@Shelovescake

Two firsts for intermediate term this week: our first formal assessment and our first all day cook. But before that a welcome change of pace with a home study day. A chance to catch up with admin, do coursework for the Certificate in Hospitality and Tourism, and prepare time plans for the week. For me it was also well-timed having catered for a retreat on Sunday so had spend a large part of the weekend on my feet cooking.

The first assessment appeared easy: hake but already-filleted; a spiced lentil dhal; and a coriander chutney. But this is Leith’s so it needed to be cooked perfectly to intermediate rather than foundation standards. The fish flesh needed to be moist but with a crisp skin; the lentils cooked to the correct consistency with no chalkiness and well seasoned; and the chutney needed to show refined knife skills and ability to balance flavours. I’m delighted to say I achieved a distinction for my dish 🙂

Reward for our assessment efforts came the following day in the form of doughnuts. And also spiced raisin and pecan buns. And the buttery-ist, softest brioche loaf. The enriched dough dem with Caz was a total treat; and we can’t wait to repeat it for ourselves in the kitchen.

Thursday was a mammoth all day cook. The time plan alone took several hours to prepare. It was such a great day though, with very tasty food and a real test of our ability to multi-task and, quite literally, juggle plates (and pans!). A couple of days earlier we had made a biga – a pre-ferment used in making focaccia and other Italian breads. It is a mix of flour, water and yeast that ferments for 12-48 hours and then added to the main dough. It improves the flavour and texture of the bread. We started the all day cook getting the main dough ready, mixing it with the biga and leaving it to ‘autolyse’. Autolysing helps hydrate the dough giving the resulting bread a lovely moistness. Meanwhile, we got our brown chicken and veal stock started: carcasses in stock pot with water; and veg browning in a pan. We also prepped some stunning pink rhubarb from Rhubarb Robert for a compote and a puree for our lunchtime service of Barbie pink soufflés. And finally, because we didn’t already have enough going on, we prepared a salty spice rub for our pork belly; and got that in the oven to start its low, slow roast.

Somehow we achieved the 12.30 service for our beautiful, light soufflés with hidden rhubarb puree nestled at their base. The perfect pre-lunch snack to get us through the final few tasks before we could take a break. Back from that 30 minute lunch, we were focused on our next service time of 3pm for the pork. Lots of veg prep and knife skills for the accompaniments of a caramelised peanut and chilli sauce and a carrot, mouli and coriander salad. We continued to skim our stock, and progress the seemingly never-ending stages of making focaccia. We also squeezed in preparing, soaking and first cooking of the triple cook chips we would finish the following day. The pace did not let up! Such a fantastic day with delicious food and a vast array of techniques and skills for us to hone and elevate. I was exhausted by the end but very happy.

The week had started with a dem on tender cuts of meat including bavette and pork tenderloin. On Friday afternoon, after a morning of red wine with Marjory (6 bottles to taste before 12.30), we tackled the bavette plus béarnaise sauce and triple cooked chips. Revision of skills of hollandaise sauce and then creating the daughter sauce, béarnaise, with the addition of tarragon and chervil to both the reduction and the final sauce. The chips were cooked twice more, the final time to a golden crisp. And we charred and caramelised our bavette to medium red and sliced thinly against the grain. ‘Gorgeous’ was how my teacher described my chips. I’ll take that! A super end to a packed and enriching week.