Letting the Fairies Out

My goal is to be in bed before 11 tonight, I have quickly gotten into a routine here of staying up until well after midnight. The wind howled and howled last night, everyone slowly came into the kitchens this morning saying the same thing, “that wind last night….” and that seemed to be how the day continued for most of us, although the wind did finally calm down!

Rachel showed us how to joint a chicken on Friday, but none of us knew we would be jointing chickens today, we all talked about it last night and we thought some of us may have to based on what we were cooking, but were still unsure. Anyway, everyone had to joint a chicken, and it added quite a bit of time to each order of work. Another technique, along with segmenting a citrus fruit checked off the list, now we will all practice, practice, practice! these techniques before week 6 when we have our technique exam. I can see a chicken jointing party in the near future.

In addition to my order of work, I managed to cook Brussels sprouts today, my tart turned out well, and I am much more confident with shortcut pastry, as well as lining the flan ring. All in all it was a great day in the kitchen. Some of these things may seem quite simple, but there is a definite standard to the way things are done at Ballymaloe (which is a good thing), and most of these simple things are actually the most difficult to do well.

Rachel taught the demo again this afternoon, where she made two lovely puddings, a fluffy lemon one, and a fluffy chocolate one, white soda bread, a delicious spiced chicken dish with almonds, a winter kale salad, tips for cooking rice, limoncello… I am sure there was more, but it’s all blending together. Rachel is really great, very bubbly and seems to be able to make the entire group laugh. As she was making the limoncello she had the class in a fit of laughter over Italian men and the level of vodka vs. sugar in the limoncello.

I love soda bread, and Rachel was explaining today how versatile it can be, it is quite a simple dough to make, and it can be used as a cheats method for focaccia, pizza, scones (sweet or savory), and lots of different toppings can be added. When you make soda bread you cut a cross in the bread “to let the fairies out,” but I didn’t realize that the four corners represent the four provinces of Ireland! It's such a lovely crusty bread, and takes about 3 minutes to make, plus baking time. Worth a try!

Darina was in the demo kitchen at the beginning of the demo… Butter is a big deal here in Ireland, with good reason they are very proud of their butter, which is now sold all over the world. Ballymaloe has been called “Buttermaloe” and Darina is often referred to as “The Butter Queen of Ireland,” but today she told us that she once overheard someone saying, “Oh look there goes Darina Allen, she’s a whore for the butter.” Made us all laugh – not that I think Darina is a whore for the butter!!!

Tonight The Play House had a surprise birthday party for Erin, we all headed over at 7:30, they had Erin locked into the sitting room, and sticky notes posted on the door saying to come in and be quiet, successful I think. The teachers made Erin a cake and Theresa and Max also managed to bake her a cake at some point during the day. The rest of their cottage made a few different canapés, and of course there was wine - it was a nice evening! We are headed to the pub tomorrow night for Kelly’s birthday, which will break up the week, and it’s not a bad day to head to Ballycotton since Wednesday is our lecture day.

I talked to Olivia on FaceTime tonight, she asked me if I was feeding the cows, when I said no, she asked if I was feeding the pigs, then the chickens. I will have to feed the hens at some point – I have heard that when they see you coming they run! Wednesday morning I will meet Cleo again to give him his morning drink – I can’t wait!

I am hoping that the wind stays away tonight so I can stay asleep until my alarm goes off at 7. Off to bed now (4 minutes to 11!), will hopefully have more than one picture tomorrow.   “Limoncello is something enjoyed by Italians, the gorgeous Italian men on the Amalfi Coast… Gorgeous lemons, gorgeous men those too…” Rachel Allen

Erin the birthday girl with her cakes!