Today I had more fun with the deep fryer. I made chips, pommes allumettes and onion rings. Pommes allumettes are, in my opinion, rather pointless - matchstick-sized slivers of potato fried to crispy batons that really only taste of the deep fryer. Blurgh. Give me a chip any day.
The onion rings were surprisingly light and non-greasy, but again, not really my cup of tea. The steak was meant to be medium rare but turned out well done on account of me forgetting it in a warm oven ... oops. But the real star of the plate was the Béarnaise sauce ... where has this yumminess been all my life?! It's like hollandaise with serious attitude - the Johnny Rotten of hot emulsion sauces. Shallots, tarragon vinegar, pepper, egg yolks, white wine - the kind of condiment that doesn't quietly compliment a dish, it jumps up and down on the plate screaming 'Eat me!' before punching your tongue and karate-chopping your taste buds. Brilliant.
The onion rings were surprisingly light and non-greasy, but again, not really my cup of tea. The steak was meant to be medium rare but turned out well done on account of me forgetting it in a warm oven ... oops. But the real star of the plate was the Béarnaise sauce ... where has this yumminess been all my life?! It's like hollandaise with serious attitude - the Johnny Rotten of hot emulsion sauces. Shallots, tarragon vinegar, pepper, egg yolks, white wine - the kind of condiment that doesn't quietly compliment a dish, it jumps up and down on the plate screaming 'Eat me!' before punching your tongue and karate-chopping your taste buds. Brilliant.
I also whipped up a batch of scones, served with the obligatory raspberry jam and softly whipped cream. I forgot to turn the oven up so they were a little doughy, but still yummy (this is coming from a girl who would eat a scone off the floor rather than waste it ... some things are precious).
Today in demonstration we were shown how to cook: Aztec soup* with tortillas, Chicken and garlic soup (a variation on the Greek soup, Avgolemono - which happens to be one of my favourite things on the planet), Roasted vegetable coconut curry, Thai green vegetable curry, Indian paratha bread, Fresh fruit and mint chutney, Mango chilli and coriander chutney, Grape raita, A perky pungent green salad, Wild rice salad, Tuscan plum tart, Upside-down rhubarb tart, Apple fudge cake, Apple pie.
*Rather bizarrely, this is a clear broth with strips of chicken, avocado and diced tomato covered with fried strips of tortilla chips. It looks like someone accidentally spilled a cup of tea into a plate of taco fillings, but it was actually very enjoyable.
Our first exams are this week and I am now off to memorise every herb and salad leaf there ever was. I don't suppose I can just write 'miscellaneous lettuce' for the ones I don't know?
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