49 Bottles of Beer on the Wall...

Saturday morning I set out to see Dublin! The three hour drive seemed to fly by thanks to the interesting (READ: ridiculous) radio station songs, which varied from oddly repetitive 80's rock ballads (I heard "The Final Countdown" three times) to classical Irish acapella. I was at the doors of the Guinness Storehouse by 11 AM! Beer before noon? You bet.

Though unapologetically touristy, I would recommend this stop if only for the complimentary pint you receive at the end of the tour. I learned how to pour my own "perfect pint" and had the best beer of my 23-year-old life. The Storehouse is the only part of the St. James's Gate Brewery that is open to the public. The building surrounds an impressive 7 story atrium that is shaped like a giant pint glass (yuk yuk). Throughout the self guided tour, you gradually wind your way up 7 stories of beer history until you reach the "head" of the glass, the Gravity Bar, which boasts a 360 degree view of the city.

The company started in 1759, when Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease on the St. James's Gate Brewery (I hope he likes his landlord!). Made with barley (a combination of malted, unmalted, and roasted), hops, water, and yeast, the "black stuff" has turned into black gold. Not surprisingly, the tour emphasized the importance of the ingredients used. Since the beginning of the 19th century, Guinness Master Brewers have passed down a portion of yeast used to ensure consistency (they keep a reserve jar locked in a safe). The water used (8 million liters per day) flows from the Wicklow and Dublin Mountain Ranges that rise above the city. They buy their barley "local" (2/3rds of the barley grown in Ireland every year goes to the St. James's Gate Brewery - that's 100,000 tons!). Sorry readers, the quality ingredients theme is unavoidable! No matter what version you're drinking (draught, bottled, extra stout, or foreign extra stout), "there is poetry in a pint of Guinness"!

After that stop, I headed to Trinity College to see the Old Library, specifically the famous "Long Room", which stores Ireland's most treasured ancient books, including the Book of Kells. One look at the shameless commercialism (check out the photo above) and I passed on the 9 Euro entrance fee to actually see the book. One of the oldest books in the world, this 680 page manuscript (which contains the four Gospels and related texts, all in Latin) was written and meticulously illustrated by monks around 800 AD.

I then headed to the National gallery to see a marvelous collection of impressionist paintings by Jack B. Yeats (William Butler Yeats' younger brother). Another noteworthy masterpiece on display was Caravaggio's The Taking of Christ. Across the street from the gallery lay the beautiful Merrion Square, which provides a home for an unabashedly flamboyant Oscar Wilde statue. Various quotes from Wilde are written around the statue.

Some of my favorites:

- Who, being loved, is poor?
- We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars
- It seems to me we all look at Nature too much and live with her too little
- Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught
- Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong
- The well-bred contradict other people. The wise contradict themselves.




Then, I made my hardest decision of the day: where to go to lunch. The final contenders: Lemon for a savory crepe, Gruel for a hearty dose of comfort food, or The Larder for wholesome and organic gourmet. I went with The Larder, and had a pot of tea with some delicious smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, and multigrain bread.

Refueled, I pressed onward to hit the last tourist spots of the day: Christ Church Cathedral, the Dublin Castle and Gardens, Record Tower (the last standing medieval tower in Dublin), Fishamble Street (Dublin's oldest street, where Handel first performed his Messiah, my Dad's favorite early Christmas morning pump-up music), St. Stephen's Green, and the James Joyce Statue.

Around 5:30, I collected the car from an overpriced carpark, and headed back to Cork. So there you have it - Dublin in a day!

Forty Eight

Friday came with the end of week seven! I got in early with two objectives: 1) finish my souffle and 2) pluck my pheasant. No problem. My souffles had set overnight in the fridge, so I sprinkled some almond praline bits along the side and decorated the tops with whipped cream and chocolate chards. To make almond praline, put 1 part whole almonds (skin on) and 1 part sugar in a saucepan to melt. When it turns a deep caramel color, turn the mixture onto parchment paper (or a silicon mat) to harden. You can then grind it in a food processor (it's great on ice cream, too!).




The pheasant was less pleasant (above, I'm grinning like an idiot because I haven't started yet). It wasn't so much the plucking as it was the post-plucking obstacles that got to me. After plucking out the feathers, you have to singe off the tiny hairs on the skin with an open flame. This obviously results in very foul smelling fowl. Then you cut off the head and pull off the "crop" (basically a sack on a bird's neck filled with everything it ate the day it was shot - in short: a recipe for a gag reflex). Then you gut the animal and clean it for cooking. It will become very obvious exactly where the bird was shot, if you know what I mean. Clean that out! You dejoint it just like a chicken.

