Brain Boosters

A nice little collection of slow-release energy boosters that’ll sort you out till your next meal, or great for breakfast.

Use loads of fresh herbs - they lift out and change flavours. Work out what goes with what. Grow on your own.

Yes, chef!
It’s been a great week for cooking. First off my second attempt at sour dough went really well. I mixed it up this time, adding a bit of brown flour and treacle making a combination of a brown yeast bread and sour dough. You can't beat it!

Next, my mate James and I were given a rabbit by the school as they had it spare. I showed him how to skin and gut it which is always a great thing to do. You get a real appreciation for the animal when you’re seeing it through from field to plate. We roasted it up with some tasty sausage and onion stuffing and cracking roast potatoes.

Finally. I did my first shift at the Ballymaloe Restaurant, which was an amazing experience, I was plating up two starters (a couple of brilliant soups) and a salad. I loved the buzz and heat of the kitchen and the pace of the service (for about 120 people). It was pretty intense!

Anyway, gotta go iron my chef whites. Sam xx

ps check out these brown sugar meringues as a change from the white ones. Here’s how to make them:
Separate six eggs (make sure your hands are clean and everything’s grease free!).
Stick the whites into a large heatproof bowl over a small/medium pan of simmering water on the hob. Don’t let the water touch the bottom of your bowl.
Add 250g caster sugar plus 140g dark brown sugar.
Stir round then leave for about 10 minutes, stirring when you remember.
When the sugar’s dissolved, whisk the mix for 10 minutes till its really stiff. If you hold the bowl upside down the mix won’t move.
Gently mix in a bit of grated orange rind or tiny pinch mixed spice or leave it alone.
Pile big blobs of mix well apart on baking trays covered with greaseproof paper using two big spoons.
Cook at 110/225F/gas 1/4 for two hours or till the meringues are crisp outside, a bit toffee-d inside. If they're still too soft, turn the oven off and leave another hour. Enjoy
18 November

It's all about sourdough, baby
Not much has been going down this week except for hardcore cooking and loads of lectures. We now have nine to ten-hour days to fit it all in. It’s pretty intense but such a good experience and a lot of fun.

New things? I have started making my first sourdough. This is a bread dough that expands by utilizing the natural yeasts in the air. It’s quite a complicated process which requires a 'starter' to be made over a five-day period. It needs to be fed with flour and water twice, then divided up and left to rise and finally cooked. I’m currently letting it rise and it’s my adopted baby now! The bread is pretty amazing - one of the best I have ever tasted. I will post the recipe up closer to Christmas so you can all have a go.

Anyway, I have to go get my notes ready for lectures, talk soon, Sam xx

PS Here’s a new twist on a traditional dish. It’s toad in the hole with chunks of red onion, apple and sprigs of rosemary. Roast your sausages off in the tin in the usual way in a bit of fat till they’re just colouring up. Chuck in random chunks of the peeled onion, apple (don’t bother to peel it) and bits of rosemary. Pour your normal batter over it (check out my Student Cookbook and Get Cooking or just Google it). Cook it off – the one in the photo is still in the oven so it’s got a bit more rising to do.
12 November 2008

Yummy treats for Bonfire Night
The first exam went well (I’m hoping anyway). I had to identify ten herbs then choose two recipes that they would go with. Identify ten salad leaves. Set a table. Present and pour a bottle of wine. Then out of the 33 techniques I got two easy ones, and they turned out alright so all is good!

Later, we celebrated Halloween with a massive party. Everyone put loads of effort into their costumes. There were bananas, mummies and a large variety of dead things. I was a gothic cowboy. As we’re living in the middle of nowhere I had to use my Blue-Peter-style craft skills to fashion a cowboy hat out of newspaper and make a horse out of a box and a broom. Didn’t look bad. Hope you had a good time tricking and treating.

Next big event? Guy Fawkes night. If you’re having mates round or going to a party why not have a go at these traditional treats. Enjoy. Gotta go now make some burgers. In a a bit. Sam xx

TOFFEE APPLES

8 good sharp eating apples (Cox’s, Braeburn are good)
450g granulated sugar
3 heaped tablespoons golden syrup
150ml cold water

1. Wash and dry apples. Stick lolly sticks into stem ends.
2. Heat sugar, water, syrup in a very large deep pan on low heat.
3. Stir the mix with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar.
4. Now, increase heat to boil the mix without stirring till the syrup’s a deep reddish brown liquid caramel (that’s 170 C on a sugar thermometer if you have one). This can take 10 minutes.
Warning: Watch the mix constantly so it doesn’t boil over or burn. Don’t splash or touch the liquid toffee – it burns.
5. Remove from heat as soon as it reaches colour/temp.
6. Holding the end of the sticks, carefully dunk the apples into the mix in turn. Swirl to coat evenly.
7. Leave to cool, apple end put down, on buttered baking paper.

5 November 2008

A salad leaf exam! Plus some fruity tips ...
This week at Ballymaloe it’s all been about preparing for the first exam. We have to learn to identify about 15 different types of salad leaves, around the same number of herbs as well as knowing around 30 cooking techniques. That could be anything from filleting a round or flat fish, boning a chicken or knowing how to make a certain type of bread. Everyone has been swatting up, including myself! Chicken has been on the menu for quite a few days now! The leaves are the hardest to learn just because there are so many and a few look very similar. So I went down to the greenhouse where they are grown and took samples with my mate Dan and we had a little test. I swear it’s just like leaf A-levels! Anyway gotta go and eat some chicken. Sam xx

PS Here are a couple of fruits for you. The one on the left is a pomegranate. I suggest you cut it in two. Hold each half upside down. Bash with a wooden spoon to loosen the seeds. Or pick them out with toothpick – pretty delicious and brilliantly good as they are packed with antioxidants. Eat as is, on salads or with meringue and cream.

The one on the right is a dragon fruit. You can scoop the filling out with a spoon. It’s full of Vitamin C and more antioxidants. Try planting the seeds in a pot of compost. Water it. Seal it in a plastic bag. A fortnight later you’ve got yourself some plants on your windowsill!
29 October 2008

Cooking, cooking and more cooking
It's been another hectic one this week but a lot of fun. We went on a cook-school-style school trip which was pretty amazing.

First off we visited a smokery - saw how salmon and mackerel were smoked. Its weird in there. Loads of salmon hanging up on hooks over cardboard whilst being cold smoked. The smokehouse filled with a wash of gold as the light hits the salmon. Gorgeous but quite eerie. The whole place smelled like smokey beech wood. The fish hangs for 48hrs to two days depending on the weather. The finished stuff tasted amazing.

Next we headed off to a cheese maker. This one was equally fascinating. We learned about the cutting of the curd and just about every process to do with the making of the cheese. It seems complex yet simple and natural. I’m definitely going to give it a try. Lastly we went to a restaurant called 'The Tannery'. Had a talk from the head chef about the lifestyle and the work that goes into cheffing. We got to eat a lovely bowl of cauliflower and almond soup with a corned beef spring roll. So overall not a bad day out! Rest of the week was cooking and cooking.

Anyway i gotta go make lunch and sort my recipes etc for next week. Hope all’s good where you are xx

ps last call to make the most of your apples and pears. I’m thinking lovely apple crumbles and pies ... apple sauce with roast pork ... poached pears in chocolate sauce ... plain pear or apple with cheese in a ploughman’s. Here’s the last fruit from the garden at home – hope they’ll store ok for me to get back to eat them!
22 October 2008