Today was demo day again.

First up Cheese biscuits & then cheese to go with them. This time lots of cheese from France - St. Maure, Valency, Chabis, Crottin, Morbier, Rocamadour, Selless sur Cher, Lingot de Quercy & Brique de Brebis.

Then the full demo began on Canapés. Hundreds of different variations & suggestions were given & lots were demonstrated.

The picture is of Rory's presentation of Anchovy & Sesame Seed Straws (around the edge), Cheats Tarts with Creme Fraiche, wild garlic leaves & salmon (just inside) and Sweet Pea Gaucamole on tortillas (in the middle).

Today I made Ballymaloe Praline Ice-cream. Start off making a vanilla ice-cream using the bomb e technique, which is basically whisking egg yolks, making a syrup of sugar & water & mixing them together. Then whisking up some cream and adding that with some vanilla extract. Frezze - Make praline. Carmelise sugar & nuts (I roasted & skinned hazelnuts) - Chill. Whizz in a magimix & add to almost frozen ice-cream. Freeze again.

Today I made Gateau Pithivier (pictured above!). Its puff pastry base filled with an almondy paste and then topped with more puff pastry, then fluted around the edges to help separate the layers of pastry & scored on top to make it look pretty. Then topped with more sugar (icing sugar) & put under the grill to carmelise. Yummy! Sorry about the horrible chopping board but thought this was the most impressive looking picture of the lot today.

On Friday I got up extra early to make cheese. So exciting!

We waited for the temperature of the milk to come up to 30 degrees C and then added some culture. Left for an hour & then back to add some rennet to turn the milk to curd. Left again for a while. Then we cut the curd which separates the whey from the cheese. We drained off the whey and then filled some molds with the cheese and topped them with weights to push out any whey that was left. Then back every few hours to turn it upside down a few times throughout the day.

Today I made Rack of Lamb with Fresh Mint Chutney & Potato & Mushroom Gratin and some Lemonade.

First I made the lemonade - make a syrup, juice lemons & mix with water.

Then I moved on to the potato gratin. I sliced the mushrooms, then the potatoes. Parboiled the potatoes, then layered them out, topped with mushrooms, more potatoes & parmesan cheese - yummy!

Then on to the rack of lamb. I prepared it by removing some bone & scraping the rack & and making them look presentable. Then seasoned & roasted in the oven, then rested before carving.

Ok so I started typing this last night & then closed the page down accidentally and lost everything I typed, then gave up & turned the laptop off.

So yesterday we had a morning of Vegetarian food.

Lots of Indian classics such as Samosas, Pakoras with Mango Relish, Daal & Onion Bhajis.

We also had tofu, lentils, chickpea stew, sweet potato & rice salad, quinoa with herbs, Cheddar Cheese croquettes, spinach & mushroom pancakes etc. etc.

Then we had our last wine lecture with Colm McCann. We went through Champagne, Sparkling wines & Prosecco and tasted a lovely Champagne.

Today I spent the whole morning of cooking making Vegetarian Lasagne, yes, one dish, nearly 5hrs work!

First I started the Fresh Spinach Pasta - The spinach needs to be cooked & then dried as much as possible. Unfortunately as I was squeezing the moisture out of the spinach between 2 plates - I broke a plate and had to start again in case there were bits of plate in the spinach - the perfect start to my morning!

Week 8 and the pressure is really on now to find a job...ahhhhhh. I dont yet have a job and am feeling the pressure, lots!

Meanwhile Im still learning and dont think Im anywhere near being able to take on a job in a kitchen but there ya go.

This morning I made "Mummy's Sweet White Scones" - they turned out beautifully and got stolen quite quickly!

Today Im sorry to say was another one of those days where I just couldnt do anything right - not that I wasnt trying but it seemed that I couldnt even read the bloody recipe properly. So after running to the toilet to have a little cry & feel sorry for myself my teacher very nicely tried to cheer my up with a funny story, it kind of worked.

Anyway I was supposed to make Deep Fried Prawns with Tatare sauce & mushy peas, Lemonade & Moroccan Lentil Soup.

We had a wine presentation by Penfolds at 6pm yesterday and they were also having a meal in Ballymaloe House and presenting more wine so I decided to go along and enjoy some wine - therefore no blog! I got to taste a Penfolds Grange (the most expensive wine I have ever tasted & quite nice too) so well worth it!!

Anyway back to yesterday mornings cooking.

Monkfish with Red Pepper Vinaigrette - Fillet the slipperly fish first then poached it & drizzled with vinaigrette of tiny cubed red peppers, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper.