The Week In Food

Ballymaloe Week 2

The Ballymaloe routine feels very much routine at this point, and it gets pretty exhausting. I've had a hard time of it in the kitchen this week. The menus have gotten busy very quickly and there have been days where I let the stress get to me a bit. Twice this week I've plated up well (30+ minutes) past the 12:00 target time, and I have yet to be really happy with a plate of food I've put up.

I love it here. Really, I think I'd be disappointed if I came all the way here and didn't end up doing anything outside my home kitchen comfort zone. There's so much energy in the kitchen when you're in the thick of it that you have to remind yourself to take some time out and just breathe. You get so lost in the details of your duties that when finally get to sit down to lunch and look at the massive amount of work we all cranked through in the morning, its all pretty remarkable. I'm massively excited to see what we'll all be doing in a months time, let alone three.

Since I've not had time to do much of anything outside the day to day, I thought this week I'd give a look at everything I plated up in the kitchen. We do everything from as close to scratch as possible here. A chicken dish on a plate means a morning breaking down a bird, a fish pie for lunch starts it's day as a whole fish being filleted (which I did a miserable job of - lots of practice needed on this one).

Cole Slaw

Apple Crumble Tart

Brussels Sprouts 

Spiced Chicken With Almonds

Crispy Chicken Skin

Nordic Kale Salad

Brown and White Soda Breads

Black-Eyed Beans With Mushrooms

Creme Caramels with Spun Sugar

Dat Sugar Cage

Seville Orange Marmalade

Melted Leeks

Fish Gratin with Pomme Duchesse

I did manage to get in one extra curricular this week - Friday night was cheese making at the dairy. We cut and washed curds, pressed them into molds, and the next day brined our cheese rounds. Every morning for the next week I'll need to give my cheese a turn, then every other day the week after. In three months time, I'll have my very own aged semi-hard Gouda style cheese. 

Fresh curds, molded and about to be pressed.

After ~12 hours of pressing, cheese wheels in the brine.