Note: Paprika and Cayenne Pepper are NOT the same thing! Someone accidentally put cayenne pepper in the paprika jar, and I added two entire teaspoons to my pheasant sauce! I accept full responsibility for not tasting it before I chucked it all in. For the rest of the class, my teacher and I gave my sauce emergency CPR. If you're ever in a similar fix, and your sauce is back-of-the-throat spicy, take out half and thin the remainder with chicken stock or some equally neutral ingredient. Sugar and lemon juice could help as well. You might be able to rescue it!

During lunch, we had a small presentation from a wine producer in Tuscany who served us a "Super Tuscan" red to taste. Like France, Italy has strict classification rules for their wines (wines from certain regions must be made with certain grapes). Super Tuscans break the rules and don't use the required grapes. Rather, Super Tuscan producers experiment with blending grape varieties to get the ultimate flavor. It was delicious!

For our afternoon demonstration, we went over how to make sour dough bread, Jerusalem Artichoke soup, Roast Duck with potato stuffing and apple sauce, Roast Stuffed Loin of Pork, various vegetables (like mashed parsnips and spiced eggplant), chocolate mousse with almond macaroons, and different flavored meringues (pistachio & rosewater and cinnamon & hazelnut). We have definitely shifted gears, and are full fledge into late fall flavors. Gutsy game like goose and duck go great with robust winter herbs like sage and rosemary. Move over, Basil!




Friday's Tips:

- Tart sauces (like gooseberry, rhubarb or apple sauce) are good with fatty meats (like pork or duck).

- Of all meat, pork reacts the worst to being intensively reared (i.e. pigs crammed together and flooded with hormones and antibiotics). In other words, there is the greatest change in flavor between organically reared and intensively reared pigs.

- The fillet of a cow or pig rests comfortably protected by the animal's spine, and does little to no work. This is why it is so tender (and so expensive!).

- Ducks are much fattier birds than chicken, so expect a thicker layer of fat when you buy and eat them.

- When rendering down fat, add a pinch of salt to the Pyrex jug before it goes into the oven. The fat will turn into liquid faster.

- As I've mentioned before, there are two golden rules when stuffing a bird: The stuffing must be cold when it goes in (or else it creates a nice warm cavity for bacteria to flourish) AND the stuffing must not completely fill the bird's cavity (or else the heat cannot circulate and the bird will not cook through).

- Sage and Rosemary tend to compete for center stage. Pick one!

- Duck and orange are a classic combo - try adding orange zest to your gravy or stuffing!

- I had heard about adding a little coffee to your chocolate dishes to enhance the flavor, but I hadn't heard of adding some strong Earl Grey tea! Try it (I certainly will)! Other ideas: chili flakes, various booze, orange zest, etc.

- Red Cabbage and Apple is a great combination.

- Pistachio, cardemon, and apricot is also a great combination

47....

Phew, what a day! I got in early to get a jump start on my cooking (and brought my cheese with me- he might as well be on a leash). I had to make chocolate souffle, Thai galangal and coriander soup, and white soda bread (I was on "white bread duty"). I got the bread out of the way early, and started on my souffle. That's when it all went down the drain.


With souffle, you want to have all your components ready to go before you start, because once you start you cannot stop. So I dutifully wrapped my souffle dishes in parchment paper, melted my chocolate, sponged and dissolved my gelatin, whipped my cream, and separated my eggs before I began step one: beat the egg yolks and sugar. I was supposed to get it to a mousse-like consistency before adding the chocolate, which took not 5, not 10, but 45 minutes of beating with a standing mixer! Clearly something went wrong. I stood glaring at the liquid, which absolutely refused to thicken, while simultaneously trying to keep my melted chocolate in good humor and my dissolved gelatin from having a temper tantrum. I also had a pot on making almond praline (to grind up later for dusting on the souffle) and some chocolate melting in the oven to make decorative chards. Needless to say, I was a little overextended.


In the end, my gelatin threw a hissy fit and I had to start it over. My chocolate miraculously survived the 45 minutes without curdling (though it certainly tried- the climax of my morning was when I frantically plunged the bowl of chocolate into an ice bath, splashing everywhere). The souffle finally went into the fridge at 11 AM. Moral of the story: souffles have a sick sense of humor. Frazzled and faklempt, I quickly tidied my section and threw together the contents of the soup. By lunch, my souffle hadn't set (you saw that coming), so I'll get in early to decorate and finish the lil' terror tomorrow.

