out of a few different shops. Had a really nice lunch with a glass of bubbles. Tonight we are going to a food event at a restaurant in the city called Ard Bia, which I am looking so forward to. We will see what the weather is like tomorrow before we decide what to do. The wind is howling, and the rain is coming down tonight. Brrr!
“The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited breath.” – W.C. Fields, this was on a sign outside of Sheridans Cheesemongers in Galway