7 June 2012

Today Plumpcious was grumpcious. It got a bit hot in the kitchen and I came quite close to having a little tantrum for myself, but managed to pull it together, just... 

Instead of making the ordinary chicken soup recipe I had been given, I decided to show off a little with traditional Greek soup, Avgolemono. This involved calling my Yiayia (grandmother) for a recipe. Yiayia is Greek and prone to drama so it was only natural for her to end the call with "I hope you come home soon - I am not well'. Thanks for that - nothing like a health scare to start the day. (I called her again at lunchtime and she admitted that she had since been cured through prayer - evidently I never really had the chance to turn out normal). Nerves settled, it then took me 25 minutes to locate the chicken stock for my soup. I ran from kitchen to kitchen getting increasingly hysterical not only at my failure to locate a key ingredient but also because I had left an apple pie in the oven and couldn't really remember when it was meant to be taken out. Whoopsies. Stock found, I then attempted to make the liaison (egg and lemon mixture) for the soup only to find my egg whites were dodgy. The second batch was better, but did not get fluffy enough. The third batch worked, but by this stage I was sweating like a fat man in a sauna (sorry for the visual). Finally, the soup was made and it tasted delicious, although admittedly, Yiayia's will always be the best (she blesses things as they go into the oven).

Avgolemono - Greek chicken soup with rice and lemon. Tastes better than it looks. 

Miraculously (Yiayia?), my abandoned apple pie turned out beautifully. The name is slightly misleading as this is not a pastry case filled with apples - it's a cake batter with apples artfully arranged on top. After an hour (who am I kidding? I have no idea how long it was in the oven) the resulting cake was fluffy, light and sweet. Served with a dollop of lightly whipped cream it was heavenly. Of course it came home with me. 

Finally I threw together a fresh fruit and mint chutney. Sliced apple, chilli, orange, lemon juice, raisins and mint all having a little party together in a bowl. This type of dish is completely lost on me - it's fruit salad with herbs. Its like you had leftovers from breakfast and couldn't bear to throw them out so you turned them into a side dish for lunch. Must learn to let go...

Today, we learned how to cook: Moules Provencal, Mussels/Pollock/Monkfish in the Goan style, Burger buns, Basic beef burgers, Burgers with Guacamole and French fried onions, Burgers with ginger mushrooms and buffalo chips, Grilled pork burger with fennel and pistachios and apple plum sauce, Spiced lamb burgers with banana and yoghurt raita, Tuna burger with pickled ginger on brioche buns, Tomato ketchup, The perfect chip (that is a big call), Roast onions/Banana shallots with Labne and herbs, Flat mushroom burger with pesto and goat's cheese, Fresh mint chutney, Green salad with Roquefort dressing, Spiced pan roasted pear cake, Sticky toffee pudding, Caramelized banana tart.

It is not necessary, but you may choose to wrap your burger patties in caul fat - which is the thin membrane which surrounds the stomach internal organs of some animals, in this case, pigs. I mention this only so I can share this photograph which will undoubtedly haunt you for days:

A teacher holding up a piece of caul fat ... yummy

For the last time, I am off to study for exams. By 3.00pm tomorrow I will be able to breathe a sigh of relief, and more importantly, take a sip (or 10) of wine. Wish me luck x