We walked into the afternoon demonstration room to find about ten whole birds (feathers and all!) on the counter. Tom Duane, the local gamekeeper, presented a variety of pheasants, ducks and pigeons (all are in season) which he had shot over the weekend. I'm assigned to make pheasant tomorrow, so it looks like I'll be in early to pluck one!

We also learned how to cut up a rabbit for cooking, and how to make bruschetta & crostini, baked chicken (in a dutch oven - extra tender and juicy!), various pheasant and rabbit dishes, roast pumpkin, pate sucre (pastry with a high proportion of sugar), fruit tartletts, and bread & butter pudding. Unfortunately, we didn't have a rabbit "in the fur" to cut up, because Tom hasn't caught one yet (at this time of year, they only come out at night)! So we used a cultivated rabbit from France.

To finish off the day, we had an evening wine lecture with the sommelier from the Ballymaloe House on wines from Italy. Two of the students in our class are experts in Italian wines, and one helped give the lecture! Thanks to them, we tasted three wines from a small producer in Friuli (North-East Italy). One of the wines was made with 100% Schioppettino grapes, a grape variety that nearly became extinct until this particular wine producer saved it in the 1970's. It is now one of the most popular grapes from the region. We also tried a Chianti and a wine similar to an Amarone (whatever that means).





Thursday's Tips:

- Pheasants are originally from China, and were brought over to Europe by the Romans. There are over 40 varieties!

- Female pheasant sport a much blander plumage than males, because they have to blend into the landscape while nesting.

- All hunted birds should be hung by the neck for 3-5 days before plucking. Hang rabbits and deer by the legs.

- With birds, the smaller and shorter the "spur" on their foot, the younger the animal. Younger birds are more tender to eat.

- For obvious reasons, it is best to pluck birds outdoors.

- When making brioche, work quickly with the dough or the butter in it will melt. Also, do not leave the loaves or rolls to rise anywhere that is too warm, because the butter will run out of the dough.

- Dry whole chickens or turkeys with some paper towel or they won't brown properly in the oven.

- As much as possible (when it makes sense), cook meat on the bone (bones add more flavor).

- Butchering any animal (chicken, pheasant, rabbit, cow, pig) is all about the natural space between the ball and socket joints. You can either take the E-ZPass lane and glide through the ball and socket, or you can get in the cash-only lane and hack through bone. You decide.

- Never cook with wine that you wouldn't drink yourself. Taste it!

- Dark chocolate (like 70% cocoa) seems to behave better than milk chocolate (~50% cocoa) when you're melting it. It splits less because there is less cocoa butter in it.

- Allow pastry to chill and relax in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling it out. Once you take it out of the fridge, let it adjust to room temperature slightly before rolling it. It is very ill-humored right as it comes out of the fridge and is more likely to crack if you try to roll it then and there.

- Goodbye autumn raspberries, hello citrus fruit!

- Adding a pinch of sugar to frozen peas (either in their cooking water or after they've cooked) can greatly enhance their flavor

46

I used to make fun of helicopter parents, hovering over their children, making them wear elbow pads when they went sledding. And now I know how they feel. My cheese made it through the night. He looked a little shaken in his new home, but I am hoping he'll get used to it. After flipping him over and dusting him with salt, I headed off to school.

This morning, I made poached monkfish with cucumber and tomato hollandaise sauce, kale, and a "stripy cat" loaf (AKA white soda bread with chocolate chunks). Monkfish are DIS-gusting. Seriously gross. I am surprised they haven't been featured in a D-grade horror movie yet (like "Bride of Chucky"). However, they are a good example of true beauty coming from the inside (whatever that means... kidding). Their flesh is beautifully white and delicious, behaves much like meat, and is deceptively easy to fillet (you only have to worry about the straightforward backbone). Because of these perks, Monkfish are quite expensive. Apparently, buying the fish whole is less expensive than buying a fillet. But then you have to carry one of those mucus oozing bad boys out to your minivan, so I'll let you make the choice.

Monkfish with Hollandaise, Tomato Concasse,

Diced Cucumber, and Fennel

The hollandaise sauce went surprisingly well (it only tried to curdle on me once). One trick when it's entertaining the idea of curdling: plunge the saucepan in a bowl of cold water to bring down the temperature (it's handy to keep a bowl nearby when you're making it). Another trick: don't let the sauce know you're nervous. Like dogs and David Hasselholf, hollandaise can smell fear. You're the boss. Beat it into submission.

