ground to gob

I think I am in heaven.  A foodie one that is.  For the past four weeks and for the next two months all I need to think about is food. With some wine thrown in. And maybe a bit of cheese-making.  Add in butchery, wood fire pizza techniques, foraging and lessons on growing organic fruit and vegetables and you get the gist of what I am learning about.  And the list of things to do is expanding by the day.  Three months at Ballymaloe Cookery School may be a foodie heaven but it is certainly not a relaxing one.  Intense, full-on, information coming from every angle. Techniques, tips and tricks are being picked up through the day and our class of 64 students need to be on the ball to absorb as much information as our brains can cope with.

In the first month of being here at the school I have taken full advantage of every opportunity to experience something new.  So far I have planted a lettuce to grow while I am here, made my own

wheel of cheese, jointed chickens, filleted fish, helped out in a local cafe in Cork (Crawford Gallery Cafe – check it out!) as part of a work experience opportunity and been introduced to the basics of composting. Not to mention cook a wealth of new dishes and eat my body weight of delicious, organic, seasonal and locally sourced food prepared by Darina Allen, Rory O’ Connell, Rachel Allen and the team of amazing teachers and chefs at the school.

A third of the way through the course already, I am finally feeling comfortable with the routine.  This may seem like a long time to get into it, but believe me when I say you completely forget any cooking experience you have to date when you step into the kitchen at Ballymaloe! Example A – me making buttercream icing in a food processor in my second week here! There are many things that I have never made, but butter cream icing is definitely something that my mother taught me how to make in our kitchen at home.  I have  made it with no issues many many times over the years and lets just say it was never made in a food processor. Hence my bemusement when I take a fellow students instruction to make it in a magimix and then get told off by my teacher for doing so!

Four days of the week we are in the kitchen from early morning cooking our allocated dishes. The dishes are all demonstrated, either by Darina, Rory, Rachel or one of the teachers the afternoon before.  We are expected to be present in our chef’s whites with an order of work prepared for the morning’s cooking, ingredients gathered and prepped for the first dish and ready to start cooking at 9am.  No mean feat when there are 18 other students running around the kitchen, fighting for space at the weighing scales, pouring out buttermilk and trying to score the ripest tomatoes! And thats just in one kitchen – there are three other kitchens where the process is being duplicated by my fellow classmates.  Lunch is followed by the afternoon demonstration where anything up to twenty recipes may be shown. The major bonus is that at the end we all get to taste a little of everything that has been demonstrated!  On the one day of the week that we are not in the kitchen (to be fondly referred to as ‘Wine Wednesday’s” going forward), we are being introduced to all things wine by the head sommelier from Ballymaloe House Colm McCan. Unsurprisingly this is already a highlight with everyone getting into the swing of wine tasting!

With all this appreciation of good food and a major up tick in my consumption of Ballymaloe farm produced butter, cream, milk and yogurt along with home-made bread and daily desserts, I have being trying to balance it out by squeezing in an exercise session in the evening and an energy filled breakfast that will get me through the hectic morning of cooking.  Darina demonstrated the fruit muesli recipe that is served at Ballymaloe House all year round as part of their breakfast buffet in my first week here.  It is based around whatever fruit is in season i.e. apples in autumn, strawberries in summer and so on and is served with cream and brown sugar!  How could you resist that?  However I decided to share my version of bircher style muesli here today.  Not because it tastes better, but simply because it can be prepared on a Sunday evening and kept in the fridge for the following week ready for breakfast with zero fuss.  It is perfect to bring into the office for breakfast at your desk or standing in the kitchen before running out the door.  I am not a porridge lover, so this is a great alternative way to get the nutritional benefits of rolled oats into your daily diet.  The quantity’s below can be doubled or tripled if you want to make a bigger batch.  There are many different versions of this style of muesli dish – one of the classic ways is to soak the oats in apple juice.  However I find it is sweet enough for me just soaking it in water.  It also cuts out having to make your own apple juice or using a sugar laden processed version from the supermarket.

Tracey’s Bircher Style Muesli

Ingredients:

150grams organic rolled oats

100grams organic sultanas (alternatively use dried dates, apricots or other dried fruit)

1 dessertspoon cinnamon

50grams toasted coconut flakes

50grams sunflower seeds

2 teaspoons organic honey

cold water

To Serve (optional):

toasted flaked almonds

organic natural yogurt

grated apple (or other fruit in season)

fresh mint

Method:

Mix oats, cinnamon, sultanas, coconut, slivered almonds and sunflower seeds in a bowl.  Pour enough cold water into the bowl to just cover the mixture. Leave to soak overnight in the fridge. Stir honey through the muesli mixture the following day.  Taste and add more honey and/or cinnamon if desired.  Eat as is or topped with yogurt, fruit, toasted almonds and mint.  The flavours will improve the longer the mixture is left to soak.