During our afternoon demonstration, Rory showed us how to make a couple of Asian soups (chicken & coconut laksa and Thai galangal & coriander soup), different curries (both red and green), brioche, chocolate or lemon souffle, and, bizarrely, pickled ox tongue. I am still trying to piece together why anyone would ever eat, let alone make his or her own, pickled ox tongue (but then again I haven't tried it). The souffles were cold souffles, which are easier to make then hot souffles (I think we tackle hot souffles next week). The cold souffle is basically mousse, which looks like it is puffing up over the souffle dish because of a parchment paper trick. Rory wrapped the dish in greased paper to extend the sides of the dish about an inch and a half higher. He then over-poured the mixture into it, and the parchment paper wall kept the mousse from running over. When the mousse set, he took away the paper, and it looked just like a souffle. They have a great "wow" factor, and can keep in the fridge until you're ready to serve them.

Wednesday's Tips:

- Crack eggs into a separate bowl before adding them to your dish. Today, Rory cracked a bad egg into the brioche and had to start over. It doesn't happen often, but it's a good precaution to take.

- You know gelatin has completely dissolved into water when it is completely clear. If the water is still cloudy, wait!

- Egg whites are really just a way to trap air in a dish ("they don't bring anything else to the party" -Rory). This makes the dish lighter.

- Curry paste is very hot when you first open the package. It loses a significant amount of heat within a week of being opened.

- If you have all the time in the world, you can make curry paste by hand. But, you can buy very good quality paste at the store and save yourself the hassle of tracking down all those obscure ingredients (such as "shrimp paste" and "fresh galangal").

- Try serving brandied cherries with a dangerously rich chocolate dessert (the hit of alcohol "shocks you back to the real world" - Rory). Buy cherries, de-stone them, and put them in a jar filled with 1/2 brandy and 1/2 sugar. Shake it up and they'll be good to go in 2 weeks time.

Day 45!

grapefruit and pomegranate sorbet

This morning I got in early for "stock duty" - basically, we chop a bunch of carrots, onions, celery stalks, and carcases of some description to throw into a pot with water to boil. Chicken carcases for chicken stock, lamb bones for lamb stock... you get the picture. One thing we don't add to the stock is salt. This way, you can control the amount of salt in your cooking later. Stock freezes very well, so consider making some the next time you are about to throw away the remains of a roast chicken. Homemade stock makes such a difference in flavor, and it is a great way to avoid wasting bones!

apple cake

Then I was off to the kitchen to make grapefruit and pomegranate sorbet, an apple cake, and CHEESE! That's right, I made my own wheel of cheese today! I nearly fell asleep making it, it was so relaxing (seriously). You basically warm the milk (I used unpasteurized cow's milk from the morning's milking), add a starter (to get the bacteria going), then add some rennet (which coagulates the milk). After half an hour, the milk coagulates and you cut it into tiny pieces. Soon, you'll have pea sized curds swimming in a sea of whey. Plop the curds into a cheese mold and press the living daylights out of them to remove any moisture.

a cheese is born...

For my starter, I added yogurt, which will result in a "simple" semi-hard cheese. If you wanted a different type of cheese (blue or parmesan, for example), you would have to buy a different starter (ask your local cheese shop). At the end of class, I took my newborn cheese out of the mold, sprinkled him in sea salt, wrapped him in swaddling cheese cloth, and laid him on my windowsill. I'll flip him over and re-salt him tomorrow morning, and continue this flipping pattern for a few days. I'll have to wait 5-6 weeks before he is ready! I'll keep you all posted on the life and times of this new addition in my life, as I can sense you are all waiting with baited breath!

poached monkfish with matchstick potatoes

In the afternoon demonstration, we watched Rory make Focaccia, French Peasant Soup, Poached Monkfish with Hollandaise Sauce, Matchstick Fries, and a French Apple Tart. The trick with Hollandaise is to whisk continuously, and not let the mixture get too hot. Keep it on a very low flame, and if it starts to curdle, take it off the heat and whisk in a teaspoon of cold water. Many a hollandaise have been saved by this quick fix.

Here are the tips picked up from today!

- Another use for a Japanese Mandolin: making Julienne Vegetables (some Japanese Mandolins even come with a Julienne blade). A Julienne vegetable is basically any vegetable cut into long, thin, matchstick-like slices. You can add them to a crystal clear broth and call the soup "Consomme Julienne".

- Hollandaise Sauce does not reheat well, so if you make it ahead of time, keep it warm. Put the hollandaise in a Pyrex jug, and place the jug in a pot of warm, but not simmering, water. If the water keeps trying to simmer on you, use a heat diffuser mat. The sauce will sit happily for a number of hours.

- When reading recipes, pay attention to the difference between "mix gently" and "beat vigorously". If the recipe says to mix gently, do not over mix! This is the number one cause of tough pastry, tough pancakes, tough bread, etc.

- When you're pouring filling into a tart or pie shell, do not fill it to the absolute brim while the tart is still on the counter. You'll have to preform a one-man balancing act from the counter to the oven. When it's two-thirds full, transfer the tart pan to the oven and finish filling it there.

- To loosen cakes from their tins (when turning them out after baking), run a non-precious knife around the edge to break the seal.

- Spinach is the easiest vegetable to over-salt. Beware! It doesn't take much.

- Don't forget about water, the "forgotten ingredient" in the kitchen. Great for thinning soups, sauces, etc.

FortyFour

Cucumber Mousse with Shrimp and Tomato Salsa

There is no such thing as a case of the Mondays when you are doing what you love! I hopped out of bed this morning anxious to get back to school. On the list of things to make this morning: a meat pie. Say what you will about Ireland and their meat pies, but it was delicious! Fresh leg of lamb carved and diced, carrots and onions from the farm, homemade lamb stock, and homemade pastry. Good ingredients, good pie! One important point: season your stew with each additional step, so the layered flavors come to life. I took a picture before it went into the oven...

I also made creamed kale and put together a Plateau de fruits de mer with my partner. This involved opening oysters, cooking some mussels, and stealing some homemade mayonnaise from another section so we didn't have to whisk up our own (my arms were sore enough from opening the oysters)! In this country, they often serve mayonnaise with their shellfish. Personally, I would ditch the mayo and serve it plain with lemon slices (and maybe with a bit of cocktail sauce). Oysters, of course, are best plain in all their briny glory.

After lunch, Rory took the helm for the afternoon demonstration. We made cold cucumber soup, cucumber mousse, a curried vegetable stew with banana and yogurt raita, PARMESAN RISOTTO!, Indian paratha bread, grapefruit and pomegranate sorbet, a Tuscan plum tart, and an apple cake. The cucumber mousse is a great way to use up cucumber soup - just add gelatin! I presume one could do this with a lot of soups. For the Risotto, the trick is to add the liquid slowly to the rice and try to maintain a constant, steady simmer. The constant temperature assures that your risotto will cook evenly. It requires some close attention, but the result is so delicious.

Grapefruit and Pomegranate Sorbet

Today's Tips:

- Be careful when grating anything with a box grater. Don't try to be a hero and grate down to the last molecule of cheese or whatever- the graters are deceptively sharp!

- Cold soup should be served in small portions

- Yogurt is one of the most difficult things to season. The acidity confuses the tongue, so be aware!

- When making caramel, the water/sugar mixture almost never turns color evenly because of the slightly uneven heat below. Since you're not supposed to stir caramel while it boils, just pick up the pan, tilt it to even the color, and rotate it on the burner.

- When making sorbet, the ratio of sugar to liquid is important. Follow the recipe religiously, or it might not set properly.

- Pomegranates will keep unopened in the fridge for 4-6 weeks.

- There is no easy way to peel and remove seeds from grapes ("You know that's just torture. That's just the way it is" - Rory).

- Rosewater and Pomegranate make an excellent combination

- When turning anything out from a pan (a tart, a fritata), don't dither, as they say over here. Get up your nerves and just do it.

- If you over-roast some spices, cut your loses and start again. No one wants the taste of burnt cumin in their curry!

- You can freeze meat/poultry bones if you don't want to drop everything and make a stock then and there.

- Plums go well with cinnamon or star anise

Day 43!!!

Lazy Sunday. I woke up and used a couple of slices of toast as a vehicle to shove as much homemade raspberry jam into my mouth as possible (it doesn't get old). After that feat, we took a 40 minute country drive to historic Lismore, where everything was historically closed. We had planned to get some lunch in town and then tour the Lismore Castle (www.lismorecastle.com), but ended up throwing in the towel. It is quite a beautiful structure, from what we could tell from the road! Lucky for us, Ireland's stunning countryside made it worth the (albeit abbreviated) trip.

Happy November! Tomorrow begins another day at school...